March 23, 2007 — Women report better sexuality and improved self-esteem
after cosmetic breast augmentation surgery, a University of Florida study
shows.

Cynthia Figueroa-Haas, PhD, clinical assistant professor at the University
of Florida College of Nursing, advertised for volunteers in the offices of
cosmetic plastic surgeons. Eighty-four women completed questionnaires on
self-esteem and sexuality before and after cosmetic breast augmentation
surgery.

Overall, the women didn’t have particularly low self-esteem or particularly
poor sexual function prior to surgery. But both aspects of their lives
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improved after they got breast implants.

“They were already OK with self-esteem and sexuality — they just wanted
larger breasts,” Figueroa-Haas tells WebMD. “They got increased levels
of self-esteem and sexuality.”

Figueroa-Haas bristles at the idea that it’s frivolous for women to want to
improve their body image. Body image, she says, is an important factor in a
woman’s self-esteem.

“A lot of people consider plastic surgery a procedure that doesn’t need
to be done. They say women should stay with their bodies and what God gave them
and be satisfied. I don’t agree,” she says. “This procedure does change
women’s psychosocial issues. There are differences in life satisfaction
between people with good and poor self-esteem.”

Figueroa-Haas reports her findings in the January/March issue of Plastic
Surgical Nursing.

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After getting breast implants, women experienced every measure of sexuality
more strongly, Figueroa-Haas found. After breast augmentation, women reported
significant increases in arousal, sexual desire, sexual satisfaction, and
lubrication.

Figueroa-Haas says women tend to be left out of the discussion when it comes
to enhancing sexuality.

“Improved sexuality is not all about men’s sexuality and Viagra,”
she says. “It is a subject women even have trouble discussing with other
women. But women who suffer sexuality issues feel like they are not feminine
enough.”

Despite the benefits she finds in cosmetic breast augmentation,
Figueroa-Haas warns that surgery cannot address serious underlying issues women
may have.

“This isn’t a cure-all. If you have underlying treat erectile dysfunction the best issues,
don’t run out and see a plastic surgeon. These issues have to be addressed
first,” she says.

That’s a very important point, agrees clinical psychologist David B. Sarwer,
PhD, director of the weight and eating disorders program at the University of
Pennsylvania. Sarwer has studied psychological issues surrounding breast
augmentation surgery.

“Sure, body image is an important part of self-esteem,” Sarwer tells
WebMD. “But self-esteem is based on all sorts of things other than body
image. It may be unrealistic to think that, just by having breast augmentation,
a woman will improve her overall self-esteem.”

Sarwer has found that women who seek cosmetic breast surgery have their own,
personal motivations. They are not, as stereotype would have it, trying to
please their husbands or boyfriends.

Sarwer says women considering breast implants should consider three
things:

• A woman should make sure it is what she wants. She should not seek plastic
  surgery under pressure from someone else.
• “A breast implant is unlikely to change women’s lives in any major
  way,” Sarwer says. “They may get some positive attention, but they may
  also suffer negative attention. For everyone who says you look great, there may
  be whispers down the lane: ‘She is too big, too showy.’”
• Some women seeking breast implants suffer from a serious psychological
  problem called body dysmorphic disorder: disproportionate concern over
  relatively minor physical imperfections. Both Sarwer and Figueroa-Haas warn
  that women must be evaluated for this condition before surgery.

And Sarwer warns that researchers are now becoming aware of a dark side to
breast implants: suicide.

“What we think is going on here, although we are not sure, is these
women have some pathology, perhaps clinical depression, prior to surgery,”
he says. “And when implants don’t improve their depression, these women
become suicidal. For women with profound underlying issues, there is something
going on here that is potentially dangerous.”