Kailyn, 31, chose the minimally invasive Preservé by Motiva technique. Here she tells PEOPLE all about it
Credit: Courtesy of Kailyn
NEED TO KNOW
- Kailyn, 31, long wanted to get breast implants but hesitated about the downtime
- After learning of the Preservé by Motiva technique, she opted to get the surgery done live in front of a group of reporters
- Two weeks after her procedure, Kailyn tells PEOPLE she’s thrilled with the results
Thirty-one-year-old Kailyn did something that not many people do — she got plastic surgery in front of a room of people as part of an educational moment.
The New Yorker traveled down to Costa Rica at the beginning of June for a breast augmentation after always feeling like her chest didn't match the rest of her body.
"I had small breasts my whole life, and also felt like they weren't kind of proportional to the rest of my figure," Kailyn tells PEOPLE following the surgery. "I'm curvier on the bottom; I'm pretty tall; I'm pretty muscular. I've never been the smallest person, so I had always wished for something a little bit more up top."
Credit: Courtesy of Kailyn
When Kailyn found out about the Preservé by Motiva method for breast implants, she was more intrigued than ever about undergoing plastic surgery. This minimally invasive procedure allowed for a breast augmentation with virtually no downtime. "I also have a friend who went through the procedure, and so being able to witness her recovery made [the decision] much easier," Kailyn says.
Thus, she traveled to Costa Rica — to Motiva's headquarters — for the procedure.
Her surgery was performed by Dr. Manuel Chacón — who helped pioneer the Preservé method alongside Motiva's founders, which includes brother Juan José Chacón — and Dr. Kamakshi Zeidler. The medical team operated on Kailyn in the facility's surgery theater in front of a group of reporters that included PEOPLE. During the procedure, Dr. Chacón and Dr. Zeidler explained to the room what was happening in real time.
Dr. Zeidler explains that they use ultrasound to guide with the procedure while the patient is under light sedation. The doctors made a small cut under each breast and then inserted a channel separator to move around the breast tissue. They then inserted a similar tool with a balloon on the end that is inflated to the size of the breast implant. This creates a space for the implant. The balloon is deflated and pulled out, and the breast implant is inserted. It's massaged into place before the incision is then stitched up. There is very little bleeding with this minimally invasive procedure.
The pieces that the surgeons use for this procedure are part of the Preservé toolkit, and Drs. Chacón and Zeidler advise against trying to pair those tools with any other breast implants. The Preservé implants are designed to be used with this toolkit, and plastic surgeons are trained specifically for the procedure.
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Following the procedure, Dr. Zeidler — who is primarily based in San Francisco — explains that with this technique, there is a smaller "zone of injury" to the breast because of the way the surgery is done.
"[In traditional breast augmentation, there is an] electrical scalpel that cuts through the tissue," she says. "When you cut through the tissue, you're disrupting this natural architecture. So you're basically detaching the breast from the muscle. … You're surgically lifting off this layer of fascia off the muscle. And then under the muscle, you're detaching the muscle all across the lower portion of the chest."
Dr. Chacón — who is based in Costa Rica — points out that one of the advantages of the Preservé technique is that it allows patients to get smaller implants than with a traditional breast augmentation. Motiva creates implants in a variety of sizes, including small ones for just an incremental increase to breast size.
"Everybody talks about how many CCs they put in, but now we can reduce the amount of CCs, use more of their native breast … to add volume," he explains.
Kailyn opted for 240cc breast implants.
Her surgery lasted less than 30 minutes (and could have been shorter if the doctors hadn't been explaining everything to an audience). At the end, Kailyn was brought out of sedation and sat up to see her breasts for the first time. Doctors also lifted her arms to make sure the implants were where they should be.
Kailyn tells PEOPLE that she has no recollection of any of this happening but had no qualms about being a live surgery patient and allowing a group of people to watch her procedure to further education on the technique.
Credit: Courtesy of Kailyn
That evening — just hours after her surgery — Kailyn joined the group of reporters for dinner in Costa Rica before flying back to New York the next day. In the hours after her procedure, Kailyn says she walked around a bit to work off the rest of the sedation and keep her body moving. As an active person, this felt right to her. And when dinner rolled around, she was ready to eat.
Upon returning to New York, she took a week off work and kept her exercise to a minimum while she recovered. By the weekend, though, she was back at it.
"Sunday, I was back in the gym. Did a leg day and was lifting 45-pound plates," she says. "The second week, I went for a run; went to SoulCycle; was on a trip with girlfriends. I ran this morning, I'm fully, fully back, and thrilled that I didn't have to take a lot of time."
Two weeks after her surgery, Kailyn is excited about her new appearance and her experience with the doctors in Costa Rica. She says her new breasts are "soft and gorgeous" and look completely natural on her body.
"It's really not dramatic at all," she says of her changed appearance, adding, "but it looks like something that I could have always had."
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