New York City doctor offers try-it-before-you-buy-it 'Instabreasts' prior to implants

NEW YORK (WABC) -- More than 313,000 women in the US had breast augmentation surgery in 2013, but now, there's a new procedure that offers enhancement without surgery.

Bigger boobs are something so many women would like to have, but the idea of going under the knife can be enough to dissuade many of them. And in response, one New York plastic surgeon is offering a much more temporary option.

A bag of saline can change a woman's appearance instantly, and Dr. Norman Rowe performs plenty of breast augmentations. But he also gives patients the opportunity to test out bigger breasts by injecting each breast with saline.

The needle goes in through the areola in what Dr. Rowe calls an Instabreasts procedure.

"I don't think there's any way currently available other than the Instabreast to give a patient an adequate representation of what a breast implant would feel inside of the body," he said.

To give you a better visual, imagine smaller-sized water bottles. Dr. Rowe injects about 8 ounces of saline into each breast.

Katie, 32, underwent the prod

"The first second, when I saw myself in the mirror, I was in shock," she said. "This is really my body?"

It was, in fact, her body, but only for 24 hours. That's how long the body usually retains the saline.

Katie liked her enhanced cleavage and felt sexier, and so she's decided to go ahead with breast augmentation surgery.

"I'm finding that about 75 percent of the patients that have the Instabreasts do go ahead and have the breast augmentation surgery," Dr. Rowe said. "But I think the reciprocal of that is probably more important. Twenty five percent of the patients who had this decided that breast augmentation surgery was not for them."

Dr. Rowe performs about six to eight Instabreasts per week. The cost is $2,500, which can be applied to breast implant surgery that runs about $10,000.

"For lack of a better term, try it before you buy it," Dr. Rowe said. "It gets rid of that buyer's remorse."

Instabreast can cause some bruising, and because a needle is used, there's a risk of infection. Detractors say they're concerned that if women repeatedly opt for Instabreast, it could stretch the skin. But Dr. Rowe says he's not interested in offering this multiple times to patients, though he is working on a longer lasting version -- called "Vacation Breasts -- that may last two to three weeks.

That may be even more controversial.