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Anatomy of the Breast

In human anatomy, the breast gland exists in both sexes. The anatomy of the breast will be described using layers, from superficial to deep. The cross section below is of a woman's breast and chest.  This has been created to assist in helping a person understand how a woman's breast influences breast augmentation results and where breast implants are placed.

The breast skin

The skin covering the breast can be divided into layers as well. The most superficial layer is for water proofing and protection. The deeper layer of the skin, or Dermis, is for strength. The skin also has superficial nerves and blood vessels. The dermis layer has different thicknesses in different people. Typically the thicker the dermis layer, the stronger the skin is. The skin also has stretchable fibers, these fibers, are called elastin fibers. The more elastin fibers, the more stretch the skin has. These elastin fibers are responsible to return the skin back to its resting tone. When the elastin fibers are stretched over time like pregnancy, the breasts skin may become thinner. In some people the skin may not have enough elastin to return to its previous resting position and therefore, the skin will sag.

If the skin is over stretched too quickly, it may tear the dermis layer. When the dermis is torn, a stretch mark is created. This tear in the dermis can be seen through the thinner upper layers of the skin.

The skin also has opening or ducts that allow fluids to be secreted; these include the sweat and oil glands as well as the areolar and nipple specific ducts. The colored tissue of the areola and nipple is usually thinner and stretches more than the regular skin.

The breast gland and fat

Underneath the skin layer there is fat and breast glandular tissue and breast ducts. The amount of breast tissue compared to breast fat is different for every woman and also varies in a woman over her life time. As a breast develops it is mostly developing breast tissues. As women age the amount of breast tissue increases until the thirties. Then the breast becomes replaced with more fat and the breast glandular volume will diminish. This change over time makes the breast feel softer and less firm. So a woman may have a less firm feeling breast and saggy breast after breast feeding.

The breast also has blood vessels, nerves, and lymph nodes throughout the gland. The skin and nipple sensation come from nerves within the breast tissue. The breast tissues naturally lie on top of the chest muscles, then ribs and the lungs.

The inframammary fold or breast crease of the breast

As breasts become large enough in weight or volume, they will extend far enough away from the chest wall that the skin can not support its weight. When this occurs the breast will form a crease as the breast lowers or sags. The natural break point occurs not only from the weight but also because the breast has supporting fibers to help keep the breast attached to the chest wall. These connecting fibers create the structure called the inframammary fold. This fold is where the breast skin rejoins the chest wall skin. The fold is usually where a bra will fit comfortably under a breast.

Even before a breast is large enough to have a crease, it still has the important structure of the inframammary fold. The strength of the fibers on women is different. Some will have well development tissues and others may not.

In breast development, sometimes these folds are asymmetric or the fibers that make the fold are so tight that the breast can not grow larger in its lower half. These types of situations can lead to breasts that may have different shapes or sizes.

This is very significant because the breast implant usually rests on or very near the inframammary fold. So if the breast implant weight is too heavy for a woman, or the fold is weak, damaged or asymmetrically positioned. The breasts will have different looks of positions on the chest.