I Got 24-Hour Breast Implants, and It Changed My Life

The Boob Backstory

But first, let me really take you on my journey to get to a mind-set in which I would consider altering my body — even for just a day. My blouses have gaps around the neckline; my swimsuits include lumpy, "floating" pads; and I still qualify for training bras. Sexy hasn't been a feeling that comes easily to me. In fact, I wasn't comfortable going topless in front of a guy until I turned 22. I am the ideal textbook candidate for breast implants (something I have been dreaming about since high school). But am I ready for the physical, emotional, and financial commitment that comes with plastic surgery?

So by the time I was introduced to Manhattan plastic surgeon Dr. Norman Rowe and his Instabreast treatment, I felt grateful that there could be a trial-run solution to my lifelong insecurities. Dr. Rowe had identified a problem in women like myself: there were limited options for us to see how we would look if we actually got breast implants. We could wear a seriously padded bra or look at a photoshopped image of ourselves presurgery, but there was no way to actually test-drive the feeling of larger breasts.

Dr. Rowe's brilliant plan started with facial fillers. He would inject his patient's faces with saline so that they could see what they'd look like with plumper laugh lines, lips, and the like. And then it clicked that the same strategy could work on the body. "Before we perform surgery on the breast, we inject local anesthesia with [saline], and I always thought to myself after I injected it, 'Well, it looks great, I'm done! Let's go home,'" he joked. "But, since it looks that good, I realized it would be great if the patient was awake and could get an idea of what she wants." Thus, Instabreast was born! Source: Emily Orofino

How Much Do They Cost?

The treatments costs $2,500 for 24 hours of boobs (that ends up being a little over $100 an hour). However, a permanent breast augmentation in Manhattan runs about $10,000, so this is just a fraction of the price to test them out and hopefully be sure with your decision.

Dr. Rowe said about 75 percent of patients get actual breast implants after experiencing Instabreast. "I think the reciprocal of that is probably more important," Dr. Rowe pointed out. "Twenty-five percent of the patients that I do the Instabreast on end up saying 'no, breast implants are not for me.' Those patients might not have had any other way of figuring out they don't want implants other than having had plastic surgery." This service helps decrease the risk of boob-job buyer's remorse.

Is It Safe?

Obviously, I had a lot of questions before I went under the needle. Is it safe to freely inject saline into the body? "Saline is naturally in our body — the vast majority of our blood is sodium chloride," explained Dr. Rowe. "And your body has compartments, the breasts being a very big compartment." In the same way that an implant doesn't slide around in the body, the saline injection stays put above the inframammary crease (where your breasts meet your ribcage) and above each pectoral muscle.

Where Do the Boobs Go After 24 Hours?

Moving on: how does the saline leave the body? Turns out, after your body fully absorbs it, you just pee it out. You'll start seeing your breasts minimize at about hour 18, and, no, you won't constantly be running to the bathroom — it's considerably less fluid than you're supposed to drink each day. Finally, would I get stretch marks? Dr. Rowe assured me that the enhancement wouldn't last long enough to permanently stretch my skin.

Armed with all this info, I headed into Dr. Rowe's Upper East Side practice on a Thursday afternoon armed with a low-cut top, a small amount of anxiety, and a goal of getting a C cup.

"You're here for the Instabreast?" chirped the receptionist. "I got it done a few weeks ago — it was amazing!" I already felt better. Once I sat down with the doctor, I was especially calm. Dr. Rowe had a wonderful bedside manner and made conversation as he took my measurements. After he evaluated the width of each breast and distance between my nipples, I was ready for surgery. He planned to focus on the upper inner breasts to give me cleavage and extra fullness on the sides (sexy side boobs!).

The Procedure

(Disclosure: This is the part where the easily queasy should stop reading.) The area was sterilized, and he injected directly above each areola with local anesthesia. He then took a large syringe with a cannula attached to it — those are those superthick needles seen on reality television shows — filled it with saline, and injected it slowly into my breast at the previous injection site. I couldn't feel anything at first except the cannula moving around (no pain whatsoever!), but as Dr. Rowe slowly forced the saline in, everything started to feel really, really taut. Not painful, just very weird. Think of the skin as a balloon being filled with air (or saline, as the case may be), then imagine being able to feel that. I felt slightly panicky, but the doctor and nurse assured me I was doing fine, explaining anxiety was a common side effect of epinephrine, the local anesthesia they used. As Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" and Maroon 5's "Animal" played from the radio, I reminded myself that I couldn't chicken out after just one breast was enhanced.

