Why I Chose IDEAL IMPLANT for My San Diego Breast Implants

by | Oct 7, 2019 | Plastic Surgeon Feature, Testimonials - Clients

Hearing about a new type of breast implant is one thing, but learning about it through the real experiences of a plastic surgeon and his patient is even more helpful. Dr. Michael Rossi is a premier plastic surgeon who specializes in San Diego breast implants. He and his patient discuss IDEAL IMPLANT® Structured Breast Implants to provide an in-depth look at how it is changing the game for breast augmentation patients. The story begins with Dr. Rossi’s patient sharing her breast augmentation journey. 

Breast Implant Concerns

“I had 18 year-old saline breast implants that needed to be replaced. I’ve had two kids in the meantime, and after breastfeeding both of them, it was just time to address that. I’m a little jaded when it comes to silicone gel implants for a couple of reasons. First of all, when I had my primary breast augmentation, silicone gel implants weren’t even offered on the market. Secondly, as a plastic surgery patient care coordinator in San Diego, I’ve seen a lot of cases of silicone gel implant ruptures and leaks that are just quite messy and I just knew ultimately silicone gel was not an option for me.” 

Why Silicone Gel Implants Weren’t for Me

“I had two main concerns that led me to not want a silicone gel implant. Number one: I did not want to have an MRI every three years to check on it. I’m a mother of two, I work, and I don’t have time to worry or think about what’s in my body. Number two: the rupture cases that I’ve seen while working for a plastic surgeon and the amount of cleanup that he has to do for some of them is pretty gross.” 

Finding the Right Fit With IDEAL IMPLANT

“I first learned about IDEAL IMPLANT through my work as a patient care coordinator, and working with Dr. Rossi. He worked closely with the IDEAL IMPLANT reps and he knew my concerns about silicone gel, so he suggested it as a good option for me to ease any qualms I had. And so he and I worked together to make sure it was a good fit for me, for my body.

“I have very limited breast tissue, so that was a concern with my old saline implants. But now with  the IDEAL IMPLANT, I don’t feel like I have any concerns as far as rippling, even though I do have minimal breast tissue. It was a collective effort between Dr. Rossi and I finding the best suited implant for my concerns and my wants and needs.”

Why I Love My IDEAL IMPLANTS

“I feel like I got the best of both worlds with the IDEAL IMPLANT. My breasts feel soft, they feel natural, and I also have the peace of mind that I don’t have to worry if anything were to happen to them. I also didn’t want to have to get an MRI every three years just to double check on my implants. I know exactly what’s going on with them right now every day, so I’m very much excited for that.”

My Procedure

“I had the surgery done on April 2, so I’m just at about 12 weeks now. I feel better than ever. I always joke with Dr. Rossi, “I wish I had this done 10 years ago,” and he says, “Then you wouldn’t have had me”. And I love that because everything happens for a reason and timing is everything. I truly am so grateful for the outcome. My recovery was super easy. I did have to get a full lift, so I have the full anchor scar which can be concerning to some women, but it was necessary. Dr. Rossi and I agreed that it was the best option for what I wanted because I did want to go smaller. The recovery was great. It was actually really, really easy, and I would do it again.

“The main reason why I chose to have a breast lift is because I wanted to go smaller. After having two children, the skin stretching was just a little too much. I just wanted to go back to my previous size so I could feel like myself again. I think the biggest concern that most women have about a full breast lift is the scarring. But that’s why you seek out a highly reputable surgeon with impeccable suturing skills like Dr. Rossi. He does all the suturing himself, which says a lot about his style. I think that’s why I have the outcome that I do and why I am so okay with having these scars. And I know that with my fair skin, over time they’ll just fade to nothing.”

The Recovery

“To be really honest, my recovery has truly been a walk in the park, and I’m not just saying that. I mean, I’m sitting here three months out, and I don’t even wear a bra anymore – they are perfect. My breasts stay exactly where they need to be, and I don’t ever have to worry about them. So, it was maybe a couple of days of some discomfort, but it was nothing that a pain medication couldn’t fix. I went back to work five days later, and felt totally fine.”

