Am I a candidate for breast augmentation and breast implants?

There are numerous reasons for considering surgical augmentation of your breasts. It can boost your self-esteem and view of yourself. It can change the way your clothes fit your body, and you may find that clothing that was unflattering to you before becomes perfectly suited to your figure. Loving your appearance will increase your self-confidence and your outlook on your life may brighten. An enormous number of women tell us that breast augmentation surgery has brought tremendous benefits to their lives. Among the most common reasons for choosing to have breast implants are:

Boosting pride and self-assurance

Enlarging breasts you believe are undersized

Enhancing your image of how others see you

Improving how you look in clothing

Making your breasts the same size and shape

Reclaiming breast size that has diminished following breastfeeding or weight loss

Restoring perkiness

Reconstructing after diseases that affect the breast, such as breast cancer

How do I choose the right size implant for Breast Augmentation?

There are a lot of variables that go into choosing the right size implant for you, such as current breast volume, the size of your ribcage, and the shape of your chest. Your surgeon has the experience to help you choose the best size and fill for your implant. The best thing you can do is to tell him or her what type of outcome you want. Find photos of women with a similar build as yours that reflect the look you want to achieve. You may also find breast augmentation pictures on the internet by searching "breast augmentation before after." Showing photos to your doctor is a better way of conveying your desired look than simply telling the doctor to make you a C cup or a D cup because different people have different definitions of what those phases mean. Your doctor will also have breast augmentation photos—including breast augmentation before and after photos—for you to view in making your decision.

How big will my breasts be after surgery?

For the most part, this is determined by two factors: the size of your breasts before surgery and the size of the implant that is used. During your pre-surgical consultation, Dr Evans will talk with you about other factors that may affect your final outcome.

How much does breast augmentation cost?

This is one of the first questions patients ask, but the answer to "How much is a breast augmentation?" does not have one answer. Breast augmentation prices differ from one part of the country to another—and even within geographic areas. The cost of breast augmentation may be as low as $5,000 to as much as $10,000. This cost covers the consultation, the breast implants, the cost for anesthesia, the fees charged by the surgical center, your surgeon's fees, and the cost of appointments during your breast augmentation recovery. You may feel that this breast augmentation cost puts the procedure out of your reach, but be assured that, in most cases, you can get breast augmentation financing.

There are various reasons why breast augmentation costs range so widely. The area of the country where you reside has a significant impact on answering how much is breast augmentation going to cost you. California and New York tend to have higher costs of living. As a result, plastic surgery procedures are likely to cost more. Another consideration is the type of augmentation you want. It will be more expensive to have a breast lift along with your breast augmentation, rather than a breast augmentation alone. Or if you have had prior implants there will be additional fees to remove the “old” implants ,scar tissue ,and replacing “new “ implants. Opting for silicone vs saline implants will increase the cost of augmentation since silicone is a more costly product. Even the fees charged by surgeons can be different; however, you should avoid the temptation to have your augmentation performed by a doctor who does not have the relevant training just because that doctor's fee is lower. Always choose a board-certified breast augmentation surgeon to perform your surgery.

After you meet with Dr Evans for your consultation, our staff will provide you with the total cost for your surgery, this will include Surgeon’s fee, the surgical facility costs, the anesthesia costs, the cost for the implants, and the cost for the post-surgical appointments.

Which breast augmentation incision should I choose?

If you choose to have saline breast implants, the incision can be made in one of three locations. If you choose to have silicone gel implants, you also have three locations from which to choose.

An incision made in the armpit is called a transaxillary incision.

An incision made in the area around the areola, which is the pigmented tissue encircling the nipple, is called a periareolar incision.

An incision made underneath the breast, close to the breast crease, is called an inframammary incision. It is also referred to as a breast fold incision or a breast crease incision.

Which type of incision is best?

The truth is that no particular incision is better than the others; it really depends on which one is best for you, and talking with your doctor will help you make that decision. Take into consideration how well your body heals and the types of clothes you wear.

Will I lose sensation in my breasts if I have augmentation surgery?

Research has shown very little evidence to say that one incision carried greater or lesser risk than another when it comes to loss of sensation in the breast. The majority of plastic surgeons believe that implant size and the surgeon's technique are the main factors that determine the likelihood of losing sensation.

What are the pros and cons of silicone implants vs saline implants?

