.png)
The Beauty Standard with Dr. Roy Kim
"The Beauty Standard with Dr. Roy Kim" is your ultimate guide to exploring the world of beauty, aesthetics, and both non-invasive and invasive procedures. Join renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Roy Kim as he shares his expertise, delves into the latest advancements, and engages in insightful discussions with industry experts, bringing you a wealth of knowledge to enhance your confidence and empower your aesthetic journey.
The Beauty Standard with Dr. Roy Kim
Breast Implant Placement: Above, Below, or Under the Muscle
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Uncover the secret to achieving a natural, long-lasting look with breast implants as acclaimed plastic surgeon Dr. Roy Kim joins us to unravel the complexities of implant placement. With a deep dive into his YouTube insights and a revealing blog article, Dr. Kim uncovers why the choice isn't just a matter of above or below the muscle. Listeners will learn the critical role of the pectoralis major muscle and how its anatomy drives the decision-making process. Discover the difference between subglandular, subfascial, and dual plane placements, and why these nuanced choices impact not only the aesthetics but also the longevity and feel of implants.
Dr. Kim shares his preference for the subfascial placement, lifting the veil on why it could be advantageous despite not being everyone's go-to method. We weigh the pros and cons of subglandular methods, known for their swift recovery but potential aesthetic downsides, and explore the dual plane approach for a comprehensive understanding. Whether you're contemplating implants or simply curious about the surgical intricacies, this episode promises eye-opening insights into the art and science of breast augmentation. Join us for a thorough exploration of how anatomy and technique interplay to craft the perfect result.
Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of "The Beauty Standard" with Dr. Roy Kim! If you enjoyed this episode, please make sure to subscribe, rate, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your support helps us continue to bring you the latest insights in aesthetic medicine and beauty trends.
Connect with us on social media on Instagram - @drroykim - or X - @drroykim- for more exclusive content, behind-the-scenes looks, and expert advice from Dr. Kim. Feel free to submit your questions or suggestions for future episodes – we'd love to hear from you!
Join us next week as we explore another fascinating topic in the world of beauty, and remember: your body, your choice, your standard!
Welcome to the Beauty Standard with Dr Roy Kim. All right, let's dive in. We're tackling breast implant placement today.
Speaker 2Oh yeah.
Speaker 1Specifically, where do these implants actually go? Okay, and why does it even matter?
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 1We've got two sources. You guys sent us A YouTube video by Dr Roy Kim.
Speaker 2Board certified plastic surgeon.
Speaker 1That's right. Got to make sure they're legit.
Speaker 2Absolutely.
Speaker 1And then also a blog article that's comparing different techniques for placement. Got it so jumping right in. I've always thought it was like above or below the muscle.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 1But looking at these sources, yeah.
Speaker 2It's way more to it A lot more nuanced.
Speaker 1Yeah, so much more nuanced.
Speaker 2Yeah, there are a lot more options and things to consider.
Speaker 1Than I even realized.
Speaker 2For sure. I mean, it makes sense when you think about it, right?
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2The placement really does have a huge impact on how the implants actually look and feel, yeah, and even how long they last.
Speaker 1Wow, I didn't even.
Speaker 2So we need to like break this down a little bit.
Speaker 1Yeah, let's break it down.
Speaker 2Okay. So first things first. We need like a little anatomy lesson. Okay, I'm ready, all right, so think about your chest muscles. Okay, specifically the pectoralis major, the pecs, it's a big muscle right like fan-shaped. Okay, but it's not this uniform sheet that's covering your whole chest you know, it gets thinner as it goes out towards your armpit.
Speaker 1Interesting.
Speaker 2So there's a portion of your chest wall that's less covered by the muscle. Okay, and this is important because when people talk about below the muscle placement, Right right. It's not really possible to put the implant completely under the muscle across your whole chest.
Speaker 1Oh.
Speaker 2The anatomy just doesn't allow for full coverage like that.
Speaker 1Okay, so it's not actually below the muscle.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 1So then, what are the actual options?
Speaker 2Yeah, so Dr Kim's video talks about a few sub glandular, sub facial and dual plane.
Speaker 1Sub what.
Speaker 2Sub facial.
