Choose Motiva by the Right Criteria, Not the Trend
Motiva is a premium implant with a strong following worldwide. But whether an implant is good and whether it is right for you are two different questions. U&U Plastic Surgery specialises in the breast, and we will walk you through Motiva accurately and honestly.
Medically reviewed byKikap Kim · Chief Director, Plastic Surgery
What Kind of Implant Is Motiva?
Motiva is a premium implant known for its soft feel. When the body moves, the shape follows naturally. Because the change between standing and lying down looks natural, it is chosen by many who want a result closer to the breast they were born with than to a constructed one.
U&U uses genuine Motiva implants brought in through official import channels. Our principle, though, is clear. An implant should be chosen for your build, the state of your soft tissue and the look you want, not for what is in fashion. In consultation we start by checking together whether Motiva suits the body you have now, and we explain the differences from other options such as Mentor and BellaGel exactly as they are.
What We Confirm Together in Consultation
Before you settle on Motiva, we go through the points below against your condition.
Is It Right for My Tissue?
The amount of soft tissue and the elasticity of your skin change which implant characteristics suit you. We decide together what comes first, feel or shape.
Size and Line
We set the size against the volume you want and the balance of your build. We also explain the characteristics of each line, such as Ergonomix.
Pocket and Incision
Just as important as the implant is the design of the pocket that holds it. We review the incision site along with approaches that reduce tissue damage (such as Preservé).
Authenticity Check
We show you how to confirm for yourself that the implant used in your surgery is genuine.
How the Process Works for International Patients
The overall path for Motiva surgery is the same as in our Breast Surgery Korea guide. It starts with an online consultation, and the implant is finalised at your in-person examination.
- 01
Online Consultation
Send us photos and the look you have in mind, and we will give you a rough direction, including whether Motiva is a fit.
- 02
In-Clinic Examination & Implant Decision
We check the state of your tissue with ultrasound and other examinations, then finalise the type, the size and the incision site.
- 03
Surgery & Recovery
Surgery is performed under anaesthetic management. We check your progress while you are here, and once you fly home we keep following it online.
After Surgery, We Look After Your Implants and Breast Health Together
Implant surgery does not end at the operation. U&U runs a care programme in which regular breast ultrasound after surgery checks the state of the implant and your breast health together. Keeping your Motiva in good condition for the long run is part of what we treat.
See Our Post-Surgery Breast Screening Guide
The order in which to read a Motiva size chart
The Motiva size chart is dense with numbers, and the first time you see it you will not know where to start. There is an order. What you look at first is not the cc, it is the width of the implant. The width of your chest and the base width of your existing breast decide the usable width first, and that narrows your options to one row of the chart. Choose the volume first and try to fit the width afterwards, and the result will not sit on your body.
Once the width is set, the next thing is the type. Within the same width, whether you take MINI, DEMI, FULL or CORSÉ changes the projection and the sense of volume. And within the same type, as the cc goes up, the width and height go up together. If you want to hold the width and raise only the height, the answer is to change the type, not the cc. Even if you have been told your chest is too narrow to have options, adjusting this combination sometimes opens a way.
What separates MINI, DEMI, FULL and CORSÉ
Holding width and height equal and looking only at projection, MINI is the lowest and CORSÉ the highest. For base width the order is exactly reversed. No one type is inherently the natural one. The same implant comes out differently depending on that person's tissue.
| Type | Shape characteristics | Typically considered when |
|---|---|---|
| MINI | The widest base and the lowest height | There is existing breast tissue and you want a naturally spreading shape |
| DEMI | Narrower than MINI in width, with more projection | The most used type in Korea. When natural appearance and volume are weighed together |
| FULL | Projection increases, and a spreading shape becomes harder to achieve | Distinct volume is the goal. Approach with care if cleavage separation concerns you |
| CORSÉ | The highest projection and the narrowest base | Marked asymmetry or pectus excavatum. The surgeon's experience matters especially here |
Why reviews of the feel disagree with each other
Watching someone squeeze an implant on video is some use as a reference. But what you touch after surgery is not the implant. It is your own breast tissue and skin lying over it. Put two different implants into someone with thick tissue, one on each side, and from the outside it is hard to tell them apart. Reviews split between firm, soft and a bit hard because the people writing them have different tissue.
