Breast Implants or augmentation mammoplasty
is a procedure used in cosmetic surgery to remodel the shape
of the breast with the objective of making them bigger, this
procedure can also be used to reconstruct
the breast for example in the correction of genetic deformities
or after a mastectomy,
or also during male-to-female sex reassignment surgery
According
to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, breast augmentation
is the third most commonly performed cosmetic
surgical procedure in the United States. In 2005, 291,000
breast augmentation procedures were performed And this suregery
is becoming increasingly popular in Costa Rica because of
its low cost and rehabilitation possibilites, also we cannot
put aside that the beauty of the country will most definitely
be a plus on making the decision of where you would like your
surgery done.
Breast Augmentation hs been done atleast since 1865. The earliest known implant occurred in Germany, in which fat from a lipoma (benign fatty lump) was removed from a woman's back and implanted in her breast. In the following years, the medical community experimented with implants of various materials, most commonly paraffin.
The first use of silicone for breast augmentation was immediately following World War II, when doctors in Japan and Las Vegas began injecting it to enlarge women's breasts. Initially they used the industrial kind of silicone that goes into making furniture polish and transformer fluid. Complications like cysts, sores and painful hardening of the breasts were in some cases so severe that women needed mastectomies.
In 1961, plastic surgeons Thomas Cronin and Frank Gerow developed the first silicone breast prosthesis with the Dow Corning Corporation, and the first woman was implanted in 1962. The implant was made of a silicone rubber or sac, and was filled with a thick, viscous silicone gel.
The cost of this surgery may be between
$2.200 – $3.500 USD in total here in Costa Rica. Most
surgeons in Costa Rica charge this amount including plastic
surgeons fee, operating room, all material used, follow
ups, anesthetist, medication, over night stay when needed,
lab; cardiologist if needed is $60-$100.
The
cost of antibiotics such as Ceclor, Ciproxin or Zithromax
#14 500 mg, and administered starting two days before surgery
for a period of one week is approximately $70.
There are two types of breast implant filler materials with
many different shapes and textures available:
Saline breast implants , which have a silicone rubber
shell filled with sterile saline liquid. Click Here to read more about the Saline Breast Implants.
Silicone gel implants , which have a silicone
shell filled with a silicone gel. In the 60 countries where
silicone implants are available, they are used in approximately
90-95% of implant operations. Click Here to read more about the Saline Breast Implants.
In
the United States the implantation of silicone gel-filled
breast implants is currently restricted to clinical trials
but in many other countries such as Costa Rica they are in
regular use.
This procedure generally takes one to two hours to complete. The whole technique of inserting and positioning your implant will depend on your anatomy and your Better Looks surgeon's recommendation as well as the incisions he works with. The incision can be made either in the crease where the breast meets the chest, around the areola, in the armpit or through the navel (for more information, please read our incision section). Your Better Looks doctor will make every effort to assure that the incision is placed so resulting scars will be as unremarkable as possible.
Working through the incision, you Better Looks surgeon will lift your breast tissue and skin to create a pocket. This can be located either directly behind the breast tissue (submammary or subglandular placement) or may be placed beneath the pectoral muscle and on top of the chest wall (submuscular placement); for more information concerning the advantages of each placement, please read our ‘implant placement’ section. Once the implant is placed within this pocket and the desired look is obtained, the incisions are closed using sutures. A gauze bandage may be applied over your breasts to help with the healing.
Breast Implant Techniques
There are several techniques used in the insertion of breast
implants. The choice of technique may depend on the surgeon's
personal preferences as much as the patient's relevant anatomy.
These methods are:
Sub-Glandular-
sub-glandular implants are placed in a pocket between the
pectoralis major muscle and the breast tissue and subcutaneous
fat. A surgeon may select this technique in a patient with
a moderate amount of pre-existing breast tissue .
Sub-Fascial - in
this technique the implant is placed into a pocket between
the pectoralis major and its covering.
Sub-Muscular –
with this technique the implant is placed entirely or partially
beneath the pectoralis major muscle, lying on the ribcage.
General Anesthesia
Local Anesthesia combined with a sedative (that allows the
patient to be conscious but relaxed
Duration of the procedure:
Approximately two hours.
BEFORE
AFTER
Recovery
period:
When the bandage is removed a surgical bra may be given to
the patient, the stitches may removed in approximately a week.
To go back to normal daily living it may take approximately
a week. By the end of four weeks sweeling will reduce 75%
and it may also take around that time for direct physical
contact of the breasts , scarring goes through various stages
and may finish anywhere from a couple of months to a year.
Hospitilization:
From 8 to 24 hours after the surgery.
The possible risks associated with
a breast augmentation, may include but are not limited too,
the following:
Infection- An infection
may be very common the first week after surgery
, it may be treated with antibiotics or in severe cases the
implant may be retreived for a couple of months until the
infection is gone and a new implant may be placed.
Capsular Contracture- Capsules of tightly-woven
collagen fibers naturally form around a foreign body tending
to wall it off. Most of the time, these tissue capsules are
soft-to-firm, and unnoticeable. Capsular contracture occurs
when the capsule tightens and squeezes the implant. This contracture
is a complication that can be painful and distort the appearance
of the implanted breast.
Dissatisfaction with Cosmetic Results-Dissatisfying
results such as wrinkling, uneven sizes, implant shifting,
incorrect size, unanticipated shape, ability to feel implant,
scar deformity, irregular or raised scarring may occur. Careful
surgical planning and technique can reduce but not always
prevent such results.
Hematoma/Seroma-Hematoma is a collection of blood inside a
body cavity and a seroma is a collection of the watery portion
of the blood around the implant or around healing. A small
scar can form or a rupture may occur if the implant is damaged
during draining the incision. Post-operative hematoma and
seroma may contribute to infection or capsular contracture.
Changes in Nipple and Breast Sensation-Feeling
in the nipple and breast can increase or decrease after implant
surgery. The range of changes varies from intense to no feeling
in the nipple or breast after surgery.
Extrusion-Unstable or weakened tissue covering of
wound healing may result in the breast implant coming
through the skin. Surgery needed to correct this can result
in unacceptable scarring or breast tissue loss.
Additional
Surgeries
Regardless of the type of implant, it is likely that women
with implants will need to have one or more additional surgeries
over the course of their lives. Common reasons for reoperations
include cosmetic concerns, capsular contracture, and rupture.
After
analyzing all this information you may now make the correct
decision and finally have the breasts that you have been longing
for, look in the mirror and be happy for realizing your dreams
at a lower cost and with the correct precautions that are
necessary with any surgery. This information given in this
page should be considered as an introduction to a breast implant
surgery. Before deciding on submitting yourself to the procedure
described above, we recommend you to contact BetterLooks directly,
so we can answer any specific question you might have.
Related Keywords:
Breast enlargement, breast augmentation, boob job, breast
surgery, cohesive silicone gel implant, saline implant, plastic
surgery, breast enhancement, filled breast implants,
breast reconstruction,
salin breast implants, silicone gel breast implants, breast enlargement, transumbilical, submuscular, subglandular,
mammoplasty enlargement.
The possible risks associated with
a breast augmentation, may include but are not limited too,
the following:
