Curated treatments and procedures support new confidence in your appearance—including the size, shape, and lift of your breasts. Our 360° approach to health, wellness, and beauty supports comprehensive well-being and function.
Request an appointment to talk openly and honestly about your body and feelings. Our team at Artisan Plastic Surgery and Artisan Beauté empowers women to live out loud, and we will create a personalized treatment plan that works for you.
Understanding the Basics of Breast Procedures
We offer several procedures for enhancing the appearance and physical experience of your breasts.
- Breast Augmentation: Enhance the size, shape, and symmetry of breasts.
- Breast Lift: Reshape and lift breasts and reposition the nipples.
- Breast Lift + Augmentation: Enhance the size, shape, symmetry, and position of breasts.
- Breast Implant Removal with Lift: Removal of implants and reshaping breasts natural-looking results.
- Breast Reduction: Reduce breast size to relieve physical and emotional discomfort.
Breast Lift vs. Breast Augmentation
A change to breast size, whether subtle or dramatic, isn’t the same as changing the breast shape. The following 2 procedures for breast enhancement in Atlanta produce different results.
Breast Lift
Women who come to Artisan for natural-looking breast augmentation can also choose to have a breast lift in order to reshape and lift the breasts while repositioning the nipple-areolar complex (NAC).
Doing this can decrease the “height” of the breasts, addressing the excess sling that causes droopiness while maintaining current volume. This leads to a more youthful appearing breast
Our team of board-certified all-female plastic surgeons perform lifts via numerous surgical incision choices, such as:
- Peri-areolar (scar around the NAC) to hide the scar around the border of the areola.
- Peri-areolar with vertical extension (“lollipop incision”) to erase moderate sagging with minimal visible scarring.
- Full inverted T or anchor incision to address significant sagging.
The incision choice depends on the degree of ptosis (droop) for which the lift is indicated.
Measuring the Lift: Regnault’s Classification of Ptosis
One of the tools we use to determine how much lift will be needed for breast enhancement in Atlanta is Regnault’s classification of breast ptosis.
This list defines the degree of breast “droop” based on nipple and breast position in relation to the inframammary fold (the crease between the lower breast and the chest wall).
| Degree of Ptosis | Description |
| 1st degree | Minor ptosis, exhibited by the nipple appearing level with the inframammary fold. |
| 2nd degree | Moderate ptosis, with the nipple appearing below the inframammary fold but still above the lower breast contour. |
| 3rd degree | Severe ptosis, with the nipple positioned below the inframammary fold at the lower breast contour. |
| Glandular | The nipple remains positioned above the inframammary fold, but the bulk of the breast hangs below the fold. |
| Pseudoptosis | The nipple remains positioned above the inframammary fold, but the smaller breast has insufficient glandular tissue (hypoplasia) and may hang below the fold in a tubular or long shape. |
Each patient is unique, and the surgeons at Artisan take multiple factors into account. The most important factor: your desired goals for your renewed appearance.
Breast Augmentation
Breast augmentation focuses on increasing breast size and creating a fuller upper breast pole (the breast volume located above the nipple).
Your best approach to breast enhancement in Atlanta depends on the desired volume, the present volume, and any influence of ptosis (drooping).
Implants
We most commonly perform augmentations using implants (saline or silicone). During the procedure, the surgeons at Artisan masterfully place each chosen implant through a single incision—usually at the base of the breast. This location allows any scarring to be hidden in the fold under the breast.
Where the implants are placed—above the muscle or under it—helps define the resulting shape.
Over the Muscle
When we place the implant over the muscle (subglandular), it rests between the patient’s breast tissue and the chest muscle underneath. This works well for women with more natural breast tissue, which allows for a smoother result and a more dramatic increase in cup size.
We also recommend over-the-muscle placement for patients who exercise regularly and do chest-focused workouts. This decreases the chances of an implant causing muscle weakness or looking strange with contraction of the pectoralis muscle.
Under the Muscle
This submuscular placement technique inserts the implant behind the chest muscles, so the muscles cover and smooth the implants.
Submuscular insertion works better for women with less breast tissue, because it creates a natural contour that highlights the upper breast pole.
Dual-Plane Placement
The Artisan surgeons also specialize in custom, personalized solutions. To that end, we may recommend dual placement of implants, where the implant sits partly over and partly under the muscle.
Patients with thinner breast tissue or more mild drooping often benefit from the dual-plane technique.
Fat Grafting
This alternative technique for breast enhancement in Atlanta migrates a patient’s own natural fat cells to increase breast size.
Using liposuction, our surgeons remove fat from targeted areas (creating a dual-benefit of body contouring improvement). The fat gets purified and then strategically injected into the breast(s) for permanent enhancement.
Fat grafting requires smaller incisions vs. traditional implants, and takes less recovery time. It’s best suited for patients wanting a smaller, more subtle volume increase.
Related topic: Understand If Atlanta Breast Augmentation Is Right for You
Combining Enhancements: Lift with Auto-Augmentation
The auto-augmentation lift and augmentation technique uses a woman’s own breast tissue to create more upper breast pole fullness while adjusting shape and lift.
Though our auto-augmentation adds nothing to the breasts, it achieves a more youthful look while enhancing cleavage.
A Note About Nipples
Implants may lead to the nipple-areolar complex (NAC) appearing larger or wider. We will discuss this effect during the initial consultation and include aesthetic suggestions in the treatment plan.
One of our most popular aesthetic options is a peri-areolar lift at the time of breast augmentation.
Which Breast Augmentation Lasts the Longest?
When talking about which breast enhancement in Atlanta lasts the longest, our patients usually want to know more specifically which procedure creates results that look their best for the longest amount of time.
In general, implants last the longest—both for general longevity and for natural-looking results. As another benefit, should your aesthetic goals evolve in the future, we can perform breast implant removal or replacement to help your breasts match your changing body and vision.
All of our exceptional surgeons perform breast augmentations. Your surgeon will discuss all of the details for your recommended procedure so that you can make informed decisions.
How Does Desired Cup Size Affect Augmentation?
As implants enhance breast fullness and shape, they also stretch the skin envelope in the process. The larger the implant, the greater the stretching effect to the skin.
When combined with other physiological changes, such as weight gain or loss, breastfeeding, etc., the effects that passage of time has on larger implants may result in breast ptosis. This drooping of the breasts can be addressed with a lift paired with an implant exchange.
Our team helps each breast augmentation patient pick the implant size that achieves their desired appearance while suiting their frame and proportions.
That way, every patient can enjoy the best and most long-lasting results from their chosen procedures.
What Is the “45-55” Breast Rule?
If you hear this mentioned while discussing breast enhancement in Atlanta, the
“45-55” rule references a study that explored the preferred breast proportions for women.
The results concluded that the most preferred appearance had 45% of the breast’s volume above the nipple in the upper pole. The other 55% appeared below the nipple in the lower pole.
Interestingly, the studies showed that both men and women, from all ethnicities, preferred the 45-55 ratio over other proportions, including a 50-50 split. We take this into account along with your personal preferences when planning your augmentation.
What’s the Most Attractive Breast Shape?
The most attractive breast shape is the one that makes you feel most confident. There is no specific shape that’s universally desired.
As you choose that shape, we do recommend you consider certain aesthetic qualities including:
- Shape. A teardrop or somewhat rounded shape seems to be preferred.
- Size. Most women (and their partners) prefer moderate to large cup sizes.
- Symmetry. Breasts with equal proportions are generally considered more attractive. This may also be indicative for how they make clothing fit.
- Proportion. The 45-55 ratio applies here.
These can help you choose an augmentation that will please you for years to come.
Why Women Want Breast Reshaping
- Improve silhouette, for confidence wherever you appear.
- Restore fullness to address changes from aging or post-pregnancy volume loss.
- Adjust breast symmetry to improve appearance and comfort in bra and clothing fit.
- Enhance overall balance, so you love how you look every day!
Make Breast Enhancement Part of Your Mommy Makeover
Having a baby changes every aspect of your life. It also alters your body—sometimes in ways you don’t love.
Having a mommy makeover at Artisan Plastic Surgery and Artisan Beauté lets you prioritize your needs, too.
Your custom mommy makeover can:
- Improve a weakened abdominal wall
- Tighten excess, loose skin
- Bring back lift to sagging breasts
- Resize stretched areolas
- Improve the size of deflated breasts
- Keep the fuller-breast appearance from pregnancy
Some women even want a breast reduction along with their lift. We fully support moms in Atlanta, and we are ready to help you get back to feeling and looking like the best “you.”
Related topic: Banish Bat Wings With a Brachioplasty Arm Lift in Atlanta
Enhance Your Confidence
Request an appointment to talk about how you would like your breasts to look. You will share your concerns in a confidential space with female surgeons offering decades of expert advice.
About Artisan
Artisan combines refined approaches to aesthetics with the surgical arts to highlight your true beauty. Led by Dr. Alexander—co-founder of the first all-woman physician plastic surgery practice in Atlanta—we add an artist’s touch to every level of your self-care.