That does not mean the material of the implant is irrelevant. It clearly has an effect. But the final feel is set together by the amount of breast tissue you had before surgery, the slack in your skin, and how the pocket for the implant was made. So in consultation we check the tissue you have now before we talk about product names, and then tell you the range of feel you can expect from that starting point.
What is decided before the product is
Where results diverge with the same Motiva, the reason is usually outside the product. These are the items we actually spend the most time on in consultation.
Designing the pocket
Which layer the pocket sits in and how wide it is made decides both shape and feel. Too large and the implant moves; too small and it is compressed.
Minimising tissue trauma
Even for the same pocket, the way bleeding and tissue injury are kept down affects recovery and the capsule that forms afterwards. Depending on your condition we consider approaches such as Preservé.
Incision site
Whether we open at the inframammary fold, around the areola or in the armpit changes both access and where the scar sits. The size you want and the state of your tissue are weighed together.
Correcting side-to-side asymmetry
For most people the two sides are not identical. We check in advance whether the plan needs a different cc or a different type on each side.
What to verify about authenticity and aftercare
An implant is a medical device that stays in your body for a long time. Wherever you have surgery, you are entitled to check the following.
- Whether you can receive the product details and serial number of the implant used
- Whether it is genuine stock through an official import route, and whether they will show you the proof
- The conditions under which the manufacturer's warranty programme applies
- Whether the regular post-operative check looks at the implant as well, or only screens the breast
- How contact and medical reports are handled if something comes up after you return home
- Whether the criteria and procedure for a possible revision are explained to you in advance
How Motiva, Mentor and Sebbin actually differ
Before you settle on a brand, it helps to see what actually differs between them. Below we set out certification, surface and the character of the feel. None of these is the correct answer. They are options with different properties.
| Implant | Certification | Surface and character of the feel |
|---|---|---|
| Motiva | US FDA approved | A fine micro texture gives it a very slight roughness. It is firmer and more elastic, and that property relates to its tendency toward rippling and rupture |
| Mentor | US FDA approved | A completely smooth surface. On softness and suppleness you can take it as ahead of Motiva, and that feel is why some patients choose it |
| Sebbin | European CE marked | An option used in Europe for a long time. CE is the European equivalent of FDA certification |
It does not have to be Motiva
This is the question we hear most often from people who found us while researching Motiva. My budget is tight, does it have to be Motiva? Our answer is no. Mentor, widely used in Korea, holds the same US FDA approval as Motiva, and Sebbin is CE marked in Europe. Taken on their own, all of them are implants with established safety.
It is true that there are studies where Motiva compares favourably on capsular contracture. But comparing favourably and other implants being unsafe are entirely different statements. Please do not read the result of a relative comparison as an absolute verdict on safety. We use a great deal of Motiva, but we do not operate with Motiva alone. We look at your budget and your tissue together and tell you which is the better fit.
So there is no need to arrive at consultation with a brand already chosen. If anything, arriving with a brand decided tends to turn the consultation into fitting your body to that brand. The right order is to look first at what suits your tissue as it is now, then see how many options that leaves.
Why the same cc produces a different shape
As you read through reviews, numbers like 300, 340 and 355 keep catching your eye. Many people collect reviews by cc to work out how much a difference of 20cc or 30cc changes the result. That approach will not give you an answer, because the same cc can come in a completely different shape.
Two implants can both be 300cc while one is narrow and tall, building fullness in the upper pole, and the other spreads sideways. The first suits a narrow chest, the second suits a wider chest and a larger frame. The breast shapes they create cannot be the same. So taking the cc number out of someone else's review and predicting your own result from it does not work.
What you should be looking for is not cc but the width and height that fit your frame. Dissatisfaction with size does sometimes lead to revision surgery, and when you trace the cause back, it is often a case of the cc being decided first and the body fitted to it afterwards. Reverse the order.
