Trish: Great. Well, I’m here today with one of my favourite plastic surgeons in the whole wide world, and that’s Dr. Terrence Scamp who’s based in Esteem Medi Spa up on the Gold Coast. Dr. Scamp’s been kind enough to have a chat with us today about the next generation new implants that are on the market called the Motiva breast implants. We’ve been getting lots of inquiries from you guys, and often, you ladies out there, so I thought, well, who better to speak to than the boob guy himself, and that’s Dr. Scamp. Thank you so much for joining us today, Dr. Scamp.
Dr Terrence S: Hi, Trish, it’s a pleasure.
Trish: Oh, lovely. I’m glad. I thought, oh no don’t tell me I’ve lost him. Dr. Scamp, tell us, the Motiva implants, normally we don’t look at what sort of implants we’re having or I know most women that I spoke to don’t generally know what sort of implants they’re having put in. But why is it important for women to know or research which brand of breast implant they’re going to choose?
Dr Terrence S: I think there are advantages and disadvantages to implants of different types and if they know the pros and cons of each, they can make more of an informed choice. The Motiva are new, they’ve only been available for 12 months. But they’ve been in use overseas since 2010, a lot of people in Australia wouldn’t have heard of them. But the results from overseas and the results we’ve had have been great.
Trish: Which type of patient is best suited to the Motiva implants? Why do you choose to recommend them for certain patients?
Dr Terrence S: The Motiva is the safety first approach. The implant has been designed in such a way that the wall of the implant interacts with the soft tissues of the body to cause minimal irritation. Because of that factor, some of the long term complications that we’ve seen with other implants don’t seem to be appearing with the Motiva.
Trish: I know that they’re a little bit more expensive than the traditional “implant”. Why is it worth patients investing a little more in their implants initially?
Dr Terrence S: I think if they can get a better result, the price differential is not particularly remarkable. It’s a reasonably small amount. I think if they can get a better result with the Motiva and they like the soft feel to them, and the high safety profile, I think they’re all good reasons to go that way.
Trish: I totally agree. How is it that you actually help women to achieve a natural and a better full looking breast?
Dr Terrence S: I think at the start you’ve got to look carefully at the person, look at their breast dimensions, look at their breast shape, and then talk to them about the results they’re trying to achieve and choose an implant that’s going to fit the breast, not necessarily one that fits an idea they have in their head. It’s about matching an implant of any type to the breast size and shape, and trying to get to the result that they’re trying to achieve.
Trish: And hence, the ones that want the more natural looking breast shape. Is that what the Motiva Ergonomix implant can achieve?
Dr Terrence S: Yes, Motiva make two stars. They’ve got the round implant for a more profoundly round look to the breast, and sometimes, especially with the younger girls, they may prefer that look. But the implant that I particularly like is the Ergonomix, which although it looks round when it sits there, when it sits in the body, it moves with the breast and creates more of a teardrop shape because of the low viscosity gel that flows with the breast and gives a nice, real looking result.
Trish: Okay. There’s all this talk at the moment about texturing, smooth and firm covered, and hoping to reduce complications with implants. Or is there a different way to think about it? What are the main likely complications with surgery and how can that risk be controlled or minimised with the implants?
Dr Terrence S: The two complications we’re seeing with the more strongly textured implants, and also with the polyurethane coated, the Brazilian implants as they’re called, are light seroma where one breast will swell quite a few years down the track. And of particular concern, a small percentage, and it is a small percentage, only about one in 4,000 of those can go on to form a lymphoma, a tumour of white blood cells within the fluid around the implant. We think this is due to the interaction of that polyurethane or that rougher texture with the tissues of the body that results in the fluid formation and the stimulation of the immune response that leads to the lymphoma formation. The Motiva implant is designed in such a way to be as biocompatible as possible and has minimal reaction of the soft tissues to the wall of the implant and so the immune response is not turned on. There’s not a great inflammation around it.
Trish: Oh, so we might have just cut out there for a bit. So there’s not the inflammation around it.
Dr Terrence S: Yeah, so with the rougher textured implants and with the polyurethane implants, we see the surrounding tissues become inflamed to some extent. With the Motiva, we just don’t see that reaction.
Trish: Okay. That’s probably it though. But what is one of the features that you like best about the Motiva breast implants?
