The implant matters as much as the size

Most women in Somers start with one question: how much bigger? A second question shapes the result just as much, and it gets far less attention — which implant. What it is filled with, how firm the gel is and what shape it takes all change how a breast looks, moves and feels, and what looking after it involves in later years. Dr. Chang Soo Kim works through those choices with you at a free, private consultation at Bellava, 182 Route 117 Bypass Road in Bedford Hills. From Somers town hall, in the old Elephant Hotel on Route 202, the drive is about 13 minutes without traffic, most of it on I-684.

Saline implants

What is inside: sterile salt water.
In their favour: they go in through a smaller incision, and they need no long-term monitoring afterwards.
The compromise: they feel firmer, and they are more prone to rippling.
If one leaks: that breast becomes smaller over a few days while the body absorbs the salt water, so there is never any doubt about whether it has happened.

Silicone implants

Traditional gel is thinner and softer to the touch.
Cohesive gel, the firmer type often nicknamed “gummy bear”, holds together more and ripples less.
Shape. The commonest silicone implant is smooth and round. Cohesive implants also come as a teardrop, though some women find that shape gives them less cleavage and upper fullness than they were hoping for.
Surface. A teardrop implant has a textured shell so that it keeps its position; a smooth round one moves more freely within its pocket.

Decisions that apply to either kind

The volume is measured in cubic centimetres, but Dr. Kim weighs that number against the width of your chest, the tissue you already have and how far you want the implant to project, because one volume can look very different on two women. He also settles with you whether the implant sits over or under the chest muscle, and he generally places it through an incision in the fold beneath the breast, where the scar is well hidden. On average an augmentation keeps its shape for ten years or more, though any implant may eventually need replacing.

Your surgeon

Dr. Kim is a Yale School of Medicine graduate who trained in plastic surgery at Yale–New Haven Hospital, and the American Board of Plastic Surgery has certified him. Every augmentation he performs at Bellava takes place in the practice’s own surgical suite, accredited by The Joint Commission. Read Dr. Kim’s background.

Somers patients ask

Which implant will Dr. Kim recommend for me? The one that suits your body and the result you describe — something he can only judge once he has examined you.

How quickly will I be back to normal? Bellava’s guidance is that most women return to their regular routine within a week, and to light exercise after two to three weeks.

How do I arrange a consultation? Use the Request a Consultation button on this page, or call or text. Bellava’s patient coordinator calls you back to find a time, and on Mondays and Thursdays the office stays open until 7 pm. Before you come, look through Dr. Kim’s patients in the before and after gallery, the main breast augmentation page and Bellava’s page for Somers.

Breast Augmentation for Somers, NY