[rev_slider alias=”breast-implant-revision”][/rev_slider]

Summary

Breast implant surgery to enlarge or augment the breast is done by placing silicone breast implants. The exact procedure is tailored to meet a woman’s individual needs. The choices include intravenous sedation and general anesthesia. The filling type, shape, profile, and size of the implants are discussed thoroughly in the pre-operative consultation. The decision of placing the incision and implant will depend on the type of implant, degree of enlargement, and body type. A breast implant will be inserted into a pocket either under or directly over the muscle. Incisions are closed with layered sutures in the breast tissue and with sutures, skin adhesive, or surgical tape to close the skin. Over time, breast implants can change shape, size, or overlying breast tissue. Patients notice that the appearance or feel of the breast is less desirable than the first result; therefore, many women will replace or update their breast implants after10-year.

Breast augmentation with Silicone implants or augmentation mammoplasty procedure can achieve three goals 1-the replacement of breast tissues damaged by trauma (blunt, penetrating, blast), disease (breast cancer), and failed anatomic development (tuberous breast deformity). 2-revision and reconstruction: to revise (correct) the outcome of a previous breast reconstruction surgery. 3-primary augmentation: to aesthetically augment the size, form, and feel of the breasts. When fat from another part of the patient’s body is used to create the improved breast volume, the procedure is referred to as fat transfer breast augmentation.

Breast augmentation is a cosmetic surgery procedure to increase breast size and enhance breast shape, typically through silicone or saline breast implants. From a cosmetic surgeon’s perspective, the goal of breast augmentation is to improve a patient’s natural proportions and create a more symmetrical, aesthetically pleasing breast profile. The exact procedure is tailored to meet a woman’s individual needs. There is no “typical” breast augmentation patient, and women choose to have the procedure for many different reasons—having larger breasts is just one of them. Breast augmentation is one of the most effective procedures to correct noticeable breast asymmetry, and breast implants can help correct tuberous breast deformities. Other common goals of breast augmentation:

  • Restoring breast fullness lost after pregnancy & breastfeeding
  • Feeling more confident in a swimsuit
  • Adding balance to better complement curvy hips
  • Enhancing self-image

What Can Breast Implant Surgery Do?

  • Increase fullness and projection of your breasts
  • Improve the stability of breast and hip contours
  • Enhance your self-image and self-confidence

What Can’t Breast Implant Surgery Do?

Breast augmentation does not correct severely drooping breasts. I may require a breast lift along with a breast augmentation for sagging breasts to look fuller and lifted. Breast lifting can often be done simultaneously as your augmentation or may require a separate operation. Your plastic surgeon will assist you in making this decision.

Who is the Right Candidate for Breast Implant Surgery?

Breast augmentation is a deeply personal procedure, and it’s vital that you’re doing it for yourself and not for someone else, even if that person has offered to pay for it. Patient satisfaction is high, specifically when they want the procedure themselves. You may be a candidate for breast augmentation if:

  • You are physically healthy, and you aren’t pregnant or breast-feeding
  • You have realistic expectations
  • Your breasts are fully developed
  • You are bothered by the feeling that your breasts are too small
  • You are dissatisfied with your breasts losing shape and volume after pregnancy, weight loss, or with aging
  • You are unhappy with the upper part of your breast appearing “empty.”
  • Your breasts are asymmetrical
  • One or both breasts failed to develop normally or have an elongated shape

What Should I Expect During Consultation for Breast Implant Surgery?

During your breast augmentation consultation, be prepared to discuss:

  • Why you want breast augmentation surgery, your expectations, and the desired outcome
  • Medical conditions, drug allergies, and previous medical treatments
  • Current medications, vitamins, herbal supplements, alcohol, tobacco, and drug use
  • Family history of breast cancer and results of any mammograms or previous biopsies

Your Cosmetic surgeon will also:

  • Evaluate your general health status and any pre-existing health conditions or risk factors
  • Examine and measure your breasts, including detailed measurements of their size and shape, skin quality, and placement of your nipples and areolas
  • Take photographs
  • Discuss your options and recommend a course of treatment
  • Discuss likely outcomes of breast augmentation and any risks or potential complications

It’s essential to understand all aspects of your breast augmentation surgery. It’s natural to be nervous about it, whether it’s excitement for your anticipated new look or a bit of preoperative stress. Don’t be shy about discussing these feelings with your cosmetic surgeon.

How Should I Prepare for Breast Implant Surgery?

In preparing for breast augmentation, you may be asked to:

  • Get a blood test
  • Take certain medications or adjust your current medications
  • Stop smoking
  • Avoid taking aspirin and certain anti-inflammatory drugs as they can increase bleeding.
  • Stop taking recreational drugs, such as cocaine.

Breast augmentation surgery is performed in the MSI office-based facility. If your breast augmentation is performed on an outpatient basis, arrange for someone to drive you to and from surgery and stay with you for at least the first night following surgery.

A breast augmentation procedure includes the following steps:

Step 1 – Anesthesia

Medications are administered for your comfort during the surgical procedure. The choices include intravenous sedation and general anesthesia. Your doctor will recommend the best option for you.

Step 2 – The incision

Before breast augmentation, one common question that patients have is, “What will my scars look like?” You’ll be glad to learn that an experienced, qualified cosmetic surgeon will use a surgical technique that places breast augmentation incisions, so the resulting scars are easily hidden and inconspicuous, even to the patient herself. Depending on your anatomy and your desired outcome, your cosmetic surgeon will use one of the following incision techniques to place your breast implants:

  • This involves a short incision made in the crease underneath the breast, called the inframammary fold. This leaves a thin, 1 to a 2-inch scar that is easily concealed within the crease. The advantages of this incision type include a broader access point, allowing a cosmetic surgeon to place larger silicone implants or gummy bear implants with precision.
  • Peri-areolar. The incision is made around the outer edge of the areola, so the resulting scar is located within this natural transition in pigmentation. Cosmetic surgeons will often use this incision type if they are also performing a mild to moderate breast lift at the same time.
  • Trans-axillary. This involves a small incision made within the armpit, through which your cosmetic surgeon will place the breast implant using a specialized camera and instruments to ensure optimal placement. This leaves a small scar within the armpit but achieves a breast augmentation with no scar on the breast itself.
  • This technique involves an incision just above the belly button. Each breast implant is inserted through this incision and then brought up to the breast. The advantages of the transumbilical technique include a single scar with no scarring on the breast itself.

Incisions are made in inconspicuous areas to minimize visible scarring. Incision options include: along the areolar edge (peri-areolar incision), the fold under the breast (inframammary fold), and in the armpit (axillary incision). A belly-button approach is associated with a higher complication rate. Incisions vary based on the type of breast implant, degree of enlargement desired your particular anatomy and patient-surgeon preference. You and your plastic surgeon will discuss which incision options are appropriate for your desired outcome.

Step 3 – Inserting and placing the breast implant.

There’s never been a better time to have breast augmentation; like today, you have more choices than ever to help you customize your new look. Whether you’d like more dramatic curves or a modest boost in cleavage, there’s an option for you. Here are some choices you can expect to go over during your consultation process:

  • Filling type: Saline, Silicone Gel, or Highly Cohesive Silicone “Gummy Bear” Implants. Neither is “best,” but there are some differences in cost, feel, and incision requirements that you need to consider. Your cosmetic surgeon will help you find the right implant type for you.
  • Shape: Saline & Silicone Gel implants are typically round, while gummy bear implants come in shaped and round options. Round implants will usually achieve a fuller upper pole (the top portion of your breast), while shaped implants lend a gently sloping look to your breast profile. Both can look very natural with a skilled cosmetic surgeon’s help.
  • Profile: Your cosmetic surgeon will help you choose this based on your existing proportions and your goals. Generally, patients with a more petite frame will require a higher profile implant to achieve the desired size increase while ensuring the implants are not too wide at the base.
  • Size: Breast implants range in size from about 150cc to 800cc or more prominent. Many patients require a different-sized breast implant for each breast; this helps achieve the best possible symmetry. The size you choose depends on your current breast size, your personal goals, and your cosmetic surgeon’s recommendations.

