Achieve Beautifully Balanced Curves in Bryn Mawr
What are Breast Implants?
What Choices Are Involved in Breast Augmentation?
What Happens During Breast Augmentation?
If you’re considering changing the size or shape of your breasts, you are not alone. Breast augmentation remains one of the most popular cosmetic procedures in the United States in 2026, with millions of women choosing it each year to enhance confidence and achieve their ideal proportions. Breast augmentation in Bryn Mawr with Dr. Laura Gowen combines the latest surgical techniques with personalized guidance, helping each patient achieve natural, lasting results. Women from Bryn Mawr, Newtown Square, and surrounding communities visit the Cirillo Center for Plastic Surgery for a variety of reasons—restoring volume after pregnancy, improving symmetry, or simply creating a fuller, more balanced appearance. With her fellowship training in breast surgery, Dr. Gowen takes the time to understand each patient’s goals and deliver results that are as unique as the women she treats.
Explore breast augmentation in Bryn Mawr with Dr. Laura Gowen at the Cirillo Center for Plastic Surgery and receive a personalized treatment plan tailored to you. To schedule a consultation in our Bryn Mawr office, please BOOK ONLINE, call 610.672.0500, or Contact Us.
The Benefits of Breast Augmentation
Have you ever wondered, “Is breast augmentation worth it?” Breast augmentation, also commonly called a breast enhancement or a “boob job,” is a versatile cosmetic procedure that can achieve a range of aesthetic and restorative goals for women. This procedure allows patients to customize their results to fit their body proportions, personal preferences, and lifestyle. Some of the key benefits and purposes of breast augmentation include:
- Increasing breast size and volume: One of the most common goals of breast augmentation is to enhance the overall size and fullness of the breasts, creating a more balanced and proportionate silhouette. This is often referred to as breast enlargement.
- Correcting asymmetry: Many women have natural differences in the size or shape of their breasts. Breast augmentation can help even out these discrepancies, providing a more symmetrical, harmonious appearance.
- Enhancing firmness and contour: Over time, factors such as aging, gravity, or weight fluctuations can affect breast shape and firmness. Breast augmentation can restore a youthful contour and improve the overall firmness of the breasts.
- Restoring volume after life changes: Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and significant weight loss can all reduce breast volume and alter shape. Breast augmentation can help restore the fullness and shape lost during these life events, giving breasts a natural, lifted appearance.
- Reconstructive purposes: Breast augmentation is also an important part of reconstructive surgery. It can help rebuild one or both breasts following trauma, congenital differences, or mastectomy due to cancer, improving symmetry, confidence, and quality of life.
Whether performed for cosmetic enhancement or reconstructive needs, breast augmentation in Bryn Mawr and the Philadelphia area provides individualized solutions to help each woman achieve her unique goals, with results that look natural, balanced, and proportionate to her body.
What are Breast Implants?
Breast implants are available in several shapes and sizes, and there are four FDA– cleared companies that currently manufacture them. All implants are comprised of a silicone shell that is either smooth or textured. Breast augmentation patients can choose between implants filled with saline or implants filled with silicone gel.
Saline implants can be filled after insertion; thus, it is possible to place these implants with slightly smaller incisions. Silicone gel implants are comprised of a firm gel, and many women feel that silicone implants actually mimic the natural look and feel of the breast more closely than saline implants.
Women considering which implant to get during a breast augmentation should know that a leak is unlikely, but possible, so annual visits and check–ups are encouraged after receiving a breast augmentation. A saline leak would cause the implant to noticeably deflate, and the saline fluid would safely be absorbed and then expelled by the body.
Silicone gel, on the other hand, cannot be absorbed by the body in a safe manner and may or may not flow out of the shell in the instance of a leak. This can make a silicone gel leak more challenging to detect because they don’t deflate like saline implants. Silicone is a highly cohesive gel (like gummy bears), so if these implants rupture, they don’t “leak.”
You can ask Dr. Laura Gowen any questions you may have about the long–term realities of breast augmentation, maintenance, and more, as well as the possibility of fat transfer breast enhancement.
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What Choices Are Involved in Breast Augmentation?
When planning breast augmentation in Bryn Mawr or the greater Philadelphia area, Dr. Laura Gowen takes a comprehensive approach to ensure your results are tailored to your body, goals, and lifestyle. Beyond choosing the internal composition or material of your breast implants, you and Dr. Gowen will discuss several important factors that affect the look, feel, and long-term results of your surgery:
- Implant shell texture: Breast implants can have a smooth or textured outer shell. Smooth implants move more naturally within the breast, while textured implants may help reduce the risk of shifting and provide more stability in certain cases.
- Implant shape: Implants are available in rounded or teardrop (anatomical) shapes. Rounded implants add fullness to the upper breast, creating a soft, lifted appearance, while teardrop implants mimic the natural slope of the breast for a more subtle, natural contour.
- Implant size and dimensions: Choosing the right size involves evaluating width, height, and projection to complement your body proportions. Dr. Gowen uses detailed measurements and shows before & after photos and physical implant examples to help you visualize your results before surgery.
- Implant placement: The position of the implant can dramatically affect your final look. Implants may be placed above the pectoral muscle (subglandular) or beneath it (submuscular), with the choice influenced by your anatomy, desired profile, and lifestyle considerations.
- Incision location: Breast augmentation incisions can be made in the inframammary crease (under the breast), around the areola, or in the axilla (armpit). Each option has its advantages, from minimizing visible scarring to optimizing implant placement and recovery.
