Since 1997
A custom breast prosthesis is a unique type of breast form designed specifically for an individual woman after mastectomy surgery.
Custom prostheses provide many advantages over standard, ready-made breast forms in terms of fit, comfort, and restoring one’s appearance and self-confidence. As a result, understanding the benefits of custom prostheses can help women make an informed decision after breast cancer surgery.
What is a Custom Breast Prosthesis?
A custom breast prosthesis is a breast form individually created based on a womanโs unique chest wall contours, remaining breast tissue, and overall body symmetry. Using advanced 3D scanning and proprietary engineering technology, custom prostheses accurately replicate the size, shape, and drape of a womanโs natural breast before mastectomy surgery.
Custom breast prostheses provide the most realistic, individualized, perfect fit of any type of breast form on the market today. They are precision-crafted to match the specific surgical site, body shape, remaining breast characteristics, and skin tone of each woman.
How Custom Prostheses Differ from Standard Breast Forms
Standard or ready-made breast forms come in a variety of symmetrical shapes and incremental sizes. However, these do not address the unique asymmetry and variances of a womanโs chest wall following mastectomy surgery.
By comparison, custom breast prostheses are one-of-a-kind forms engineered to address each womanโs post-surgical contours. The design process begins with a personal scan session using advanced 3D imaging technology to map the chest wall area precisely.
Computer-aided design and proprietary engineering then develop a custom prosthesis with the shape, size, and details needed to realistically restore the appearance of that womanโs bustline. And so when comparing ready-made and custom-made breast prostheses, this level of personalization in size, shape, and fit is what gives a custom breast prosthesis an edge.
Benefits of Custom Breast Prostheses
Custom breast prostheses provide both medical and quality of life benefits compared to standard, non-custom breast forms:
Perfect, Comfortable Fit
Every woman has a unique chest wall shape after mastectomy or breast-conserving surgery.
Standard breast prostheses simply cannot account for all the possible variations from one woman to another. This results in a less-than-optimal fit, discomfort, and prosthesis shifting that requires constant adjustment.
In contrast, custom breast prostheses are engineered to precisely fit the contours and asymmetry unique to each womanโs post-surgical chest wall. This achieves unparalleled comfort, security, and confidence in prosthesis wear.
There is no shifting or need for adjustment when the prosthesis contours to your body like your natural breast tissue once did.
Realistic, Balanced Appearance
A custom breast prosthesis provides the most realistic, proportional, and balanced restoration of a womanโs bustline and body symmetry. The entire design focus is matching the one-of-a-kind size, shape, and drape of your remaining natural breast. This helps clothing fit while giving you a beautifully proportional figure that reflects your body shape.
Custom prostheses prevent any visual cues that you have had a mastectomy, allowing you to maintain privacy if you wish. The result is beautifully balanced, natural-looking contours from every angle.
Restored Self-Image & Confidence
For many women, losing a breast to cancer surgery feels like a loss of part of their identity as a woman. Custom breast prostheses are designed to realistically replicate the size, shape, and drape of her own natural breast tissue. This personalization helps restore a womanโs self-confidence after breast surgery.
The ability to maintain privacy about their breast cancer journey further empowers womenโs self-confidence. With a custom prosthesis, no one but you has to know what your body has endured. This privacy and control support emotional healing for many breast cancer survivors.
Enables Desired Fashion Choices
Because they maintain the drape, proportion, and symmetry of your natural bust line, custom breast prostheses enable you to wear whatever clothing styles you like. Tighter tops, low necklines, strapless and racerback style clothing can all be worn as desired to reflect your personal fashion style.
Knowing that your prosthetic will not show under clothing or become dislodged during activity provides tremendous freedom and expression in personal style after breast surgery. For many women, this maintains a strong connection with the person they know themselves to be.
Lightweight Comfort
Custom breast prostheses are crafted using the latest engineered materials to precisely match the weight, texture, and feel of natural breast tissue. Advanced Silicone Technologies used in custom prosthetics result in lighter, more comfortable wear than traditional prosthesis materials. Lighter weight reduces neck/back discomfort from prosthesis wear as well.
