Breast Augmentation 3 Ways [Infographic]
Breast Augmentation
Breast Augmentation or Breast Lift: Which One Is Right for You?
Pregnancy, breastfeeding, fluctuations in weight or aging can all impact the breasts, leaving them lifeless, saggy or with an otherwise altered shape. If you’re not satisfied with how your breasts look, you may be considering some type of breast enhancement surgery to breathe new life into your appearance. But which procedure will meet your needs?
A Breast Augmentation Adds Volume
Women who are unhappy with their breast size often opt for breast augmentation. There are a wide range of implant options to choose from, which allows for your breast augmentation to be customized to meet your unique needs. And you don’t have to want supersized breasts to benefit from breast augmentation.Growing numbers of women are requesting more modestly-sized breast implants for subtle, natural-looking results.
A Breast Lift Elevates
Breast implants are available in a range of shapes and sizes.
Where a breast augmentation adds volume to the breasts, a lift elevates them. A breast lift, also known as a mastopexy, can help correct sagging breaststo offer you a more rejuvenated look. During a breast lift, your plastic surgeon will remove excess tissue, raise the nipple and areola and reshape the breast for a wholly revitalized outcome.
When a Combination Approach Is Best
When considering breast enhancement procedures, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Many women experience the best of both worlds with a combined approach. It’s common for plastic surgeons to do a breast augmentation and breast lift during the same procedure. To explore your breast enhancement options, schedule a consultation with a board-certified cosmetic surgeon.
5 Tips for Optimal Breast Augmentation Results [Infographic]
What to Do & NOT Do the Day before Breast Augmentation
As the date of your breast augmentation approaches, you may be starting to plan your pre-op prep. Your cosmetic surgeon will have provided some information on what you should and shouldn’t be doing before your breast augmentation but, if you’re in any doubt, it’s always best to double-check, particularly when it comes to what you absolutely should NOT be doing.
What You Should Be Doing
The day before your breast augmentation, there are some things you should be doing as you get ready for your appointment. As well as making sure you’re rested and ready to go, today’s prep should include:
- Choosing a loose, comfortable outfit to wear to and from the clinic. Don’t worry about a bra, as you’ll be given a post-surgical one to wear
- Packing some essentials such as bottled water, dry snacks, ID and some cash
- Taking your usual medications, apart from those which are dangerous to take at this point, like blood thinners. Check with your cosmetic surgeon if you’re in doubt
- Make sure you’ve had enough to eat and drink before midnight
- Confirming your transport to and from the clinic, plus childcare if required.
Don’t forget to make sure you’ve someone to look after you when you get home.
What NOT to Do during Breast Augmentation Prep
As well as making sure you do what’s mentioned above, you should take care NOT to:
- Eat or drink in the 8 hours prior to your procedure
- Search for breast augmentation-related stories on the internet, as you’re likely to make yourself more nervous
- Overthink the procedure. You’ll have discussed your concerns with your cosmetic surgeon before now, trust their expertise
- Smoke even a single cigarette. Just one can have a significant effect on the results of your breast augmentation and your recovery, so don’t risk it.
4 Tips to Avoid Fake-Looking Breast Implants
Updated December 2018
Women considering breast implants are likely to have some concerns as their surgery date approaches. One of the most common concerns involves the breasts looking obviously fake. Cosmetic surgery should always be carefully researched before a decision is made, and considering these factors will help you avoid noticeably fake breast augmentation.
1. Choose the Shape Carefully
Natural breasts tend more towards the teardrop shaped, so a very full, round, high implant will result in a more noticeably fake breast augmentation. Go for a natural slope and remember that breasts are closer in shape to pears than to melons.
Breast implant shape, texture and placement will significantly affect how natural your breast augmentation looks.
2. Go for Silicone Rather than Saline
Today women have more breast implant options than ever. Both silicone and saline breast implants have their advantages, but silicone is considered to be more natural-feeling. This decision does very much come down to personal preference and is not the main factor in how natural your breast implants will appear.
3. Pick the Perfect Implant Size
There is no one perfect breast size; in order to achieve a less apparently fake breast augmentation, you will need to spend some time with your cosmetic surgeon working out what size will suit your body best. Look for an experienced breast augmentation surgeon who can give you a clear idea of how different implant sizes will look.
4. Position Wisely
Similar to sizing, there isn’t a hard and fast rule when it comes to positioning breast implants. The ideal breast implant placement for you will depend on your body shape. Generally, make sure the gap between the breasts isn’t too small or too large. Having the implants inserted beneath the muscle in your chest can also ensure less fake-looking breast augmentation results.
Is There a “Best” Breast Implant Size?
If you’re considering breast implants, finding the right implant size may feel like a challenge. You want to choose an implant size that will complement your overall figure and match your proportions, and you don’t want to go too big or too small. When it comes to breast augmentation, there is no chart or data set that clearly outlines the best implant size for your specific needs. The best breast implant size for you depends on a number of factors.