By carefully reviewing these options, Dr. Gowen ensures that your breast augmentation in Bryn Mawr is fully customized, safe, and designed to deliver natural, beautiful results that reflect your unique vision and body shape.
For breast augmentation in the Philadelphia area at Bryn Mawr’s Cirillo Center for Plastic Surgery, Dr. Laura Gowen uses one of two incisions for insertion of the implants: A periareolar incision is made in the border of the areola around the nipple, while an inframammary incision is made in the crease below the breast. The best option for a patient depends on a range of factors to be discussed at the initial consultation.
What Happens During Breast Augmentation?
The insertion of an implant depends on its size, shape, placement, and material—as well as the patient’s preference and doctor’s recommendation. Dr. Laura Gowen will work with each breast augmentation patient to create a treatment plan that meets her goals and lifestyle. Most commonly, incisions are made in the lower breast crease (inframammary fold). The scar is hidden by this natural fold and is easily concealed by bra and bathing suit lines. A second option involves placing the implant through an incision around the areola, the circle where the skin transitions from dark to light surrounding the nipple.
Finally, some women would prefer an incision in their axilla (armpit) as opposed to on their breast. This is known as a trans–axillary breast augmentation.
Each breast augmentation incision carries its own unique benefits and tradeoffs, and Dr. Laura Gowen will discuss the options thoroughly with you during your consultation.
Meet Plastic Surgeon
Laura A. Gowen, M.D.
Board-certified and breast-fellowship trained plastic surgeon Laura A. Gowen, M.D., draws on her extensive experience and uses advanced techniques to create beautiful, natural results for both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery patients.
Breast Augmentation FAQs
Breast augmentation can add volume to breasts, making them larger and firmer, but it will address only a small amount of sagging. Women who have sagging breasts due to age, weight loss, or breastfeeding may require a breast lift, with or without breast implants. This procedure raises the breasts higher on the chest and gives them more projection for a perkier and more uplifted look.
Women in good overall health seeking to improve breast size, restore volume after pregnancy or weight loss, or achieve better symmetry may be ideal candidates for breast augmentation.
Breast implants are available in silicone or saline, with various shapes, profiles, and textures. Silicone implants offer a natural feel and shape, while saline implants are adjustable and filled with sterile saltwater. The choice depends on your body type, desired results, and the recommendation of your surgeon.
Recovery varies by individual and surgical technique. Most patients resume light activities within 1 week, while swelling, bruising, and soreness typically improve over 4–6 weeks. Full healing and final results may take several months, and patients are advised to avoid strenuous activity until cleared by their surgeon.
Recovery varies by individual and surgical technique. Most patients resume light activities within 1 week, while swelling, bruising, and soreness typically improve over 4–6 weeks. Full healing and final results may take several months, and patients are advised to avoid strenuous activity until cleared by their surgeon.
Many women can breastfeed after breast augmentation, especially when implants are placed under the muscle, and incisions avoid the areola. Your surgeon will discuss the safest approach to preserve milk ducts and minimize the impact on breastfeeding.
Breast implants are designed to be long-lasting, but they are not considered lifetime devices. Most women maintain their implants for 10–15 years before replacement or adjustment may be needed due to natural changes, implant wear, or personal preference. Regular monitoring is recommended to ensure optimal results.
Your Options Beyond Breast Augmentation
While some women seek breast augmentation, others may opt for breast reduction or a breast lift to achieve a size, shape, and position that feels right for them. Many choose these procedures not only to enhance the appearance of their breasts but also to relieve physical discomfort, improve symmetry, or restore a youthful, lifted contour.
Altering your breasts is a deeply personal decision, which is why Dr. Laura Gowen and her team approach every procedure, including augmentation, reduction, and breast lift, with careful attention, safety, and individualized care.
Many patients who pursue breast augmentation also consider complementary plastic surgery procedures to enhance overall body balance and contour. Common options include tummy tuck surgery, liposuction, and body contouring, which work together with breast augmentation to create a more proportionate, youthful silhouette. In fact, breast augmentation is frequently included as part of a “Mommy Makeover,” where it is combined with a tummy tuck to restore both breast volume and abdominal tone after pregnancy or weight changes. Combining other procedures with breast surgery can further refine your results, ensuring that breast augmentation harmonizes with your entire body shape for natural, flattering outcomes.
Serving patients in the Philadelphia area from our Bryn Mawr office and Newtown Square office, Dr. Gowen takes the time to understand each woman’s goals and deliver results that reflect her vision with expertise and compassion.
Key Takeaways About Breast Augmentation in Philadelphia
Since breast augmentation is such a personal—even intimate—decision, it is vitally important that women electing to receive the surgery at our Philadelphia–area practice be open and honest with Dr. Gowen as they discuss the costs, options, and steps involved. This includes being clear about hopes and expectations of your desired results, being upfront about your current health and medical history, and committing to listening to and actively following up with the doctor’s instructions for care before, during, and after surgery.
For women considering breast implants, before and after images are available to give an idea of what breast augmentation can do.
Begin your breast augmentation journey in Bryn Mawr with Dr. Laura Gowen at the Cirillo Center for Plastic Surgery and enjoy a personalized approach tailored to you. To schedule a consultation in our Bryn Mawr office, please BOOK ONLINE, call 610.672.0500, or Contact Us.