Preserve™ by Motiva® is a modern, tissue-conscious approach designed to support your body’s natural structure while refining shape, restoring volume, and elevating proportion with a beautifully balanced result.
Innovation, Grounded in Anatomy
As one of the first practices in the greater Bay Area to introduce Preserve™ Breast Augmentation, SVIA® Plastic Surgery in San Mateo offers a more intentional, tissue-conscious path to enhancement. Our board-certified plastic surgeons, each with advanced aesthetic fellowship training, have completed dedicated hands-on education to thoughtfully integrate this technique into our comprehensive breast surgery program.
This approach prioritizes respect for your natural structure—supporting sensation, long-term tissue integrity, and anatomical balance—while still delivering the soft, elegant, natural-looking results that define the SVIA® standard.
What Is Preserve™?
Preserve™ Breast Augmentation offers a more deliberate approach to preparing the implant space. Rather than broadly dividing supportive tissues, this method focuses on creating precise, controlled pockets.
A More Refined Approach to Pocket Creation
Conventional augmentation methods often rely on wider dissection to accommodate an implant. Preserve™ embraces a tissue-respecting philosophy centered on precision and structural preservation.
This technique is designed to:
- Maintain the integrity of native breast tissue and ligament support
- Favor controlled expansion over extensive cutting
- Limit disturbance to surrounding muscle
- Reduce overall surgical trauma during pocket preparation
Using specialized instruments, tissue is gradually and carefully expanded to create an optimal implant space while preserving the natural structure that ensures long-term stability and softness.
Advanced Implant Design
Preserve™ is performed in combination with SmoothSilk® Ergonomix2® implants, engineered with progressive surface and gel technology to encourage softness, natural drape, and responsive movement that adapts with your body.
Emerging research published in Nature Biomedical Engineering suggests that implant surface characteristics may influence the body’s biological response to implanted materials (Doloff et al., 2021).
Early clinical evaluations of Ergonomix2® implants have also demonstrated reassuring safety data and aesthetically natural outcomes in breast augmentation patients (Szychta, 2024).
Preserve™ Benefits
- Graceful upper pole contour that elevates your silhouette—polished, never exaggerated
- Implants engineered to move fluidly with you, adapting naturally as your body shifts and changes position
- A meticulous, anatomy-respecting method that reflects a modern focus on preservation and long-term wellness
- Scaled enhancement tailored to your frame
- Outcomes that complement your natural breast architecture, enhancing your shape without masking it
Are You a Candidate for Preserve™ Breast Augmentation?
You may be an excellent candidate for Preserve™ if you:
- Are considering breast augmentation for the first time
- Maintain healthy skin tone with sufficient soft-tissue support
- Notice mild droop or pseudoptosis, and would like added fullness without necessarily undergoing a lift
- Have not had previous breast surgery
- Have mild asymmetry or naturally smaller breast volume
- Prefer a subtle, natural-looking enhancement with an emphasis on structural integrity and long-term support
Preserve™ may not be the ideal approach if you:
- Have significant skin laxity or very thin, fragile breast tissue
- Have experienced substantial weight loss that compromised natural breast support
- Have connective tissue conditions that weaken ligament strength
- Present with moderate to advanced ptosis (Grade III or higher), where a breast lift would likely provide a more appropriate correction
- Desire a dramatic increase in size beyond what your anatomy can safely and proportionately accommodate
Why Choose SVIA® Plastic Surgery in San Mateo?
Dr. Jerome H. Liu and Dr. Tom S. Liu are board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and have completed advanced aesthetic fellowship training—an achievement attained by only a select group of surgeons nationwide. Their education at nationally respected institutions shaped a philosophy rooted in precision, proportion, and long-term structural preservation. Our San Mateo location provides access to an accredited, state-of-the-art surgical environment where safety, discretion, and meticulous attention to detail guide every procedure. Care is supported by experienced anesthesia professionals and a highly trained perioperative nursing team dedicated exclusively to aesthetic and reconstructive surgery. From your first consultation through each stage of recovery, your experience is carefully coordinated and tailored to you.
As part of the SVIA® network, our San Mateo patients benefit from unified standards of excellence across our Northern California locations, ensuring consistency in surgical protocols, technology, and comprehensive follow-up care.