My Advice 

“It’s important to know that you have a choice and you have options, and it’s not what we’re used to hearing all these years. Breast implant technology has come a long way, and now you can get the best of both worlds with the IDEAL IMPLANT. You can get the softness, you can get the perkiness, and still have that peace of mind knowing exactly what your implants are doing any day. I think women need to know that there is more than one option, and they can have a saline-filled structured implant without having to worry about rippling or that water balloon bag look that used to come with the old school saline implants.

“I think it’s really important to seek out a doctor that is doing this regularly and has a sincere passion for it. And that’s why I sought out Dr. Rossi to do my case. I also feel like it’s important that the breasts look natural, they feel soft, and that they don’t pose any health risks. There are no health concerns connected to the IDEAL IMPLANT, so that should be option number one for anyone who is worried about that. I know there are a lot of things you hear in social media about breast implant illness, or other concerns, but it gave me peace of mind knowing that the IDEAL IMPLANT has no connections to any adverse effect. It requires no monitoring, and has no new known association of complications, which I think is really important.”

Why I Chose Dr. Rossi

“I had multiple consultations with very reputable surgeons, and I felt like every single consultation was exactly the same. It felt like a one-size-fits-all approach. They were all very nice, but I never felt like they were truly listening to my concerns or to my wants, and they weren’t very patient with my questions.

“When I found Dr. Rossi, he was so willing to answer all my questions very patiently and he was very honest about my options. It definitely was not a one-size-fits-all approach. You have to connect with your surgeon. You need to find a surgeon that is passionate about his craft, and lives and breathes it every single day. Dr. Rossi is super charismatic, very charming, and probably one of the best surgeons in San Diego, and I’m lucky that I had the opportunity to work with him.”

At his practice in San Diego, Dr. Michael Rossi helps his patients achieve their cosmetic goals with his perfectionist approach and surgical artistry. He has advanced experience with different types of breast implants and offers an expert opinion about the IDEAL IMPLANT. 

Meet Dr. Rossi

“I’m originally from Chicago, Illinois. I completed my general surgery training in Chicago, followed by a highly intensive program there. My plastic surgery training was in Houston, Texas, in the biggest medical center in the world. That’s where I got my first real, extreme experience with cosmetic surgery. There’s a huge market for plastic surgery in Texas, and I really fell in love with the cosmetic surgical fields, breast surgery in particular.

“I’ve always had a knack for the cosmetic aspect of surgery, but I also really enjoy talking to my patients. I feel like a big part of my practice is helping patients connect the work that is done on their body with their mind, as far as how they feel they should look. That’s the biggest thing about my practice – making sure my patients feel that balance between the mind and the body.”

A Personal Approach

“I am very big on conversation with my patients and making a connection with them. I don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to my patients. I spend an hour to an hour and a half with all my consults so we can get to know each other. I really get to know them on a personal level first, and that helps lead me to a lot of my answers.

“So if they are big into crossfit, if they carry their child around, if they don’t like to work out much, if they surf, if they hike, all these different things tell me a little bit more about their lifestyle. This helps me know what style of implant, what kind of approach, and what pocket to use. I use that information to then lead me to my measurements, which I’m very meticulous about. Then we discuss what it is that they want to accomplish.

“A big part of my mantra is the natural appearing breasts. Most women here don’t want to look overstuffed or augmented, they want to have a natural look. So I spend a lot of time analyzing my patient’s full body from their shoulders to their waist and hips, and explain to them what size, shape, and contour would be best to fit that whole package.”

My Introduction to IDEAL IMPLANT

“At baseline, I’m a bit of a science nerd. I really like to do my research, read journal articles, and see data out there. On Instagram I saw some posts from colleagues about IDEAL IMPLANT and when I learned what the implant was, it was fascinating to me. I thought it was a brilliant idea.