The Sizing Surprise
Implants are measured in cubic centimeters (cc), which comes as a surprise to many women who are accustomed to measuring their breasts based upon bra size. What’s more, it’s possible for two women to have identically sized breast implants yet end up with completely different results. This is because your natural anatomy affects how your breast implants will look on you.
Your Body Limits
Your current breast size, shoulder and chest width all play a role in how your final breast augmentation results will look. If you have small breasts, you don’t have much spare breast tissue, so breast implants above a certain size won’t give you the best results. A cosmetic surgeon who specializes in breast augmentation can measure your physical dimensions and evaluate your appearance goals to find a size that works well with your frame.
Don’t Forget Your Lifestyle
Your breast implants are a long-term commitment, so it’s important to choose a size that fits with your everyday lifestyle. If you’re a naturally active person, large implants could be cumbersome and may interfere with activities that you enjoy.
So as to whether there’s a “best” breast implant size, there really isn’t one answer. The perfect implant size can’t be picked without considering your natural anatomy, your goals and your lifestyle. To get the most out of your breast augmentation, find an experienced cosmetic surgeon to walk you through each stage of the decision-making process.
Can You Get Stretch Marks from Breast Implants?
Updated for 2019
One of the most common questions, when a woman goes for an initial consultation for breast augmentation surgery, is if she’ll get stretch marks from her breast implants.
Although it’s a possibility you could get stretch marks, there are a few reasons why this isn’t a common occurrence.
Taking Necessary Precautions
Now that breast implants are getting smaller, stretch marks from surgery are very uncommon. In fact, stretch marks are rarely seen unless there is a very large increase in breast size.
The other way stretch marks may be seen after breast augmentation is if they were faintly present before surgery and the swelling makes them more obvious until the skin returns to normal. These types of stretch marks should only be temporary.
During your initial consult, your cosmetic surgeon will check your tissue thickness and your skin’s ability to stretch, as well as your overall breast and chest dimensions. After measuring all these factors, your surgeon will make sure that your expectations are in line with your measurements.
If the size that you want your breast implants to be is greater than your skin’s ability to stretch, then your cosmetic surgeon should properly warn you about the possibility of stretch marks.
Post-Breast Augmentation Safeguards
In addition to ensuring that your breast implants are not too big for your frame, there are other preventative tips that may help lower your chances of seeing stretch marks.
For instance, it’s important to keep your skin well-moisturized after your breast augmentation (as soon as your surgeon tells you it’s okay). Other options — like using silicone based scar gel, specially formulated stretch mark cream and med spa treatments — can be used during the first couple of months after surgery to help prevent stretch marks from breast implants.
Would You Plan Your Breast Augmentation Consultation over Skype?
Consider this: Your doctor tells you that you will need surgery to correct a medical issue, and recommends you consult with a surgeon. You schedule an appointment to meet with the surgeon, but when the date and time for your appointment arrive, you meet him or her not in person, but over Skype. You may be thinking “I would never trust a surgeon who I wasn’t able to consult with in person.” Yet, there are a growing number of cosmetic surgeons who schedule first breast augmentation consultations with patients via Skype.
What A Skype Consultation Can’t Do
By meeting with your breast augmentation surgeon in person, he or she has the opportunity to physically examine the important individual factors that relate to your procedure, including breast dimensions, skin laxity, and your overall size and shape. It’s simply not possible to evaluate these things the same way through a computer screen.
Additionally, if you’re like most women, you may have an idea in mind of your ideal breast size, but are uncertain of what that means in terms of implant size. Without seeing you face-to-face and evaluating your overall build, a surgeon cannot accurately advise you on how to best achieve your outcome.
Your Health Comes First
Whether you’re balancing a hectic schedule or you live remotely, a consultation over Skype may seem like a great option. However, the decision to undergo breast augmentation is an important one, and also represents a significant commitment of your time and resources. You deserve a thorough commitment from start to finish.
Consultation is a two-way street, and visiting a prospective cosmetic surgeon’s office offers you the opportunity to get a sense for the facility, helping you to choose a place for your breast augmentation where you feel safe, and can trust that your overall health and wellbeing will be taken into consideration.
Frightening Story about a Houston Surgeon’s negligent breast augmentation procedure
According to this recent news story, a now-deceased surgeon in Houston put these breast implants with no serial number or manufacturer in a patient decades ago.
The surgeon was sued for malpractice many times before losing his medical license in 2001, and he died in 2011, but many patients are still out there walking around with implants that may be dangerous.
No matter who put them in, if you’ve got breast implants that were put in more than 10 years ago, it’s a good idea to get checked out often. They aren’t designed to last forever.
Full story on KTRK ABC 13 Houston