Recently, a new branch of medicine has emerged, cosmetic surgery, whose purpose is breast augmentation. According to statistics, in most cases, fair sex unsatisfied with breast size will turn to plastic surgeons. Breast augmentation surgery is performed using special implants.
Its indications may be:
- Patients wish to increase the size of their breasts and give them a more attractive shape.
- Breast reconstruction after radical mastectomy (removal) due to various diseases.
- Breast asymmetry.
- Congenital anomalies and anatomical defects.
- consequences of trauma.
When a woman decides that she needs breast augmentation surgery, she faces 3 main tasks, and the positive outcome depends a lot on: the choice of clinic, the specialist and the type of breast implants.
Expert's choice
How to choose the right clinic and plastic surgeon? In big cities, there are many clinics offering plastic surgery services. Fear of meeting unethical experts and then paying for their health and nerves over the years. In legal practice, there are numerous precedents of being held accountable and forced to pay compensation for material and moral damages.
It should be remembered that the cost of a good implant and the work of the team of doctors is quite high. Don't buy it at all kinds of promotions and discounts. If the price of surgery is far below the market average, it's best not to risk your health and refuse it.
There are several criteria for choosing the right clinic:
- The institution has a license, the corresponding license, its specialists are professionally trained and offers a notarized university diploma, professional courses.
- The clinic has all the necessary equipment, including resuscitation and intensive care equipment.
- Surgery is performed by a team of surgeons, resuscitators, and surgical nurses.
- The cost of services includes post-operative care and supervision.
- The clinic has good patient reviews and is respected in the medical community.
- The doctor discusses in detail the nuances of the procedure and service agreement, including the possible complications section.
- The clinic carefully checks the patient's health before setting a surgery date.
Therefore, the clinics and plastic surgeons who will perform the surgery have been identified. Still opt for breast implants.
Implant selection
what are these? Breast implants are shells filled with certain ingredients.
Use as filler:
- brine;
- gel;
- mixture of solutions.
At this stage in the development of cosmetic surgery, saline breast implants are not actually used. They don't provide long-term cosmetic results - folds and nodules develop on the breast surface over time. The gel content in the implant cannot move so freely and is therefore preferred.
The latest generation of implants from leading western manufacturers are based on a special gel that does not move when the body position changes. As a result, the breasts have maintained their attractive shape over the years.
Gel breast implants have:
- Durable silicone fiber shell.
- A sticky gel filling with a jelly consistency.
- When ruptured, the gel does not penetrate into the breast tissue, but stays inside.
It is important to choose an anatomical implant that fits the natural shape of the patient's breast. For a flat chest, it is recommended to install a teardrop-shaped implant, drooping - round. The surgeon and patient must make joint decisions about mammoplasty and implants. In good clinics, it is advisable to create a 3D model, which makes it possible to evaluate the outcome of future surgeries.
In addition to the shape, the size of the implant was also chosen. In modern models, one size corresponds to 150 ml of gel filler. If you plan to increase the size of your breasts by two dimensions, choose a 300ml volume implant.
There are special cases where the surgeon injects filler into the shell during surgery. He makes a personal decision on the amount of gel to inject based on the following factors:
- Body proportions,
- chest width,
- current bust
- skin density.
After the implant is placed in the breast, a capsule of connective tissue forms over time and penetrates into its pores. Breasts are naturally soft to the touch and do not deform over time. In some patients, a very dense capsule forms, which can harden the breast. Over time, this can cause them to deform.
the location of the implant
How are the implants positioned during surgery? The position of the implant in the breast determines the shape of the breast. The speed and effect of their "rooting" in the body depends on his correct choice.
There are several ways to place implants:
- Above the pectoral muscles. The patient went through the recovery period quickly and easily, and the edema subsided in a short time. Contraction of the pectoral muscles will not cause the implant to deform. But over time, it grows into a dense connective sac, which makes mammography difficult.
- under the pectoral muscles. In this case, the implant will not interfere with mammography and will not overgrow the dense capsule, but may be deformed by breast contractions.
- Intermediate position between the pectoralis fascia and breast tissue. This allows you to fix the implant safely and avoid negative effects.
Breast implants are performed in a clinic, usually under general anesthesia. The surgeon makes an incision under the breast crease below the armpit or around the areola. In this case, the scar left behind is less noticeable. The duration of the operation is 1-2 hours depending on the level of complexity.
Recovery period after breast surgery
For the first day after surgery, the patient remained under the supervision of the clinic's doctors and medical staff. Her body was normal and she was discharged from the hospital the next day after a dressing change. Control examinations were performed on the 5th to 7th days after the operation, and the dressings were changed if necessary, and the sutures were removed on the 10th to 14th days. In the absence of complications, the rest of the recovery period is performed by the patient himself.
She must:
- Wear special compression underwear prescribed by a doctor,
- limit the physical load on the shoulder straps,
- engage in a habitual lifestyle during recovery,
- Protects the chest from overheating and hypothermia,
- Gradually return to exercise.
The entire recovery period, when the edema has completely resolved and the outcome of the mammoplasty can be assessed, is 4-6 months.
Risks of Breast Augmentation Surgery
Mammoplasty falls under the category of complex surgery, after which general surgical complications may occur:
- bleeding. Poor blood clotting increases the risk of bleeding, sometimes from unsutured blood vessels or torn sutures.
- Infect. Mammoplasty is a wide-ranging procedure, and infection from the surrounding skin may enter the wound.
- Forms dense scars. Sometimes disfiguring scars form at the sutures. They are removed by excision.
In addition to general surgical complications, breast augmentation surgery has some inherent peculiarities:
- The implant ruptures. In rare cases, this is due to a breach of the patient regime during recovery or due to implant defects.
- Breast deformities with round implants. This can happen if a patient neglects to wear a compression bra, or because of a wrongly chosen strategy for installing an implant.
- Loss of feeling in the nipples and areola. The reason is a violation of the integrity of the nerve endings.
- Edema due to impaired lymphatic drainage.
- A dense capsule is formed that can deform the breast by dissecting the implant.
Alternative Breast Augmentation
Are there alternatives to breast augmentation surgery? The use of cosmetic products - creams, gels, ointments will not produce positive results. You can't enlarge your breasts like this. In addition, the hormones they contain can cause an imbalance that is difficult to correct.
Wearing a special bra can make up for the lack of volume and asymmetry. However, only breast augmentation surgery can restore a woman's confidence and charm.