Of course, all of these options make it even more important to choose a well-qualified cosmetic surgeon who has experience using various breast implants. Careful reviews of scientific research by independent groups such as the Institute of Medicine have found no link between breast implants and autoimmune or other systemic diseases. Other important considerations:

  • Breast implants are not guaranteed to last a lifetime, and you may require future surgery to replace one or both implants
  • Pregnancy, weight loss, and menopause may influence the appearance of augmented breasts throughout your lifetime
  • Breast augmentation requires regular examinations of your breasts’ health and evaluating the condition of your breast implants

After the incision is made, a breast implant is inserted into a pocket either:

  • Under the pectoral muscle (a submuscular placement)
  • Directly behind the breast tissue, over the pectoral muscle (a sub-mammary/ sub-glandular placement)

The method for inserting and positioning breast implants depends on the type of implant, degree of enlargement desired, your body type, and your surgeon’s recommendations.

Step 4 – Closing the incisions.

Incisions are closed with layered sutures in the breast tissue and with sutures, skin adhesive, or surgical tape to close the skin.

Over time the incision lines will fade. The quality of scars depends on many things, including your genetics, exposure of your body to nicotine, and infection.

What Should I Expect During Breast Implant Surgery Recovery?

During your breast augmentation recovery, your breasts will be wrapped in gauze dressings, and an elastic bandage or support bra will minimize swelling and support the breasts as they heal. Immediately after surgery, I will take you into a recovery area for close monitoring. You may be permitted to go home when you are stable for discharge, typically after an hour or so. Before leaving, you will be given specific post-operative instructions for your breast implant recovery and a follow-up appointment with your plastic surgeon. You may also receive medications or a prescription, but many plastic surgeons prescribe post-operative medicines in advance. Your prescribed medications may include pain pills and an antibiotic to prevent infection. Wear your support garment (a bra or elastic band, called a bandeau) around the clock as instructed by your plastic surgeon. Some surgeons may ask patients to cleanse the incision sites and apply ointment, while others ask their patients to keep tape or a bandage. Instructions vary, so it’s essential to follow all your plastic surgeon’s directions carefully.

Because it is possible to bleed into the pockets around the breast implants for the first several days, take it easy until you have permission to increase your activity level. Acute pain typically subsides after one to five days. Still, you may experience soreness and swelling for a few weeks: resume exercise and regular activity according to your plastic surgeon’s directions.

What Results Should I Expect After Breast Implant Surgery?

While a breast augmentation yields larger breasts right away, the final results may take a few weeks as the swelling subsides and the skin stretches. Some patients may need to wear a bandeau to help shape their breasts, especially if they have underlying asymmetry or petite breasts to start with. Incision lines may take several months, even a coupFollow your surgeon’s post-operative instructions and return for follow-up visits to of years, to fade. To achieve optimal breasts for follow-up visits.

The surgical scars of a breast augmentation mammoplasty form approximately at 6-weeks post-operative and fade within months. Moreover, women whose breast implants were placed beneath the chest muscles (submuscular placement) typically have a more prolonged, slightly more painful recovery because of the healing of the incisions to the chest muscles. Depending upon the daily-life physical activities required of the woman, the breast augmentation patient usually resumes her healthy life at 1-week post-operative. Usually, she does not exercise or engage in strenuous physical activities for approximately six weeks.  During the initial post-operative recovery, the woman is encouraged to regularly exercise (flex and move) her arm to alleviate pain and discomfort; if required, analgesic indwelling medication catheters can relieve pain. Moreover,  significantly improved patient recovery has resulted from refined breast-device implantation techniques (submuscular, sub-glandular) that allow 95 percent of women to resume their healthy lives at 24-hours post-procedure, without bandages, fluid drains, pain pumps, catheters, medical support brassières, or narcotic pain medication.

