Symmastia

For many women, breasts are associated with femininity and beauty. The ideal breast shape and size will vary from person to person; however, many women want to have two distinct and symmetrical breasts. This look can be difficult to achieve when symmastia develops, causing the breasts to seemingly fuse and create the appearance of one singular uniboob.

What Is Symmastia?

Symmastia is a rare complication following breast augmentation that occurs when the two breast implants meet in the middle of the chest and lift the skin away from the breast bone. If the implants were placed beneath the pectoral muscle, symmastia causes the skin and the pectoral muscle to be pulled away from the sternum. Symmastia usually causes pain, discomfort, and obvious distortion of the breasts, which can be corrected with breast revision surgery.

What Are the Characteristics of Symmastia?

• Breasts appear too close together
• The skin and breast tissue become noticeably separated from the chest wall
• Pain or discomfort
• Can occur soon after surgery or much later

Learn more about symmastia and what a uniboob is by reading our blog.

What Causes Symmastia?

Symmastia most often occurs as a result of over-dissection of the breast implant pockets in an attempt to create prominent cleavage or to insert too-large breast implants. Symmastia usually becomes apparent soon after surgery if this surgical error is the cause.

When the implants are placed above the pectoral muscle, the skin and breast tissues can become stretched over time, causing symmastia to occur months or even years after the initial breast augmentation surgery.

What Are the Different Types of Symmastia?

Natural Symmastia

Also known as congenital symmastia, natural symmastia is when someone is born with the condition. The causes of this type of symmastia are unknown. While symmastia is a rare condition, it is even less common for people to be naturally born with it.

Acquired Symmastia

More commonly, symmastia is an acquired condition as a result of a complication from breast augmentation. It often is caused because the surgeon who inserted the implants lacks expertise or because the patient insists on implants that are too large for their body frame.

Am I a Candidate for Symmastia Treatment?

People with natural or acquired symmastia can be candidates for treatment. Patients with acquired symmastia are typically good candidates for symmastia repair via breast revision, also called secondary breast augmentation.

Schedule your symmastia treatment consultation with Dr. Doezie at Mission Plastic Surgery to learn your options.

How to Prevent Symmastia

Choosing a board-certified breast augmentation specialist will significantly decrease the risk of symmastia, but the complication can still occur at the hands of the most skilled surgeons. Choosing an implant size that is not too large for your existing breast tissue or chest width will also decrease your risk for symmastia.

Correcting Symmastia With Breast Revision

Breast revision to correct symmastia involves creating new pockets for the breast implants. If the implants were placed above the pectoral muscles during the primary breast augmentation, the new implants will be placed below the pectoral muscles to fix the symmastia.

There are a couple of options for symmastia repair when the original implants were initially placed beneath the pectoral muscles. New pockets can be created above the muscles, or the same implant pockets can be used for new implants, and the cleavage area can be repaired. In this case, part of the implant pocket is used to reattach the breast tissue and muscles to the sternum. Tissue grafting is another very effective revision option but is more costly than using the existing pocket.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is symmastia painful?

Women with acquired symmastia may experience pain and discomfort in their chest, especially if their implants were placed under the pectoral muscle (submuscular placement). This is often because the skin and muscles are pulled away from the sternum as the implants shift closer together in the center of the chest.

Does symmastia need to be corrected?

Typically, symmastia is a cosmetic issue that does not cause health problems. Many women choose to seek treatment so they can have their desired breast shape and restore confidence in their appearance. However, those who experience pain as a result of symmastia may also seek treatment to relieve them of this discomfort.

Does symmastia go away on its own?

In some cases, if symmastia forms shortly after breast augmentation, it may be able to be treated with intermammary compression. Most cases of symmastia will need some sort of surgical repair. Once symmastia develops, it cannot just go away on its own.

Want to Learn More About Symmastia Revision in Ladera Ranch, CA?

If you want to correct the appearance of a uniboob, symmastia treatment can help you get your desired breast contour. To start your breast enhancement journey, schedule a consultation with Dr. Allen M. Doezie. Call us at (949) 481-9850 or fill out our online contact form to learn more about symmastia and set up your consultation.