What matters most if your soft tissue is thin
People with thin soft tissue covering the breast worry about the implant being palpable or its edge showing through. It is true that the thinner the tissue, the more easily this happens. So they ask whether a better implant would show less. The answer to this problem lies not in which implant you use but in where it is placed.
Studies on thin soft tissue point in the same direction. When the pocket is designed in layers, with the upper part of the implant covered by muscle and the lower and lateral parts by fascia, palpability and visible edges are noticeably reduced. In other words, the same implant gives a different result depending on which layer it sits in and how.
So the thinner your tissue, the less the brand is what you should be checking in consultation. Check how thick your tissue actually is, what layer design will be used at that thickness, and whether that design is compatible with the size you want. If a brand is recommended before those three are explained, you are entitled to ask again.
Worth deciding before your consultation
Deciding the following matters more than deciding a brand, and makes the consultation far more precise. These are not questions with a set answer. The answer differs from person to person. The first two matter most.
- The outcome you most want to avoid. Whether it is rippling, capsular contracture or looking obvious changes the combination we would recommend
- The characteristic you most want. Decide whether it is a soft feel, a natural line, or clear volume
- Whether those two conflict. If they do, decide which one comes first and the consultation moves faster
- Where your budget ceiling is. Tell us the ceiling first and we can put only the options within it on the table
- How long you can give to recovery. A short stay changes which approaches are available
FDA approval is a starting line, not a finish line
Some people make FDA approval the single most important criterion when choosing an implant. It is a reasonable thing to check. But you should know precisely what that approval guarantees. FDA approval is not a permanent certificate granted once and left alone. Periodic review and post market surveillance continue after approval, and where surveillance identifies a problem it leads to a recall.
One manufacturer's implant was in fact recalled after surveillance raised the possibility of a rare cancer. By that point a great many people had already been operated on with that product. In other words, the problem was not visible at the time of approval and emerged only with time. This does not mean approval is meaningless. It means approval marks that a minimum bar was cleared, not a guarantee that nothing will happen from here on.
So in consultation we do not stop at telling you whether a product is approved. We also tell you what clinical evidence it was approved on, what follow up research has accumulated in the journals since, and what the manufacturer and the clinic each do if something goes wrong. You are choosing a medical device that will stay in your body for a long time, so that much is worth confirming before you decide.
Does the price buy what the price implies?
Motiva sits at the expensive end of the implants used in Korea. Here is what that price is for: the design of the gel and shell, the surface treatment, the identification chip included in certain product lines, and the warranty policy the manufacturer runs. That is what is inside the product price.
We will be equally clear about what is not inside it. The price of a product does not buy the result of an operation. Place the same implant and the outcome still shifts with tissue condition, the plane it sits in, and how the pocket is made. If you were told that choosing the expensive product means you can relax, you got half a consultation.
This is why we do not lead with product prices. We first decide what suits your tissue, then lay the options that fall inside that range side by side with their prices. Where the more expensive one is not needed, we say it is not needed.
The Questions We Hear Most About Motiva
- Is Motiva better than other implants?
- The accurate question is not which implant is better but which implant fits your body. Motiva's characteristics suit some people well, and for others a different choice is better. In consultation we explain the differences exactly as they are.
- How do I know the implant is authentic?
- We use only genuine implants brought in through official import channels. We will show you how to confirm the details of the implant that was actually used.
- Does choosing Motiva cost more?
- Prices differ by brand and by line, and Motiva sits in the premium range. The exact cost, together with size and the scope of surgery, comes as a personal estimate at your consultation.
- Does it really feel natural?
- It is true that Motiva is known for a soft feel. But the final feel is set as much by your own soft tissue volume and the design of the pocket as by the implant. In consultation we tell you the range you can expect given the tissue you have now.
- I already have implants — can I switch to Motiva?
- Yes. It can be done as an implant exchange revision. Checking the existing implant and the state of the capsule comes first, so if you tell us about your previous surgery we can be far more precise.
Start by Finding Out Whether Motiva Is Right for You
A few photos and the look you have in mind are enough. Whether Motiva is the right choice or another implant would serve you better, we will tell you honestly, judged by the body you have rather than by what is in fashion.