In consultations, women ask dozens of questions about the safety, durability and longevity of saline and silicone gel implants – the two types that are approved for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Here’s a sampling:
Is it normal to have different-sized breasts?
Breasts are sisters, not twins. There’s no such thing as perfectly identical breasts. Most women have breasts that are slightly different sizes. In consultations, when women look at dozens of before-and-after photos, they are surprised and relieved to see that they are not the only ones with different-sized breasts.
The asymmetry can be addressed during surgery, by enlarging breasts with implants of different sizes, augmenting the smaller breast or reducing the larger breast. While surgery cannot transform those sisters into twins, it can make them look like sisters from the same family.
Will I be able to breastfeed if I get implants?
In most cases, breast augmentation surgery does not interfere with breastfeeding, because milk ducts are generally not disturbed during the procedure. When implants are placed through an incision made around the areola, milk ducts are sometimes disrupted, which may affect breastfeeding. However, not all women are naturally able to breastfeed, whether or not they have cosmetic breast surgery.
Do implants get in the way of reading a mammogram?
They can. That’s why technicians routinely ask women if they have breast implants. If so, they will gently displace (push up) the implants and take extra views of each breast. Because of the number of women who have had breast augmentation, radiologists are likely to have experience evaluating breasts with implants.
Can you make me a full C cup?
Women commonly think that being in proportion means wearing a C cup bra. Because there is no standard bra cup-sizing system, and because breast implants are measured in cubic centimeters not cup size, it’s better to refer to proportional as a “C look.” To achieve that, a 5-foot-tall woman with a small frame might end up wearing a B cup bra and a 5’ 8” woman might wear a D.
How soon can I get back to work and to working out?
The former depends on what your job entails. Generally, women who work in an office setting can go back to work on the fifth day after surgery. Those whose jobs entail lifting, pushing or pulling normally return to work at the end of the second week.
Three weeks after surgery is a milestone: That’s when women can run, ride a stationary bike and do lower-body weight training. It’s also when policewomen or soldiers can put their bulletproof vest back. Women are usually comfortable doing arm exercises (upper-body weights) starting about six weeks after surgery.
Do breast implants have to be replaced every 10 years?
Breast implants don’t have an expiration date. They can handle hundreds of pounds of pressure, which is why a mammogram – which can apply up to 50 pounds – doesn’t harm them.
Through the years, manufacturers have increased the strength of the implant shell. On average, less than 3 percent of implants rupture or deflate.
Will my breast implants melt in a sauna?
Both silicone gel and saline implants have an outer silicone shell, which can melt at temperatures greater than 392 degrees Fahrenheit. A conventional sauna is typically between 150 and 190 degrees. If you were in an environment where your implants would melt, you’d melt too.
Women come in for a consultation to get their questions answered and to make an informed choice. While breast augmentation is not right for everyone, for those who choose it, it can make a life-altering difference.
In 2012, more than 330,000 women in the United States elected to have breast augmentation surgery; worldwide, that number exceeded 1.5 million. Although media coverage suggests otherwise, only a minute percentage of the women who get breast implants are actresses and models. They come from all walks of life; they include policewomen and CEOs, teachers and soldiers, young mothers and nurses.
About 30 percent of the women who get breast implants are in their 20s. They often report being self-conscious about their lack of development or embarrassed about their breasts being asymmetrical or uneven. About 35 percent are women in their thirties, many of whom lost breast volume after childbirth. Some want to recapture their pre-pregnancy breast size, while others liked the breast fullness they had during pregnancy and want to recreate it with implants.
Whether women are having cosmetic breast surgery (augmentation, lift or reduction) or reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy, their goals are similar: They want to look feminine, natural and proportional. They want their clothes to fit better.
In consultation, women ask dozens of questions about the safety, durability and longevity of saline and silicone gel implants – the two types that are approved for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
This information is brought to you courtesy of Dr. Mark Bishara and The Paragon Plastic Surgery & Med Spa in Mansfield and Southlake, TX
Breast augmentation surgery may be a surefire way to get the breasts you ultimately desire, but when it comes to making decisions, there are a variety of factors to take into consideration. A properly trained plastic surgeon should be able to guide you through your decision-making process. One of those decisions will be if your implants should go over or under the muscle. So, what’ the difference?
Subglandular: Over the Muscle
The upside: Since the implant is placed over the pectoral muscle and below the breast tissue, recovery time is usually shorter because there is fewer traumas to the underlying tissues. Placing the implant over the muscle can also give a slightly lifted look.
The downside: The implant sits closer to the surface of the skin, making it more detectable through touch and more visible if your skin is thin. In a mammogram, additional views may be necessary.
Silicone implants allow for more patients to have their implant placed subglandularly (in front of the muscle) because there is less rippling and visibility with silicone.
Submuscular: Under The Muscle
The upside: Positioning the implant below both the pectoral muscle and the breast tissue allows for the implant to be less visible and act as an internal bra, keeping the implant in place. The implant is also only partially covered by muscle, so it’s less likely to cause problems with mammograms.
