Breast Implants
ABreast augmentation is a surgical procedure used to enhance the size of a women's breasts when she is not satisfied with the size of her breasts, or when they have lost volume due to a previous surgery or during breastfeeding.
Everything your need to know about BREAST AUGMENTATION
What does breast augmentation do?
- It enhances the size of a woman's breasts.
- It allows a woman to balance the size of her breasts when one is smaller than the other. Most women have one breast bigger than the other. This difference can be compensated by using two implants of different sizes.
- It fills those breasts that appear to be 'empty', that is, with a lot of skin but little consistency, that some women have as a result of pregnancies or due to the aging process. If this is your case, you can have a breast lift done together with the breast implantation.
What does breast augmentation NOT do?
- It does not correct asymmetries in the location of the areolas or nipples.
- It does not lift hanging breasts. If this is your case, we recommend that you read the information on breast lifts that we provide. Even though it will make your body look more beautiful and harmonious, and it will probably also improve your self-esteem, it will not be enough to make you look perfect. We must be realistic and accept the fact, that kind of perfection does not exist.
Advantages of saline implants
* If they rupture, the content of these implants is assimilated by the body and eliminated in a completely natural way. They lose their volume in a matter of hours and, since this change in volume can be seen immediately, they can be replaced as soon as you notice it.
* If the liquid inside leaks out, it will not produce capsular contracture, the content is metabolized and eliminated naturally by the body. Nowadays, these leakages have been almost completely reduced thanks to the new shells made of several superimposed layers.
Advantages of cohesive silicone gel implants
- ICohesive means that it tends to remain whole. This means that, even if the shell were to rupture, its content would not spill out. It would remain whole without any divisions.
- They do not lose their volume as time goes by.
- They do not make 'liquid' sounds during physical activities.
- They have a very natural consistency when touched.
- In the past, its content used to leak through the micro pores of the shell and caused capsular contractures. Nowadays, these leakages have been almost completely reduced thanks to the cohesive properties of the content and to the new shells made of several superimposed layers.
- In most European countries, in Asia and South America the use of these implants for cosmetic purposes is allowed, but not in the United States, where they may be used, however, for reconstructive purposes.
Smooth or textured?
We can divide the saline implants in two groups, according to the characteristics of the shell: smooth and textured.
- The smooth ones do not have any kind of bumps on its surface. The shell is thinner and very resistant, since it has no irregularities that may lead to fissures. They remain looser inside their respective pockets, since they are not 'stuck' by the other tissues. This results in a more natural consistency and mobility that make them yield to the different positions of the body. Since they are not incorporated into the tissues, in the very unlikely case that they need to be removed, the procedure presents no major complications. Since they are more slippery, they are less palpable, and they are easier to introduce through the small incisions that the surgeon makes during the surgery.
- The textured ones have a bumpy surface, rough like sand. They were created in an attempt to reduce the risk of capsular contractures, but this has not been proven yet.
- The surgery
- Hospitalization
- If the surgery is performed with local anesthesia, no hospitalization is required. If general anesthesia was used, you will have to be hospitalized for one night.
Anesthesia
- Local anesthesia and complementary sedation, or general anesthesia.
- Between 30 minutes to 2 hours, according to the complexity of the case.
What does breast augmentation consist of?
Among the possible incisions, three are the most frequent; all of them are approximately 1.5 inches (4 cm) long:
- A semicircle under the lower outline of the areole (dark area around the nipples).
- On the armpit.
- At the fold where the breast meets the chest. This incision is the one that allows an easier and faster insertion of the implant but, because it leaves more visible scars, our surgeons do not resort to it except in very particular cases; for example, when there already is a scar from a prior implant that must be replaced.
It is important to mention that the implants are always placed behind the mammary gland, but there are two possible locations:
- Behind the pectoral muscle: this procedure is more complicated and the recovery is more painful, but the muscles prevent the implant's outline to be seen under the skin, giving the breast a more natural look. Placed here, the implants will interfere less in future mammograms.
- In front of the pectoral muscle: this location is advisable for women who do intense physical exercises with their arms.
Results
Breast augmentation with implants has permanent results. Your breasts will look better for a long time. They will probably be firmer than before; most women who underwent this surgery prefer this, but not all of them. You may be praised and criticized, but the important thing is that you will feel satisfied with your own body, that you will be able to wear the clothes you like, in whatever way you may want to wear them, and that when you look at yourself in the mirror you will like what you see. That is the goal of surgery. If you can achieve that thanks to our help, as it happens in most cases, we may talk about success.
