By: Scott Green, MD

If you’re planning a breast augmentation procedure, you might have heard of TUBA “scarless” breast augmentation and wonder if this technique would work well for you. The TUBA method uses an incision inside the belly button to insert breast implants, thus creating no incision or scar on the breasts themselves.

While this may sound like a good technique, in my experience it just isn’t the best way to get outstanding results from breast augmentation cosmetic surgery in Sacramento. In my experience, the aesthetic drawbacks and the additional technical challenges of the TUBA method easily outweigh any benefits a surgeon might suggest.

How it works: In a TUBA procedure, the surgeon creates an incision in the navel, and then uses special instruments to create a tunnel in the tissues between the belly and the breast, allowing him or her to open up a space for the implant inside the breast. A rolled-up saline implant is then passed through this tunnel, unrolled, positioned, and filled through a tube.

My perspective: There’s a good reason most breast augmentation surgeons near Sacramento and Folsom don’t use this approach – in general it just doesn’t create good results. Unfortunately, I think this procedure’s big “selling point” – no scars – can seem so attractive to patients that they can forget about all the other details that contribute to good results. Consider:

• Precision: With incisions at the armpit or the breast mound, the surgeon can adjust tissues according to what he or she sees and feels directly. With TUBA, the contact is much less direct because the surgeon has to rely on a camera for guidance.
• Options: Only saline implants can be placed using the TUBA method. If you are considering silicone gel implants, you will need to choose another implant method.
• Recovery: Recovery can take a little longer because a TUBA patient has to heal internally both around the implant and along the internal tunnel between the breast and the belly button.

In my opinion, TUBA just isn’t a good breast enhancement technique, and I think patients only choose this approach because they don’t understand what surgeons today can really do to prevent noticeable scarring.

My recommendation: A better option is the trans-axillary approach (with incisions made in each armpit). This approach is typically “scarless” or practically scarless because the incision is thin, short, and hidden. There are no incisions on the exterior of the breast itself, and a silicone-gel implant placed through this incision can create a much more attractive contour that looks and feels much better than any TUBA results I’ve seen.

As with any decision about plastic surgery near Folsom, I think patients need to consider all the factors that contribute to nice results – including minimal scarring – before they choose.