If you find yourself desiring fuller-shaped breasts, breast augmentation can be used to increase the fullness of your breasts and improve your breast symmetry for a more rounded appearance. As a deeply personal procedure, breast augmentation can be used to improve your self-image and well-being and often produces high satisfaction rates. During your visit with Dr. Smith , she will discuss your surgical goals, medical conditions, and treatment options.
What is Breast Augmentation?
Breast augmentation is a cosmetic, surgical procedure that works with breast implants or fat transfer to increase the volume of your breasts. Breast augmentation surgery can help improve breast-to-hip contours, restoring lost volume to your breasts for a more satisfactory appearance.
- Important Note: Breast augmentations are similar to breast lifts but have major differences. Breast lifts are procedures that work to correct sagging and drooping breasts by removing excess skin and fat to create a smoother skin surface. Breast lifts are not intended to add volume to the breasts. Breast augmentation works with fat grafting, breast implants, and other procedures to add volume back to the breasts for better contouring.
Our clinic performs breast augmentation with breast implants. Breast implants are considered the most common form used for breast augmentation due to their uniform shape, feel, and firmness. However, patients can discuss their augmentation options with the doctor during their consultation, including fat transfer, to achieve the breast shape they desire.
Candidates for breast augmentation include those with small breasts, breast asymmetry, and are overall unsatisfied with their appearance. Good candidates include those who don’t have any medical conditions that impair healing, are non-smoking, and have realistic expectations for their surgery.
Breast Augmentation Recovery at Real You Plastic Surgery and Wellness
During your consultation with Dr. Smith, she will discuss your personal goals and needs as a patient, as numerous factors can play into the overall recovery of your breast augmentation. She will evaluate your general health, discuss any medical conditions you may have and any previous surgeries, and discuss your breast augmentation options and risks and complications.
These options include different types of breast implant options available to you, including:
- Saline Breast Implants: These implants are filled with sterile salt water. If the implant should leak, the saline solution will be absorbed naturally and expelled by your body. These implants provide a uniform shape, firmness, and feel and are FDA-approved for use in women aged 18 or older.
- Structured Saline Breast Implants: Unlike regular saline implants, these implants are filled with sterile salt water but contain an inner structure that helps the implants feel more natural.
- Silicone Breast Implants: Instead of saline, these implants are filled with a silicone gel and feel more like natural breast tissue. These implants are FDA-approved for use in women aged 22 or older.
Patients seeking breast augmentation may be asked to complete lab tests, medical evaluations, and recommendations to avoid possible outcomes. These recommendations include taking medications to prepare for your surgery and avoiding medications such as aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs, and herbal supplements.
For your comfort and well-being, Dr. Smith will go over the procedure in further detail, outlining the procedure through the following steps:
- Anesthesia: The doctor will administer intravenous sedation or general anesthesia for the duration of your surgery.
- Breast Surgical Incision: During the procedure, she will create incisions depending on the location and areas being treated, with each surgical site diluted with anesthesia to reduce the risk of bleeding and trauma. Incision site areas include
- Implants, Fat Grafting, and Breast Symmetry: For patients who opted for breast implants, the implants will be inserted on either side of the pectoral muscle. Patients seeking out fat grafting will involve transferring one area of fat to the breast tissues for added volume and symmetry.
- Suture and Closing: Once the procedure is complete, all incision areas are closed with sutures and wrapped in garments, skin adhesives, and surgical tape for healing.
At Real You Plastic Surgery and Wellness, Dr. Smith will monitor your progress, providing detailed instructions on how to care for your breast augmentation results. To learn more about what breast augmentation can do for you, request a surgery consultation today!