Saline implants vs silicone? You can achieve an outstanding result with both silicone and saline implants, but it is important to know the differences of silicone vs saline implants. The major factors distinguishing silicone versus saline implants relates to the implants' future failure; specifically, identifying that the implants have failed and deciding what steps to take if they have failed. Both silicone-fill implants and saline-fill implants have identical expected functional years. You should not be concerned that either type of implant will cause health problems after they are placed in your body, and this includes after they have failed. There is a difference between silicone and saline implants in the way they fail. Failure of a saline implant allows the salt water contained in it to seep into the scar capsule. It then moves out of there, is soaked up by the body, and then expelled in the urine. Failure of a silicone implant allows silicone contained in it to seep into the area separating the implant shell and the scar capsule. Modern design of silicone implants limits this to a very small amount. Unlike the contents of saline implants, the small portion of silicone that leaves the implant does not also leave an unbroken scar capsule. It stays inside the capsule, save for a negligible quantity of microscopic beads.

In terms of aesthetics, failure of a saline implant causes the breast to get smaller, whereas the breast remains the same size after failure of a silicone implant. Your surgeon can show you pictures of saline implants or pictures of silicone implants to help you better understand their design.

Choosing saline implants vs silicone implants is an important decision, so be sure to ask your surgeon any questions you have so that you are confident in your choice and the results you will get from either silicone or saline implant before and after your surgery.

Can salt-water filled implants harden like the silicone-filled ones?

It is actually a misconception that implants harden, even though, over time, they may sometimes feel as though they have. What you are actually feeling is scar tissue, which the body naturally forms around any medical device that has been implanted, such as knee joints and devices to assist the heart. The body forms scar tissue around breast implants, too, regardless of whether they are saline-fill or silicone-fill. This scar tissue is actually beneficial because it helps to secure the implants in place and it acts as a protective covering against shock to the implants from outside forces.

Why is a fee charged for the consultation?

A thorough plastic surgery consultation is key to achieving an excellent surgical outcome, and this requires numerous people working many hours to educate a woman about her options and to answer her questions. The time invested by these professionals, plus the doctor's general expenses (utilities, supplies, use of equipment) related to that consultation, are not even reimbursed by the consultation fee. In fact, in most instances, the doctor does not benefit financially from the fee.

If you find a surgeon who offers a free plastic surgery consultation, be aware that he or she may simply charge a higher surgery fee as a way to recoup the cost of the consultation. Not every patient who goes for a consultation ends up having the surgery, so the cost of their consultation is passed on to other patients. For the most part, surgeons who require payment for a consultation spend more time with their patients than surgeons who offer no-charge consultations. The majority of plastic surgeons who are board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery attach a fee to their consultations and then subtract that fee when determining the cost to perform the surgery, an arrangement that benefits both the patient and the surgeon equally.

Can I get my insurance company to pay for my breast augmentation?

Your insurance company may cover the cost of breast augmentation only in certain cases if you have had a prior history of breast cancer and subsequent mastectomy.

Another example, if you need to enhance a breast that has simply not grown properly. Finally, would be the need to modify a breast to be identical to a counterpart breast that has been reconstructed after a mastectomy.

Can I breastfeed after breast augmentation?

If you had the ability to breastfeed before you had the surgery, then you will still be able to breastfeed after the implants are placed. Research has indicated that as many as two-thirds of women with small breasts do not have the ability to breastfeed satisfactorily. It is unlikely that breast implants will increase or decrease that ability. It is also important to note that, regardless of whether a woman chooses silicone or saline implants, there is no evidence that breastfeeding after augmentation poses any risk to infants.

How long do breast implants last?

No part of the human body is guaranteed to stay healthy and functional for your entire life, and no manmade device implanted into the body, such as breast implants, artificial hip joints, infusion pumps, or pacemakers, can be expected to last indefinitely either. It is true that both silicone and saline breast implants will reach the end of their functional lives at some point. The average person inhales and exhales approximately 15,000 times each day, and that ongoing motion takes its toll on the implants, just as stresses in other parts of the body take their toll on other implanted medical devices and eventually wear them out. A number of plastic surgeons advise their patients that the requirement for breast implant replacement is approximately 1% to 5% at five years, 5% to 10% at ten years, and 25% by fifteen years, as determined by the most recent research available.