What to Expect Before, During, and After Preserve™ Breast Augmentation
Consultation
Your experience begins with a comprehensive, one-on-one evaluation. During this visit, we will:
- Assess skin tone, soft-tissue support, chest wall anatomy, and overall balance
- Explore your aesthetic goals in detail, aligning vision with what your anatomy can safely and proportionally support
- Review implant options, sizing considerations, incision placement, and long-term planning
- Develop a personalized surgical strategy so you feel informed, prepared, and confident in your decision
Preserve™ Breast Augmentation is an advanced, technology-driven technique. At our San Mateo location, investment generally begins around $18,000 and includes:
- Surgeon’s fee
- Use of our fully accredited surgical facility
- Board-certified anesthesia care
- Specialized instrumentation and advanced implant technology
Your final investment is determined after a detailed assessment.
Procedure
- Strategic Incision Design: Surgery is performed under general anesthesia in an accredited surgical setting. Incisions are most commonly placed within the natural inframammary fold, allowing precise access while supporting discreet scar healing.
- Precision Pocket Preparation: Rather than broadly releasing tissue, specialized instruments are used to gently and progressively create the implant space. This measured approach prioritizes structural preservation and minimizes unnecessary disruption.
- Implant Placement: SmoothSilk® Ergonomix2® implants are positioned using refined, no-touch techniques to enhance sterility and accuracy.
- Layered Closure: Incisions are meticulously closed in multiple layers to encourage smooth healing and optimal scar quality.
Recovery & Results
Because Preserve™ emphasizes controlled technique and tissue respect, many patients find their early recovery to be comfortable and manageable.
While every healing journey is unique, most patients can anticipate:
- First 48–72 hours: Mild to moderate swelling and a sensation of chest tightness.
- Around 1 week: Resumption of light daily activities.
- 2–3 weeks: Gradual return to lower-impact exercise.
- 6–12 weeks: Continued settling and softening of the implants.
- 3–6 months: Shape, contour, and movement appear increasingly natural and harmonious.
Alternative or Complementary Options
- Conventional breast augmentation using established pocket methods when additional expansion or implant customization is necessary
- Breast augmentation with lift (mastopexy) to restore volume while elevating and reshaping the breast for improved position and contour
- Breast lift alone to correct skin laxity and rejuvenate breast position without increasing size
- Autologous fat transfer for subtle, implant-free enhancement using your body’s own fat for natural volume refinement
FAQs
How is Preserve™ different from traditional silicone or “gummy bear” augmentation?
Will I still be able to breastfeed after augmentation?
Do breast implants affect mammograms?
How long can I expect implants to last?
What potential risks should I be aware of?
Can Preserve™ address asymmetry?
Are drains typically necessary?
What if I choose to remove my implants in the future?
How is Preserve™ different from traditional silicone or “gummy bear” augmentation?
Preserve™ refers to the surgical method—not just the implant itself. While cohesive silicone implants are widely used, this approach pairs a tissue-respecting pocket technique with SmoothSilk® Ergonomix2® technology to emphasize structural support, controlled expansion, and natural movement.
Will I still be able to breastfeed after augmentation?
Many women successfully breastfeed following breast augmentation, particularly when incisions are placed within the inframammary fold, and glandular structures are preserved. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), notes that breastfeeding after breast surgery is often possible, though milk production can vary from person to person.
Do breast implants affect mammograms?
Implants do not eliminate the need for routine mammographic screening. However, additional implant-displacement views are typically performed to improve visualization. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises informing your imaging provider about your implants so appropriate techniques can be used.
How long can I expect implants to last?
Breast implants are not lifetime devices, but they do not require automatic replacement at a set interval either. Many remain intact and aesthetically stable for years. Ongoing monitoring and periodic evaluation help determine if and when any future intervention is appropriate.
What potential risks should I be aware of?
Every surgical procedure carries inherent risks, even when performed with advanced, anatomy-conscious techniques. These may include:
- Capsular contracture (tightening of scar tissue around the implant)
- Implant rupture or deflation
- Infection
- Bleeding or hematoma
- Temporary or permanent changes in breast or nipple sensation
- Implant malposition
- Need for revision surgery
- Rarely, Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), most often linked to textured implants
Can Preserve™ address asymmetry?
Mild to moderate breast asymmetry can often be improved with thoughtful implant selection and precise pocket preparation. In some cases, varying implant volumes are recommended to enhance balance. More pronounced asymmetry may require additional surgical strategies, which will be discussed during your personalized evaluation.
Are drains typically necessary?
In most primary breast augmentations, drains are not required. Decisions are made intraoperatively based on your anatomy, the technique used, and overall safety considerations.
What if I choose to remove my implants in the future?
Explant surgery is always an option. Depending on your preferences and tissue quality at that time, options may include:
- Implant removal alone
- Implant removal with capsulectomy
- Implant removal combined with a breast lift