At the end of the 30-minute procedure, my measurements had gone from 32-inch band, 33-inch midbust to 32-inch band, 35.5-inch midbust, which Dr. Rowe declared a "small C." He had injected 250 ccs of saline into each breast, the total equivalent of a Poland Spring water bottle. To get to a true C cup, he told me that he would have had to add an additional 100 ccs in each breast, but he held back because I was getting antsy during the treatment. Source: Emily Orofino

The Results

These images showcase what my breasts looked like after the saline injection. (Cleavage!) When I finally saw my Instabreast-ed chest for the first time, I was dumbfounded. The nurse applied a Band-Aid to each injection site, then gave me some gauze, which she suggested I put in my bra to soak up any temporary leaks. Over the next few hours, my left breast would slowly and steadily leak a mix of saline and blood, requiring me to change the gauze every 30 minutes.

I put my daily bra back on and noticed that the usual gaps between my breast and the cup were filled in. As I walked down Park Avenue, I let my jacket flap open with confidence. Much to my (weird) delight, I was ogled on the subway — hey, it had never happened before! As I entered the office, one of my colleagues was so shocked by my new appearance that she spilled a water bottle all over her keyboard. Everyone crowded around me, asking what they felt like and how my experience went. And then I was left alone to finally appreciate my own body. I traced the upper contours of my breasts with my fingers in wonderment and enjoyed the new light bounce they felt when I walked.

The Reactions

At the end of the day after Skyping with my parents (who were still concerned for my bodily health after the treatment but impressed with the results), I headed out for some drinks, excited to take my "girls" out on the town.

I sauntered into the dimly lit bar with my boobs on full display, even lightly resting them on the bar like women do in movies. Neither the bartenders nor my fellow imbibers batted an eye, for better or for worse. (Hmph.) When my friends showed up, they greeted me with a blend of horror, amusement, and intrigue. They've all known me for years and immediately noticed the difference. "What did you do?!" one gasped. "Can I touch?" another friend asked.

But everyone was really waiting to see what my boyfriend thought — and when he finally got out of work and met us at the bar, he appeared ambivalent, though I knew he was just being discreet in front of my friends. "Are you feeling OK?" he asked gently. I insisted I was and then asked what he thought of my temporarily bigger breasts. "They're nice," he said carefully, but reminded me he loves me just the way I am.

As we all discussed my new boobs more, I reminded my friends that this story might receive hateful Facebook comments — like my last body-modification essay in which I "Kylie Jenner-ed" my lips. "If you get rude comments, it's ridiculous," my friend said. "This has been so positive for your self-esteem." And he was right. I hadn't felt so upbeat in ages. People know me to be a social person with a loud laugh, but I couldn't remember the last time I felt so joyful or giggled so much. But I also felt like Cinderella — and I knew time was running out! And that's when the soreness began to kick in. Source: Emily Orofino

After leaving my friends for the night (with a lot of Arrested Development quotes), I went back to my boyfriend's place. He looked at my chest with concern and then from a scientific standpoint — but not particularly a sexual one. He later said, "I felt like I couldn't enjoy them as much because it was painful for you, and the entry point of the needle looked like it hurt." Pressed further, he offered more opinions. "I like your breasts as they are," he insisted, "but if the [enhanced ones] truly make you happy, then I would prefer the implants." (Cue the "awws!" He's a great boyfriend.)

By the end of the following day, my breasts were back to normal, save a little tenderness. I'll admit it, I was really sad to see them go. I wished they had lasted longer so I could see what that was like. (Spoiler! Dr. Rowe is currently working on a procedure that will last three to four weeks, perfect for those getting married and going on their honeymoons.) But what I learned from the experience is that I am very, very interested in breast implants — and if I were to get them, I would want larger breasts than the size I tried for this story. "The most common complaint that I hear most from patients after surgery is 'I should have gone bigger,'" said Dr. Rowe.

This experiment taught me a big lesson in managing expectations. For example, when I lost a significant amount of weight several years ago, I didn't just magically look like a runway model — it was still me, just slimmer. The same holds true for breasts, apparently; just because breasts look a certain way on a celebrity or on a friend, doesn't mean that they'd look that way on me. Still, I loved my 24-hour implants, and Instabreast made it very clear to me that a larger bra cup would bring me a lot of happiness. I understand the importance of self-acceptance, but come on, ladies (and gents), isn't that easier said than done? If a lifetime of dissatisfaction could be fixed with one operation, wouldn't you be tempted, too? It's not about the attention — which I am sure many believe is a drive for augmentation. I'll admit that I did enjoy the extra stares here and there when I had a fuller bosom, but, honestly, the best "side effect" of all was looking at myself in the mirror with newfound confidence and body appreciation.