Additionally, the form and fit of custom prostheses prevent unwanted friction, rubbing, pinching, or chafing even during exercise and high activity. The custom support and security enable women to maintain the active lifestyles important to them.
May Minimize Posture Adjustments
The weighted symmetry of a custom breast prosthetic prevents uneven muscle strain or spinal adjustments common with breast asymmetry. By balancing the weight evenly across the chest wall again, your posture may straighten with less effort.
Additionally, their superior comfort and fit means custom prostheses stay properly in place even during activity or exercise. This lack of shifting can further improve posture compared to constantly adjusting heavier standard prostheses.
Insurance Covered Cost
Custom breast prostheses require an upfront out-of-pocket investment ranging from $1000-$1500+ for the certification process, medical scanning, and custom engineering. The specific costs depend on the company creating the custom prosthetic, the complexity of the prosthesis design, and the type of materials used.
However, national and international studies show that custom breast prosthetics are considered medically necessary post-mastectomy restorative devices when standard prosthetics fail to meet a womanโs needs. This medical necessity allows the prosthetics expense to qualify for insurance coverage in full or large part.
Most major medical insurance plans in the United States and internationally cover all or part of the cost of custom breast prosthetics for participants. Certain healthcare flexible spending plans may also reimburse these expenses.
Finding Custom Prosthesis Providers
If considering custom breast prosthetics after mastectomy surgery, consult your surgeon or oncologist for recommended accredited providers in your area. Custom prosthetists normally work in tandem with local mastectomy boutiques and post-surgical retailers as well.
Leading global providers of custom prosthetics technology include Amoena/American Breast Care and Implanted Medical Corporation. Certified fit specialists from these brands partner with local retailers and medical facilities across the United States, Canada, Europe, and beyond.
Schedule consultations with certified custom prosthetist teams in your region to address concerns and learn more about the custom process. This is because the ability to convey unique sensitivities while visualizing realistic outcomes helps determine if a custom prosthesis is right personally.
Be sure the provider follows best practices for medical collaboration, safe prosthesis design and manufacture, and insurance billing procedures throughout the process.
When Custom Prosthetics Work Best
Custom breast prosthetics deliver the most benefits for women with:
- Extreme asymmetry between original and remaining breast size/shape
- Shifting/discomfort with standard prosthetics
- Medical complications from prosthesis wear
- Difficulty finding well-fitting, ready-made options
- Changing chest wall shape (ongoing reconstruction, radiation, etc.)
- Strong desire to precisely mirror the remaining breast shape
- Professional or personal situations requiring absolute discretion
The custom option is also ideal when desiring to show cleavage or wear revealing clothing post-surgery. Custom technology can create any neckline or clothing silhouette desired for your prosthesis.
It is worth consulting a custom specialist after any type of breast surgery resulting in asymmetry or discomfort with standard prosthetics. Even in cases where custom is not ultimately chosen, specialists can recommend the optimal standard prosthesis and after-surgery bra solutions given your medical and personal needs.
Conclusion โ The Merits of Customization
In conclusion, custom breast prosthetics provide substantial advantages in fit, comfort, proportional balance, discretion, and overall personal confidence after mastectomy surgery. They are the only type of breast form engineered to your unique post-surgical shape and remaining natural breast.
With custom prostheses, no detail in artistry or engineering is spared to make the breast form look and feel remarkably real. This delivers comfort, security, and confidence so a woman can move forward in her breast cancer journey with grace and optimism.
The upfront investment into custom prosthetics pays ongoing dividends in terms of restored self-image, body symmetry, and personal style options after surgery. Furthermore, as medically necessary post-mastectomy devices, custom breast prosthetics also protect against long-term discomfort that could require additional medical treatment.
Women owe it to themselves to learn more about custom breast prosthesis options and the possibility of insurance coverage after surgery. This is especially so when considering that those who proceed with the custom process often describe it as a pivotal step in taking back control over their bodies and lives again.
There is no need to settle for less than the very best, most realistic options in breast prosthetics today. Through custom technology, women can reclaim the natural size, shape, and proportion of their feminine form again. This personalization makes custom breast prosthetics for post-mastectomy reconstruction truly one-of-a-kind solutions for one-of-a-kind women.