The Evolution of "THE BREAST IMPLANT"

It began in the 19th century when a surgeon named Robert Gersuny experimented with paraffin injections, only to stop shortly after when it leaked into other parts of the body.  A few years later, the first successful breast implant emplacement occurred when a surgeon harvested a benign lumbar tumor to correct breast asymmetry.   Moving on into the first half of the twentieth century, physicians began inserting, wait for it..... glass balls and even wood for breast implants. Yes, you did read that, WOOD!  Some even tried ivory, polyurethane, sponges, and ox cartilage.  You can guess the results of those attempts.  Next, doctors began trying non-surgical solutions for "the search of a bigger bust" with vacuum pumps, suctions devices, a multitude of lotions and potions, and padded or inflatable bras.  Now, the padded bra idea has really taken off, Victoria's Secret,  a secret no more.    Enter PLAYBOY magazine in the 1950s. It was the decade that a whole swathe of cultural influences came together around the idea of a larger breast, with the launch of Barbie and film stars playing a big role as well.

Her name was Timmie Jean Lindsey, mother-of-six, she laid down on the operating table at Jefferson Davis Hospital in Houston, Texas in the spring of 1962.  Over the next two hours, she went from a B cup to a C cup, in the first ever augmentation mammoplasty using silicone breast implants performed by Dr.'s Gerwo and Cronin. This operation made history, but at the time no one knew the magnitude of it.  Timmie Jean had originally been to the hospital to have a tattoo removed from her breasts, and it was then that the doctors asked if she would consider volunteering for this first-of-its kind operation.   At the time, Timmie Jean was more concerned about getting her ears pinned back because they stood out like Dumbo.  So the deal was struck, breasts for ears.  Following surgery she stated that they "came out just perfect...soft just like real breasts".  She didn't get the full results of them until after she went out in public and men on the street would whistle at her. The operation boosted her self-confidence, and she has enjoyed the extra attention.  Timmie Jean is now 80 years old and she still has her breast implants, she has a good thing going, why stop just because you are 80?

It has been 50 years since the first breast enlargement using silicone implants.  Today it rates as the second-most popular form of cosmetic surgery world wide,  having been undergone by 1.5 million women in 2010.  It started out somewhat barbaric, and with a little trial and error, but, because of those innovative minds of the past, women today have over 450 choices when it comes to breast implants.  Anyone need a consultation?

Danielle