When I see patients doing a breast augmentation, I use my Vectra 3D software to show them a potential preview of what it would look like. To be honest, I think sizers are the way to get a preview, not a photo. But one thing many patients comment on is the size change in the colored areola on their breast.
Will it get bigger?
The answer is it depends. The areola is skin, just like the breast skin is skin. When you put a breast implant in, you are stretching the skin.
- The tighter your skin –> the more stretching —> the more areola size change you may see.
- But if you have stretched out your skin already (read: had babies, breastfed, weight changes, etc) and your skin is loose, the implant is essentially filling the already prestretched skin. Skin is loose –> you are filling the already stretched out skin –> little change in areola size.
So, the answer is it depends. Sometimes the areola gets bigger, sometimes it doesn’t. It depends on what your skin quality is, if your breast skin has been stretched out prior, and how big of an implant you are putting in. The same thing happens with pregnancy and breastfeeding. Remember the areola is just skin and will stretch just like skin.