Dr Terrence S: Well, there’s quite a few things. Firstly, the gel is softer. Even though the implant is extremely strong, they’ve made it with a low viscosity gel, which moves with the breast and feels soft like the breast. This feels better and also gives a more natural look. Because of the design of the wall, the implant slides in more easily, particularly if we’re using a funnel to put them in. The incisions can be smaller as well. But I guess the overarching aim is the highest safety profile of the implant.
Trish: Okay. Have you done many of them? What have your results been like of the ones that you’ve done so far?
Dr Terrence S: They’ve only been in the country since about this time last year. Our experience in Australia’s relatively early. My initial impression is I’ve been quite pleased with the results, and the patients have been as well. Extrapolating from the results of people who’ve used quite a lot of them, 1,000s of them overseas, I’m expecting they’re going to do extremely well in the long term as well.
Trish: Yeah, of course. I totally agree with that as well. I hate to bang on about the overseas cheaper surgery, but what are the potential pitfalls of choosing so called cheaper surgeries, or going overseas for your surgery?
Dr Terrence S: Well going overseas, we see a lot of the problems with that. The most common issues are small complications that aren’t treated in time and become bigger complications. And that’s just because the patients are a long way from their surgeon, and they can’t get appropriate treatment.
Second sort of group we see, is people who’ve had an implant choice or an operation where we think well, it looks okay, but I personally wouldn’t have done that. We could have got a much nicer result by using a different technique, or a different implant.
And then the rare ones, the third group, which fortunately, we don’t see too often is just when you’re a bit aghast and you don’t know what was done. You wonder about the qualifications of the person that did the procedure. It’s hard enough for people in Australia to assess the qualifications of doctors here. I see that mistake made all the time. If you add the language barrier as well then it’s exponentially more difficult for someone to know how well trained their doctor is.
Trish: That’s so true, and you’re so right. Because it’s even hard enough for us to work out the doctors that are here. People say that they’re a plastic surgeon when they’re not, all the things that are going on in your mind. It freaks everyone out, but anyway. Totally, totally agree with you. Another question, what do you see as being popular surgeries over the next five years that you’re going to start to see more of?
Dr Terrence S: I think you’ll see expanding use of fat grafting. In the face it’s used a lot. I think it will be used more and more. I think more people that do face lifts include fat grafting with their face lifts because they appreciate that as we age, we don’t just sag. We sort of shrink as well. The fat helps to restore that. I think you’ll see more fat grafting in the breast as well, not as a replacement for an implant, but to enhance the result of an implant, to correct minor shape defects which are related to the original breast shape. I think you’ll see that more and more. I guess the other thing with the obesity epidemic, we’re going to see more and more body contouring procedures done because there are lots and lots of gastric sleeve procedures being done to help people shift weight. Then they’re left with spare skin that they don’t need. I think that again is an expanding field.
Trish: Yeah, that’s so true. I am one of those people who totally, totally understand that one. Just one last one because I know you’re really busy, and I really appreciate your time. It’s just the last question, I know you’re really busy. I just want to finish up with this last question. Why would you say that women thinking about breast surgery should come and talk to you?
Dr Terrence S: I think it’s important that people are treated as an individual, that a careful assessment of their breast shape and size, and also careful evaluation of what their desires are, where they’re trying to get to. And then assessment both with the examination and VECTRA 3D that helps us get a more precise grasp of the overall situation. The VECTRA across is great to give people an idea what a particular implant will do so they’re quite well informed before they have the operation that helps them feel more at ease and less anxious about going through the procedure.
Trish: That’s wonderful, I love the VECTRA. For those of you don’t know, Dr. Scamp did my breast reduction and we used the VECTRA then as well, so it’s fantastic. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today, Dr. Scamp. I know we’ve had a few little technical glitches on my end, so I’m sorry about that.
Dr Terrence S: That’s okay, you’re working. We seem to have gotten there in the end of that same thing.
Trish: Yeah, exactly. So ladies, if you want to find out more about the Motiva implants, or if you would like to go and visit Dr. Terrence Scamp at the Esteem Medi Spa on the Gold Coast, you can drop us an email to [email protected] or just look him up. It’s that easy. All right, thank you so much, Dr. Scamp. Bye.
Dr Terrence S: Thank you.
For more information, visit plasticsurgeryhub.com.au or email [email protected]. The material provided in this podcast is general information, and does not constitute medical advice, nor is it a substitute for consultation and advice from your own practitioner. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any medical illness. Any medical or surgical decision should be made in consultation with your own doctor or practitioner and not based on the materials provided in this podcast.