Speaker 1Sub facial. Okay yeah, now hold on. What even is fascia? I remember seeing that word, oh yeah.
Speaker 2Fascia. Think of it like a thin strong covering.
Speaker 1Like hovering what?
Speaker 2It's connective tissue. It surrounds your muscles and organs.
Speaker 1Oh, okay.
Speaker 2You know, when you see a piece of raw chicken and there's that thin white kind of tough covering on it.
Speaker 1Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2It's kind of like that.
Speaker 1Okay, I'm never eating chicken the same way again, sorry. No, it's fine.
Speaker 2But it gives you a good visual. It, does it yeah subfascial, that's the implant going under that fascia, above the muscle.
Speaker 1So you've got subglandular, which?
Speaker 2is the simplest.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2That's just directly under the breast tissue, above everything.
Speaker 1Okay, so that's the easiest, I guess.
Speaker 2Easiest usually means quicker recovery.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2But there are downsides.
Speaker 1Well, yeah, there can be. Okay, you have a higher risk of things like rippling, okay, and rippling is like when you can see or feel the edges of the implant.
Speaker 2Oh, okay.
Speaker 1And it might not look as natural.
Speaker 2Gotcha. So it's like a trade-off then.
Speaker 1Right.
Speaker 2What about subfascial, then? Dr Kim really seemed to like that one.
Speaker 1Yeah, he did. He actually called it his favorite.
Speaker 2Hmm, interesting. And this is the fascial one, yep, above the muscle under the fascia.
Speaker 1Okay, and if it's his favorite, why isn't it more common?
Speaker 2That's a good question. I think the blog article mentioned something about needing enough breast tissue to cover the implant properly.
Speaker 1Right, so maybe not everyone's a good candidate for that.
Speaker 2Exactly that could be a limiting factor.
Speaker 1Okay, makes sense.
Speaker 2But when there is enough tissue coverage, it seems like subfascial can give you a really good balance of benefits.
Speaker 1Okay, I'm seeing the appeal.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1So then we've got dual plane.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 1And that's the one the blog article called the gold standard.
Speaker 2Yeah, so dual plane is kind of a compromise. Oh okay, it goes partly under the muscle.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2And partly under the breast tissue.
Speaker 1So it's like the best of both worlds.
Speaker 2Kind of yeah, it aims for a more natural look and feel and it can reduce the risk of some complications like capsular contracture.
Speaker 1Okay, wait, capsular contracture I don't think we've talked about that yet.
Speaker 2Oh right, so that's when scar tissue forms around the implant and it can make it feel hard or distorted.
Speaker 1So dual plane helps with that.
Speaker 2It can. Yeah, it uses both the muscle and the breast tissue for support.
Speaker 1Okay, so I'm starting to get a better picture of these techniques. But how does a surgeon even decide which one's best for a particular person?
Speaker 2Yeah, that's where it gets really interesting. We've got to move beyond just the technique itself and look at the individual person. Gotcha.
Speaker 1We'll still the individual person Gotcha. We'll still get to that. Let's do it. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.
Speaker 2Sounds good. So it's not just the technique itself, it's got to match the person right so many factors. Yeah, it's really personalized. Both sources talk about that.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Surgeons. Consider your anatomy, your lifestyle, what you want to get out of it.
Speaker 1And Dr Kim specifically mentioned activity levels right.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, Especially for people who are like really into fitness, weightlifting and stuff.
Speaker 1Makes sense. So if you're working those pecs all the time, that's going to affect things.
Speaker 2For sure, Like if you're putting the implant directly under the muscle, which is what you do in the dual plane. It might not be the best if you're constantly contracting and releasing those muscles.
Speaker 1I can see that.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's putting a lot of stress on the implant.
Speaker 1Even though they're durable. I guess that repeated squeezing Exactly.
Speaker 2Over time it can change how they look and feel.
Speaker 1So maybe in those cases it's better to go above the muscle Right, like with sub, sub glandular or sub facial. More freedom of movement? Yeah, exactly, okay, that makes sense. And then what about just visually, like dr kim talked about cleavage, oh yeah, that's a big one for a lot of people absolutely and he was saying that submuscular placement like dual plane.