The plastic surgical emplacement of breast implant devices, either for breast reconstruction or for aesthetic purpose, confers the same health risks common to surgery, such as adverse response to anesthesia, hematoma (post-operative bleeding), late hematoma (post-operative bleeding after six months or more), seroma (fluid accumulation), incision-site breakdown (wound infection). Complications specific to breast augmentation include breast pain, altered sensation, impeded breast-feeding function, visible wrinkling, asymmetry, thinning of the breast tissue, and asymmetry, the “bread loafing” of the bust that interrupts the natural plane between the breasts. Specific treatments for the complications of indwelling breast implants—capsular contracture and capsular rupture—are periodic MRI monitoring and physical examinations. Furthermore, complications and re-operations related to the implantation surgery and tissue expanders (implant place-holders during operation) can cause unfavorable scarring in approximately 6–7 percent of the patients.  Statistically, 20 percent of women who underwent cosmetic implantation, and 50 percent of women who underwent breast reconstruction implantation, required their explantation on the 10-year mark.

What are the Risks of Breast Implant Surgery?

The decision to have plastic surgery is highly personal. You can make that decision for yourself. . You will have to weigh the potential benefits of achieving your goals with breast augmentation risks and possible complications. You will be asked to sign consent forms to ensure that you fully understand the procedure and any risks and potential complications. Possible breast augmentation surgery risks include:

  • Anesthesia risks
  • Bleeding
  • Hematoma
  • Infection
  • Changes in nipple or breast sensation
  • Poor scarring
  • Wrong or faulty position of the implant
  • Implant leakage or rupture
  • The formation of tight scar tissue around the implant (capsular contracture)
  • Fluid accumulation (seroma)
  • Wrinkling of the skin over the implant
  • Persistent pain
  • Possibility of revision surgery

I will thoroughly discuss these risks and others before your consent. It would be best if you addressed all your questions directly with your cosmetic surgeon.

Breast implant replacement

Breast implants are not considered to be lifetime devices, and they may need to be replaced. You can see your plastic surgeon for an annual examination to evaluate your breast health and implant integrity. Over time, your breasts will change due to aging, weight fluctuations, hormonal factors, and gravity. As the appearance of their breast changes with time, some patients have a breast lift or an implant exchange for restoring a more youthful contour.

Implants and Breast-feeding

Breast implant device fillers are biologically inert—saline filler is salt and water, and silicone filler is indigestible—because each substance is chemically inert and environmentally familiar. Moreover, proponent physicians have said “should be no absolute contraindication to breast-feeding by women with silicone breast implants. Women with breast implants may have functional breast-feeding difficulties.  Surgery may also damage the lactiferous ducts and the nerves in the nipple-areola area. Functional breast-feeding difficulties arise if the surgeon cuts the milk ducts or the major nerves innervating the breast or otherwise damages the milk glands. Milk duct and nerve damage are more common if the incisions cut tissue near the nipple. The milk glands are most likely affected by sub-glandular implants (under the gland) and large-sized breast implants, which pinch the lactiferous ducts and impede milk flow. Small-sized breast implants and sub-muscular implantation cause fewer breast-function problems, and some patients cannot breast-feed.

Implants and Mammography

The presence of radiologically opaque breast implants, either saline or silicone, might interfere with the radiographic sensitivity of the mammography; that is, the image might not show any tumor(s) present.

Life After Breast Implant Surgery

Once you have your breast implants, you’ll want to keep the following in mind:

  • It’s safe to have mammograms with breast implants, so be sure to maintain regular screening as prescribed by your doctor.
  • For silicone implants, it is recommended that patients undergo periodic monitoring (via mammogram, ultrasound, or MRI) to screen for ruptures, which are rare.
  • Future pregnancies or weight fluctuations may affect your results, and you may need a second surgery to correct any changes you are unhappy with over time.
  • Nothing can stop the normal aging process; over time, breast tissues will change. You can help prevent unnecessary sagging by wearing a bra with adequate support for your activity level.

Notes

I can determine the specific risks and the suitability of this procedure for a given individual only at the time of consultation with your cosmetic surgeon. Significant complications are rare. Minor complications that do not affect the outcome occur occasionally. Rare.

Call Now
[contact-form-7 id="6" title="Contact form 1"]
[layerslider id=”81″ /]