“So I did my own research on the IDEAL IMPLANT, and it really made me feel good that it was developed by a plastic surgeon. Because I think surgeons think very differently, more outside the box compared to the big corporations. I’m very patient centric, and I trust other plastic surgeons who are doing the same work I’m doing, and who also care about their patients. Whereas sometimes I think although companies want to make a good product, the bottom line is about making money. I got a sense of comfort seeing that IDEAL IMPLANT was made by a plastic surgeon.”

A Look at Silicone Gel Implant Rupture

“When I first came to San Diego, some of my biggest cases where these big revision cases. These women would come to me who had other consultations where they weren’t even told that they had capsular contracture. So they were a little shocked when I told them their implants were ruptured. Sure enough, almost every time I operated, they had an older model silicone gel implant where the gel wasn’t as cohesive. And not only did they rupture, but here’s the scary part: the older silicone gel implants’ shell actually sweat. Even though you can’t see a defined rupture within the implant, you can see that there’s this gooey gel-like sweat that’s outside the implant within a hard calcium capsule around it.

“That situation creates quite a problem for these patients. These types of patients are the ones you’ll see with implant related illness as a reaction to the silicone gel. The body walls it off appropriately, it just makes for very lopsided, unattractive looking breasts that are imbalanced. Many times it will progress to a grade four capsular contracture, which creates pain in the breasts. I have seen a lot of that. That is one thing that’s nice about IDEAL IMPLANT; that’s not something you have to worry about.”

Guiding My Patients Decisions 

“I’m seeing a lot of women who are mistrusting of silicone gel because of the news we keep hearing about breast implant related illness, capsular contracture, and now there’s ALCL. All these things are real concerns. With everything that is going on, the conversations I have with my patients have changed a lot over the past year. Women who want the IDEAL IMPLANT  tend to be women who like to feel very natural.They feel safer knowing that there is an inert substance within their body and that they don’t have to worry about getting MRIs because there’s no chance of a foreign substance such as silicone gel leaking into their body.

“With that said, I’m still using a lot of silicone gel in my practice because the silicone gel implant technology has changed drastically, in particular, in the last three to five years. But if a patient really is averse to having silicone gel in her body, then it’s a very natural decision for me. The only saline implant that I really would ever consider using moving forward is IDEAL IMPLANT. The engineering behind it, the shape, the smooth surface, and the decreased rippling make it superior to other saline implants on the market.”

Professional Experience With IDEAL IMPLANT

“The concavity of the bottom of the IDEAL IMPLANT really fits nicely with the chest wall. It gives a very nice lateral breast, nice medial cleavage, and it feels more natural than typical saline implants. For me, the biggest difference is the adjustment of filling the IDEAL IMPLANT, which many surgeons who use primarily silicone gel implants aren’t as familiar with. Once you can adjust to that and know what that looks like inside the body, then it’s no different than every other implant that you place. It just has a different sort of profile, that’s all.”

My IDEAL IMPLANT Patients

“My patients who choose IDEAL IMPLANT are extremely happy. They feel it’s very natural.They’re getting a well-engineered implant made with an inert substance in their body that they don’t have to worry about. They really seem to have an extra level of satisfaction. The shape is really beautiful in the right patient, and the feel is much more natural than saline implants. Overall, my IDEAL IMPLANT patients have all been 10 out of 10 satisfied, which is what I shoot for with every patient. There are no variants and there’s no fall off with IDEAL IMPLANT for sure.”

Giving My Patients the Very Best

“My goal is to create very happy patients and to take really good care of them. If that means using very high end breast implants that I trust, if it means spending the extra time with them to coax them through their anxieties and fears, whatever it may be, I have the energy and the passion for all of that. This is all I would ever want to be doing.”

Learn More About San Diego Breast Implants With Dr. Michael Rossi

Considering breast implants in San Diego? Contact Dr. Michael Rossi today to discuss your options. Simply call 858-997-0085 or visit sandiegoface.com. Dr. Rossi’s office is located at 3252 Holiday Court, Suite 206, La Jolla, CA, 92037. Call today for more information on IDEAL IMPLANT ® Structured Breast Implants.