Speaker 2Sometimes it can make it harder to get that really defined cleavage oh interesting.
Speaker 1So if someone's going for the more noticeable, look yeah, if they want that cleavage, then oh interesting.
Speaker 2So if someone's going for the more noticeable look, yeah, if they want that cleavage.
Speaker 1Then maybe the sub glandular or sub facial.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's what Dr Kim suggests.
Speaker 1Might be a better fit.
Speaker 2But you know, it's not just about placement.
Speaker 1Of course not.
Speaker 2For getting a natural look right. It's also the size of the implant, the shape.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2And then your natural breast tissue, to begin with.
Speaker 1And how good your surgeon is.
Speaker 2Exactly, experience matters a lot.
Speaker 1Definitely so many factors.
Speaker 2Multi-layered equation.
Speaker 1And I remember both sources talking about having enough padding.
Speaker 2Oh yeah.
Speaker 1Over the implant. That's super important and that's not just for like how it looks.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 1It's how it feels too.
Speaker 2How it feels when you touch it.
Speaker 1Mm-hmm, that makes sense. More padding equals more natural looking and feeling.
Speaker 2Exactly, and Dr Kim even mentioned using fat grafting sometimes.
Speaker 1Wait, really. So you can use fat grafting with implants.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's not just for augmentation on its own.
Speaker 1I thought it was.
Speaker 2You can use it to kind of fine-tune the result. Oh, that's cool yeah, especially for people with thinner breast tissue.
Speaker 1So it's like a combo approach.
Speaker 2Yeah, you can get the volume from the implant.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2And then refine it with the fat grafting.
Speaker 1That's pretty amazing, honestly, and I remember both sources mentioning this thing called rippling Right. Wrinkling, something like that. That sounds kind of scary.
Speaker 2It can be noticeable.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2It's basically when you can see or feel the edges of the implant through the skin.
Speaker 1Oh, I see.
Speaker 2And it happens more often in people with less breast tissue.
Speaker 1Right.
Speaker 2And when the implant's placed above the muscle, like subglandular.
Speaker 1Oh okay, dr Kim mentioned using overfilled silicone implants. Yeah, I don't know what that means.
Speaker 2So it just means they put a oh. I see that in a standard implant, so it's a bit fuller.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2And that extra fullness creates more tension.
Speaker 1Inside the implant.
Speaker 2Yeah, which makes it less likely to wrinkle or fold.
Speaker 1So it's kind of a way to reduce that rippling effect. And subfascial placement can also help with that.
Speaker 2Yeah, because that fascial layer adds another layer of smoothing, you know.
Speaker 1It's all about layers.
Speaker 2So it's like a combo.
Speaker 1Right.
Speaker 2You know it's all about layers, so it's like a combo. Right, the implant itself was placed, and then you can even add fat grafting on top of that.
Speaker 1Wow, that's a lot to consider.
Speaker 2It is. That's why it's so important to talk to a good surgeon.
Speaker 1You know for sure, Someone who can really assess your situation.
Speaker 2Right, because there's no one size fits all answer.
Speaker 1Absolutely. But speaking of things to consider, yeah. Dr Kim said something pretty interesting in his video.
Speaker 2What's that?
Speaker 1He said subfascial placement is the future.
Speaker 2Oh wow Really.
Speaker 1Yeah, he thinks that's going to be the big thing.
Speaker 2That's a bold prediction, mm-hmm, because, like the blog article was saying, dual plane is the gold standard right now.
Speaker 1Exactly.
Speaker 2Interesting, though, when you think about some of the things Dr Kim was saying.
Speaker 1Like what.
Speaker 2Like how subfascial is more comfortable for patients.
Speaker 1Yeah, and faster recovery.
Speaker 2Right, and people are all about getting back to their lives quickly these days.
Speaker 1It's all about the quick fix.
Speaker 2And didn't he also say he prefers subfascial for cleavage?
Speaker 1He did. Yeah, that was a big point for him.
Speaker 2So you've got less pain, quicker recovery, maybe better cleavage. And then he said it lets him create a more precise pocket for the implant.
Speaker 1Oh right.
Speaker 2So potentially a better overall result.
