Do breast implants slow you down? What athletes NEED to know [Dan Zegzula, MD, Portland]

Eva Sheie (00:00):
You're listening to Where Before Meets After. Let's talk about that athletic look a little more.

Dr. Zegzula (00:05):
Sure.

Eva Sheie (00:06):
You're a runner. There's tons of runners in the Portland area. It takes about five minutes, if you're visiting Portland for the first time, to realize that everyone's running somewhere. Do breast implants have an impact on the way it feels when you run?

Dr. Zegzula (00:20):
I have had the privilege of doing breast augmentations on several of my running friends, and they're all still faster than me.

Eva Sheie (00:32):
They must be really fast.

Dr. Zegzula (00:34):
They're fast. I think the short answer is no. And I've asked that question, do you think that your breast implants have changed your speed, your endurance, how you feel when you're running? And they've said no. Yeah, they said that it hasn't made a difference, but they like the way they look in their running brass better.

Eva Sheie (00:50):
I bet .

Dr. Zegzula (00:50):
The runner, as you kind of were alluding to, very lean body, usually small breast volumes, and many of them are mommies after breast augmentation. They're super happy with the way they look, and it hasn't affected their speed at all. As a matter of fact, some of them did their personal best marathon times after their breast augmentations. I'm not going to take credit for that, but there you have it. It hasn't affected them much.

Eva Sheie (01:11):
What would athletes need to know if they're considering breast augmentation? If you can kind of give us a top five list or however many things there are.

Dr. Zegzula (01:21):
Top five things for athletes to know getting breast augmentation. Number one, you are a good candidate for above muscle placement of your breast implants. Even if you're lean and small breasted, most women will still be a candidate for putting their implants above the muscle. Two, your surgeon is the one who needs to make that decision with you. You need to be evaluated by a board certified plastic surgeon and have a careful breast exam to make sure that that operation is going to be the right one for you. But only in the situation where patients are very lean and really have no breast tissue are situations where we might consider going under the muscle, at least in my hands. If you go under the muscle, there will likely be some movement of your implants with your pectoralis when you contract your pectoralis muscle, such as doing pushups or doing bench presses.

(02:10):
And that won't happen if we're above the muscle, which is one of the big reasons why I like to go above the muscle. Another thing would be with an implant that's above the muscle, you can be as active as you want to be. Any sports activity from lifting weights to swimming to running, and your breast implant is not going to affect the way you do activity or the way it feels when you do activity. And finally, I think in the right hands, you're going to get a good natural result with your breast augmentation. The implants that are new to the market and the techniques that have evolved over the last 20 years allow us to put implants above the muscle and get really natural, beautiful results above the muscle or below the muscle. But hopefully you can do it above the muscle because I think the athletic patient will appreciate the position above the muscle more.

Eva Sheie (03:00):
How much time would you have to expect to be off? If you're a serious athlete and you have a breast augmentation?

Dr. Zegzula (03:07):
I let my patients do low impact cardio after two weeks, back with weights and after four weeks, and contact sports after six weeks.

Eva Sheie (03:16):
You can get punched in the boob after six weeks.

Dr. Zegzula (03:19):
You can get punched in the boob after six weeks. Still going to hurt, but it's not going to change anything.

Eva Sheie (03:24):
Thanks for listening. I'm your host, Eva Sheie. Follow the show and submit questions for our experts at wherebeforemeetsafter.com. Where Before Meets After is a production of The Axis.