Study: Nationality of Your Surgeon Revealed by Your Breast Implants - East Idaho News
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Study: Nationality of Your Surgeon Revealed by Your Breast Implants

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GETTY 7315 Surgeon?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1435948761297iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The appearance of your breast augmentation can actually tell a story of where you’ve lived, a new study suggests.

“We asked 614 plastic surgeons from 20 different countries, and through a computer survey [of] what was their ideal shape of breasts were, and they were able to adjust the images,” said Dr. Neil Tanna, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York who worked on the study.

The study, published in the journal Annals of Plastic Surgery, recruited doctors through prominent plastic surgery societies, and had the doctors analyze preferences in breast fullness and size — including the size of the areola around the nipple.

Differences in breast appearances were found based on the demographics of the surgeons, who were categorized by age, gender, ethnicity, and most importantly, which country they live in, Tanna told ABC News.

The main findings included the following:

  • Surgeons from India preferred a fuller upper breast.
  • France preferred lesser upper-breast fullness.
  • Brazil, India, France and the U.S. preferred the largest areola size.
  • Germany preferred the smallest areola size.

The findings of the study are important to the outcome of a patient’s plastic surgery, as the nationality of your doctor could determine the size and shape of your breasts, Tanna said.

“Beauty is really in the eye of the beholder,” Tanna said. “If patients are seeking plastic surgery elsewhere, they need to consider the cultural background the country of origin. Ultimately, this should lead to higher patient satisfaction.”

Dr. Norman Rowe, another board-certified plastic surgeon not affiliated with the study, said it proves what many surgeons have long suspected.

“That being said,” Rowe said, “a surgeon from anywhere in the world should be able to perform a breast augmentation with more or less upper fullness or produce a variety of areola sizes. I feel that this study just emphasizes that regardless of what country the patient and surgeon call home and the geographical biases that these countries have, careful communication between them prior to surgery should produce a result that the patient desires.”

Tanna agreed. “When you have good agreement between the patient’s reported perception and the surgeon’s perception of the results, you’ll get the optimal patient satisfaction,” he added. “I think that’s really the take-home.”

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