Speaker 1Sounds like subfascial has a lot going for it.
Speaker 2Yeah, it does, so why isn't everyone doing it already?
Speaker 1That's the question I guess the blog did mention. Not everyone's a good candidate.
Speaker 2Right not enough breast tissue.
Speaker 1Maybe that's the thing holding it back.
Speaker 2Could be, or maybe it's just a matter of time, you know.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2More surgeons need to get on board.
Speaker 1Yeah, and refine the technique.
Speaker 2It'll be interesting to see what happens Absolutely Five years from now. Who knows?
Speaker 1Totally different landscape.
Speaker 2Maybe everyone will be doing subfacial.
Speaker 1Well, we've covered a lot today. We have All the different types of placement, why it matters how surgeons decide, and then even this glimpse into the future.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1I feel like I know so much more now I do Than I did before.
Speaker 2Me too.
Speaker 1It's been an eye opener.
Speaker 2It has.
Speaker 1And I think for anyone listening it brings up a really important question.
Speaker 2It's that.
Speaker 1If you were thinking about getting implants, yeah, what would be like your top priorities, right? Would you want to be back in the gym ASAP?
Speaker 2Like quick recovery.
Speaker 1Yeah, quick recovery. Or is it more about the look?
Speaker 2The cleavage.
Speaker 1Yeah, like how much cleavage do you want?
Speaker 2Exactly, or is?
Speaker 1it more like long-term.
Speaker 2Longevity.
Speaker 1Yeah. And minimizing the risks, the complications, all. Longevity, yeah. And minimizing the risks, the complications, all that Right.
Speaker 2Those are all valid things to think about.
Speaker 1Definitely, and there's no right answer. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2It's totally personal.
Speaker 1Yeah, depends on the person.
Speaker 2One person might care most about recovery, someone else might be all about the aesthetics.
Speaker 1Totally different priorities. Exactly that's why talking to a surgeon you trust is so important.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's why, talking to a surgeon, you trust is so important.
Speaker 1Yeah, communication is key.
Speaker 2They can really help you figure out what's best for you. Absolutely yeah, so big picture.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2What do you think are the main takeaways from all this?
Speaker 1I think the biggest thing is just realizing there are so many different approaches to placement.
Speaker 2Right, it's not just one thing, and they all have pros and cons. So there's no magic bullet.
Speaker 1Nope, no magic. So there's no magic, bullet, nope no magic bullet.
Speaker 2You got to weigh the options.
Speaker 1It's all about finding the right fit for you.
Speaker 2Exactly, and we've really gone beyond that simple above or below the muscle idea.
Speaker 1Totally Sublandular subfascial dual plant. Yeah, a lot more nuanced, and we've also seen that surgeons don't just pick a placement randomly.
Speaker 2Oh, definitely not.
Speaker 1They're thinking about so many things.
Speaker 2Anatomy activity level what the patient wants. All of it, and even what's trending in the field.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's a whole process, so it really shows you need to find a good surgeon.
Speaker 2Someone board certified, who knows their stuff? Someone? You feel comfortable with, absolutely who can guide you through all of this.
Speaker 1I feel like this deep dive has given everyone a really good foundation.
Speaker 2Yeah, a starting point.
Speaker 1But keep learning, don't stop here.
Speaker 2Right, there's so much info out there.
Speaker 1Online professional organizations.
Speaker 2Talk to surgeons.
Speaker 1Get consultations the more you know. The better.
Speaker 2You'll be able to make a good decision.
Speaker 1A decision you feel good about.
Speaker 2For sure.
Speaker 1Well, this has been fascinating.
Speaker 2It has.
Speaker 1Thank you so much for joining us on this journey.
Speaker 2Yeah, this is a good one.
Speaker 1Into the world of breast implant placement.
Speaker 2Love it.
Speaker 1It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2And for everyone listening, keep learning, keep asking questions.
Speaker 1Yes.
Speaker 2And trust your gut Absolutely. It's your body, your choice.
Speaker 1That's right.
Speaker 2Until next time.
Speaker 1Happy diving body, your choice. That's right until next time. Happy diving. Thank you for listening to the beauty standard with dr roy kim. Make sure to follow for future topics and episodes.