Will breast implants give me more cleavage?
By Dr. Ted
“Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You can’t stare at it. It’s too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away.” – Jerry Seinfeld
There’s long been a quest for cleavage. In Europe, as far back as the 1400s, bodices and corsets were designed to push up the breasts. Fast-forward 200 years to the court of Louis XIV of France, where necklines were lowered and cleavage was further exposed. Although it goes into hiding now and then, cleavage has mostly been in style ever since.
When it’s visible, thanks to a low-cut top or a push-up bra, cleavage draws a lot of attention. Scientists conjecture that the attraction is primal: cleavage mimics the cleft between the buttocks, which we hide from view these days by wearing clothing and walking on two legs instead of four, as our ancestors did. As one headline writer put it, cleavage is a “weapon of mass distraction.”
No wonder that women frequently ask me if breast implants will give them more cleavage. In fact they won’t.
Let’s start with the facts: Cleavage, or the intermammary sulcus (the less-sexy anatomical term), is the space between your breasts. It’s defined by where the fatty portion of each breast sits in relationship to the breastbone.
Implants don’t change the space between your breasts. In fact, if a surgeon tries to give you more cleavage by loosening the inside borders – or going beyond the natural limits – of your breasts, you could end up with a symmastia, also known as a uniboob.
What implants can do is give you more breast volume, which will make it easier for you to push your breasts together to accent the hollow between them. Bra manufacturers are happy to help you enhance your cleavage with a variety of bras, including click bras, air-lift bras, and liquid-lift models, which for some reason have gotten the nickname of “chicken cutlets.” But be careful. It turns out that your bra can give you a uniboob, too.
thank your for the major informative reading, however, my issue was not covered. I am a healthy 77 year old who had silicone reconstruction done by a plastic surgeon I worked for in 1965. Presently weigh 170, then 120 lbs. Silicone has hardened and would like to know what to do about my situation? Do you have any suggestions and it may be good to include this issue in your writings….thank you very much……would try to lose 15-20 lb……ginaleh elster
Hi Gina,
Thanks for suggesting this as a question. We will keep it in mind for a future blog. If the hardening of your breasts isn’t causing you any significant physical problems, sometimes doing nothing is a prudent path.