Boo Boobs

Posted: Wednesday 13 April 2011 12:48pm

In the early 90s, a very pretty but otherwise unremarkable young blonde became an international pin-up sensation for her role in an unremarkable TV show, Baywatch. This show also became an international sensation, it could be said, on the back of this young blonde’s front.

When describing Pamela Anderson as otherwise unremarkable, that’s not entirely fair: she did have an extraordinarily large pair of breast implants for her tiny frame, and which filled out her trademark red swimsuit spectacularly. These implants (albeit different sizes over the ensuing years) have been at the front and centre of her notoriety ever since.

It’s a gimmick that has worked similarly well for other ambitious young wannabes; for instance, British glamour model Jordan (now known as Katie Price) and US TV starlet Heidi Montag, whose breasts now resemble bowling balls, one of 10 cosmetic surgery procedures she had in a day to morph into a Hugh Hefner girlfriend clone, whether or not that was her intention.

Both women, as Pamela, have had hugely inflated media coverage in proportion to their actual achievements. That’s showbiz, and it worked for them.

Unfortunately it didn’t quite work for Tori Spelling. Stepping out in New York the other evening (above) in a low-cut halter dress, the reality TV star looked a little, shall we say, deflated.

In a confession that surprised no-one given her perversely sunken chest, the former Beverly Hills 90210 actress admitted only last year that she’d had implants in her 20s. And, boy, did they go wrong.

Click here for our celebrity boo boobs photo gallery: Tori, Heidi Montag (above) and many more.

With a Dad as rich as hers was – legendary TV tycoon Aaron Spelling – you have to marvel at why she hasn’t had a breast correction.

We asked three leading plastic surgeons for their prognosis of Tori’s dilemma; a cautionary tales for anyone considering breast augmentation.

Dr Robert Drielsma, Sydney Cosmetic Plastic Surgery:

Tori Spelling has long been considered the poster girl for breast augmentation surgery gone wrong. It’s been rumoured that she suffers from the congenital deformity Pectus Excavatum. This is where ribs and the sternum grow abnormally, making the chest look dented.  Sometimes the tendency is to insert large implants to cover the deformity but this often makes the deformity more visible.

However, these latest photos may simply show the results that fluctuating weight changes and pregnancy can have on breast size and shape and implants.

Certainly with pregnancy women’s breast shape and size change, irrespective of whether women have had breast augmentation or not.

Many women find that their breasts sag after pregnancy and breast feeding and that they lose breast tissue volume. Women with implants often find their implants drop. This can cause the breasts to look droopy and saggy and for women with implants this appearance can be accentuated.

If you have breast augmentation and then go on to have children and breast feed you need to take into consideration that you may need a breast lift with implants to help lift, tighten and rejuvenate the appearance of your breasts. Tori Spelling is a classic example of a woman who would benefit from a breast lift with implants following the birth of her two children.

Dr Steve Merten, Pure Aesthetics, Sydney:

It looks like Tori has “capsular contracture” around her left breast implant, that is, the tissues around the implant are hardening and shrinking. It also looks like her implants are in front of the chest muscle, and given how thin her tissues are here, this is making the problem more obvious. As she has had a number of previous operations, it may even be more complex than that. These problems are best avoided by judicious selection of implants and positioning, but may need further corrective surgery.

Dr Benjamin Norris, Silkwood Medical, Sydney:

Tori Spelling has had a well-documented history of rapid weight loss and moderate gain again. The yo-yo changes in her weight will have played havoc with the quality of the breast tissues supporting her implants. In my opinion the implants are too large for the quality of her tissues and her frame. Her tissues are no longer supportive of her implants allowing descent of the implants into the bottom of what is an essentially loose envelope of skin and fat. There is clear visibility of the implant edges and also of apparent rippling over the inner aspect of the left implant.”

However, sanity does tend to prevail in Australia on the augmentation, er, front.

“The average Australian woman wants to look quite natural and realistic. More often than not, patients tend to bring photos of [celebrities] they DON’T want to look like!”, says plastic surgeon Dr Michael Miroshnik.

“There are two broad groups of ‘typical’ patients,” he says. “One group is women in their early to mid-20s, nulliparous [have never given birth] and who want to enhance their appearance. They want more volume, more cleavage, more upper pole fullness. They basically want to look spectacular in a bikini – especially those who live near beaches. This group tends to go for the larger, high projecting round implants.

“The second group comprises women who are a little older, have had children and, after breastfeeding, want to restore the volume they have lost. This group usually wants to look uber-natural and may often need a degree of lift too. They tend to go for anatomical (teardrop) implants.”

Unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved or of what implant shapes and sizes are appropriate for their bodies, and motives for surgery that are not necessarily in the patient’s best interests are also factors that can be put in the potential “risk” category.

“I try to divide motivating factors for those seeking cosmetic plastic surgery into internal and external groups,” says Dr Miroshnik.

“Internal motivators are those women doing it for themselves, to enhance their appearance and make themselves feel great. They have often been thinking about it for a while and are very clear in what they hope to achieve from their surgery. From a plastic surgeon’s perspective, these women make the best patients and luckily form the majority of the patients we see.

“Conversely, external motivators are factors such as partners and careers, which give patients the incentive to seek surgery they would otherwise not be interested in. This is a smaller but dangerous group, because if the external motivating factors are not rectified by the procedure then these patients may not be happy. For these patients, surgery may not be the answer.”

by Jenni Gilbert

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