Richard V. Dowden, M.D., C.M., F.A.C.S.

Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery

Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery, Inc.
6770 Mayfield Road, Suite 410
(Mayfield Heights) Cleveland, Ohio 44124
(440) 449-7470


Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about
breast enlargement through-the-navel ( TUBA ):

What about filling the implants with fat or oil?

Attempts have been made in the past to use many other substances to enlarge the breasts, and these have not been successful. One approach was to take fat from another area of the body, and put it into the breast, either by injection or as a solid mass. This led to confusing lumps and x-ray shadows in the breast that could not be easily distinguished from cancer. Other experiments were done in which liposuctioned fat was used to fill a breast implant; this did not make lumps, but because the fat no longer had a blood-supply, the fat decomposed and led to serious infections. It is currently strongly recommended that no attempt be made to use any of these methods.

It is possible to use body tissue for the breasts. The most frequent way is to take fat, skin, and muscle from the abdomen, done in such a way as to maintain a blood supply for the tissues. This is usually reserved for breast reconstruction after mastectomy, because it has some strong drawbacks, specifically a long scar on the abdomen, and some degree of permanent abdominal muscle weakness.

Current experimental work is being done to evaluate the use of various vegetable oils to fill the breast implants. Theoretically this might have some advantage in making mammography easier, but there is great concern over the question of what happens if an oil-filled implant should leak. It may be several years before the answers to these questions are known. Implants filled with soybean oil were actually produced and used for a while overseas, but these are no longer on the market.



| FAQS: Breast Enlargement | FAQS: Breast Enlargement Via Navel |

| Dr. Dowden's Home page |

| Ohio Breast Augmentation FAQ's Index |


This page Copyright © R.V. Dowden, MD, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012.
This information may not be reproduced or distributed electronically or in print without permission from Dr. Dowden.

Note that while the information given by Dr. Dowden during a consultation is completely current and up-to-date, the information of this website is only as current as the date of last update, and therefore may become out-of-date.
6770 Mayfield Road, Suite 410
(Mayfield Heights) Cleveland, Ohio 44124
(440) 449-7470

Note: To ensure privacy for our patients, all of our outgoing phone lines have their caller ID permanently blocked; if your phone does not accept blocked ID calls you will not be able to receive any calls back from our office.

Last Update: 7:27 PM on 02/20/2012
URL of Dr. Dowden's home page: http://dr-dowden.com/index.html
URL of breast enlargement page: http://dr-dowden.com/main/augment.html
URL of breast enlargement via navel page: http://dr-dowden.com/main/tuba.html

Keywords: Breast implants through the navel; Transumbilical breast implants; Belly-button breast implants; Through-the-navel breast enlargement; Through-the-navel breast augmentation; Trans-umbilical breast augmentation; Trans-umbilical breast enlargement; Belly-button breast enlargement; Belly-button breast augmentation; Breast enlargement through the navel; Breast augmentation through the navel; Navel breast enlargement; Navel breast augmentation; 'Scarless' breast enlargement; 'Scarless' breast augmentation.