The downside: It’s a more painful recovery because the internal anatomy of the tissue behind the breast is hanged more.
Placing the implant under the muscle is good for those who are thin because it provides extra coverage over the implant, which gives a more natural look.
Breast augmentation helps women with small or unevenly-sized breasts achieve a fuller, firmer and better-proportioned look through the placement of breast implants. Women may elect to undergo this procedure for many different reasons, including balancing breast size and compensating for reduced breast mass after pregnancy or surgery.
During your breast augmentation exam, Dr. Bishara will examine your breasts and perhaps take photographs for your medical record. Dr. Bishara will then examine the size and shape of your breasts for Breast augmentation surgery, the quality of your skin and the placement of your nipple and areola. Also, a breast lift may be recommended with the breast augmentation. Please call our office at (817) 473-2120 or click on the link below. You can also visit us on our website at www.MarkBisharaMD.com and our Facebook page at Paragon Plastic Surgery and Med Spa at www.facebook.com/pages/Paragon-Plastic-Surgery-and-Medspa
Breast enhancement is of course the act of having your breasts augmented in order to appear larger and firmer. This means having them filled with some substance other than the fat that would normally be there naturally in order to both pad them and make them more buoyant and stretch the skin around them more tightly. This is achieved in several different ways and there are various different methods of breast enhancement. Knowing precisely what you are signing yourself up for before you get the breast enhancement is highly important and will help you also to decide on precisely which procedure is right for you. Here we will have a brief overview of the subject of breast enhancement.
Why Breast Enhancement? There are many reasons why people will choose breast enhancement, but generally they will be cosmetic. Breasts are often considered one of the female features that men find most attractive, and so by having a pair of pert and full breasts a woman can feel confident and attractive. It is thought that men find breasts attractive because they suggest that the woman is fertile and able to provide healthy offspring and then to look after them. Because breasts are such an important part of the female physique, many clothes depend on the woman having large or perky breasts. Meanwhile many other tops make use of a good cleavage while others just look better for it. Meanwhile breasts have the effect of improving the appearance of the rest of your physique. They achieve this by making other areas seem comparatively smaller. For instance if you are concerned about the size of your stomach and you think it sticks out – then by getting breast enlargement it is possible to make this look relatively flat, and particularly when underneath certain clothing. The idea is then that a woman will feel womanly, can enjoy a better silhouette and can get away with wearing more different clothes all as a result of having a fuller pair of breasts. This will then make them feel more confident and often in some cases happier. Furthermore, it can help them to find partners both as a result of the breasts themselves and because of the new found confidence and it can even help in their careers. Of course in some cases breast enhancement techniques will be used to repair damage that might have been done by an injury or by disease or necessary surgical procedure. In these cases the techniques are used to try and return the breasts to their previous shape and size rather than to in any way augment them – and as a result these methods are not always referred to as ‘enhancement’.
This information is brought to you courtesy of Dr. Mark Bishara and The Paragon Plastic Surgery & Med Spa in Mansfield and Southlake, TX
Your Choices of Breast Enhancement
Breast surgery has been around for more than a century. Each year an increasing number of women opt for cosmetic breast surgery, mainly augmentation (to enlarger size) surgery.
If you have thought long and hard about breast augmentation and have decided you want it, then you will next need to decide on what form of augmentation. Here there are two particularly popular forms of implants which are explained below:
Implants (Silicone or Saline)
Implants are perhaps the more common form of breast enhancement. These involve implanting a foreign object into the breasts as ‘fillers’ to pad these out. These implants can be placed wither directly below the skin, or can be ‘submuscular’ (which is recommended for those who already have larger breasts) and this will make some difference to the appearance. At the same time there are different types of implants that can be used, though most often silicone implants are used. While saline implants (bags filled with a mixture of salt and water) can also be effective and have their own advantages, these are more prone to aesthetic problems which can include rippling and other problems.
History of cosmetic breast surgery
Breast augmentation surgery involves placing of a silicone gel-filled implant in the intrices of breasts with the aim to enhance size.
Implants made of different materials have been tried in the past; use of silicone implants began in 1962. The commonest kind of breast implants used today are saline and silicone implants.
• Saline implants – as the name suggests, these are filled with sterile salt water which is either pre-filled or can be filled in at the time of the procedure. Saline implants requires a smaller incision (as compared to silicone implants) – this is usually taken under the crease of the breast or the armpit and thus is very hard to detect.
• Silicone gel-filled implants – are made of a silicone gel and come only in pre-filled variety. Although, these require a much larger incisions, they are much safer than the saline ones – chances of an infection greatly decrease with silicone based implants.
This information is brought to you courtesy of Dr. Mark Bishara and The Paragon Plastic Surgery & Med Spa
Cosmetic Surgeon Dr. Mark A. Bishara, M.D., serving Fort Worth, Arlington, and the surrounding area.
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