Will breast implants effect cancer detection?

A Mayo Clinic study looked at approximately 12,000 women, half with implants and half without, to identify whether or not implants made it more difficult to spot cancer on mammography studies. Put another way, they wanted to know if implants allowed breast cancers to grow larger before they could be detected. The results show that implants do not interfere with the identification of cancers in the breast.

What is fat grafting breast augmentation?<

This two-step procedure, also called natural breast augmentation, stem cell breast augmentation, fat injection breast augmentation, and fat transfer breast augmentation, uses liposuction to obtain fat from other areas of the body, such as the buttocks and thighs, which is then inserted into the breasts to enhance and contour them.

What is "bottoming out"?

This phrase refers to a situation where a breast implant has settled below the intended position, resulting in the nipple being higher on the breast mound than desired. If bottoming out happens soon after the augmentation procedure, it is probably a result of the surgeon creating too large a pocket for the implant. If movement of the implant happens much longer after the procedure, it most often results from the implant's weight.

Women who are thin and have usually small amounts of breast tissue and skin coverage are most likely to experience bottoming out. It occurs most often when breast implants are positioned above the chest muscle and is seen less often when the implants are inserted in the complete submuscular position. Bottoming out can happen with any type of breast implant.

An implant that has bottomed out can be corrected by rolling the scar tissue at the base of the pocket upward until it reaches the location of the new breast crease. This revision can be performed using any type of incision, though the preferred method is the crease incision because it provides the surgeon with the best possible field of vision on the pocket.

What is capsular contracture?

The human body creates a natural covering around any unfamiliar item that is placed inside it, including pins and screws, artificial joints, and breast implants. This covering, also called a capsule, a tissue capsule, or a scar capsule, consists of living tissue. Capsule contracture is a possible complication that can result from a breast augmentation procedure; in fact, it is the most common one, and although it can occur anytime, it appears to happen most often within several months after the procedure. During breast augmentation surgery, the surgeon creates a pocket into which the implant is placed. As healing proceeds, the body creates a capsule around the implant, and over time, that pocket naturally constricts a little bit, but not enough to change the look and feel of the breast enhancement that was achieved by the surgery. Some patients, though, do experience too much constriction of the capsule. The implant is compressed, changing its appearance and making the breast harder to the touch. In time, the implant may develop a spherical appearance and become quite hard to the touch. It is not the implant that has changed; it is still as supple as when it was implanted. It is the compression of the implant by the capsule that makes the implant to feel solid.

What causes capsular contracture?

At this time, the medical community does not have a definitive answer, but there are some factors that are believed to increase a patient's risk of experiencing capsule contracture:

Smoking: this reduces the amount of oxygen in the bloodstream, which may impede healing and also trigger inflammation.

Transient germ contamination: if the shell of the implant is contaminated with microbes and/or the persistent presence of bacteria, inflammation may result, which then triggers constriction of the capsule.

Hematoma: this term describes a portion of blood that has collected in the surgical site. It can induce inflammation, which then triggers constriction of the capsule.

Subglandular placement: this term refers to the placement of implants above the chest muscles, and implants placed in this way have a greater likelihood of capsular contracture. Submuscular placement (behind the muscle) of implants tends to have a lower likelihood of capsular contracture.

Seroma: this is a portion of clear fluid that collects in a surgical site. Patients may be more likely to have capsular contracture if they have had seroma.

Infection: evidence indicates that a patient is more likely to develop contraction of the capsule after experiencing an infection.

What is symmastia?

Among all the complications related to breast augmentation surgery, this complication is the least likely to occur, and most often comes about from the surgeon cutting more of the tissues of the cleavage than is necessary to complete the augmentation. "Uniboob," "kissing implants," and "breadloafing" are other less technical terms for symmastia. This phenomenon occurs when the implants literally touch each other, causing the woman to appear as if she has one breast rather than two. Thin woman are most likely to experience symmastia because their sternums tend to have a smaller amount of fat and/or tissue over them. Patients who have their augmentations performed by a seasoned and accomplished surgeon should not be concerned about developing symmastia. While some instances of symmastia are unintentional, other cases are purposeful, intended to create cleavage for women who do not have any, or to enhance it for women who want more. A surgeon may carefully liberate tissues, allowing the implants to move nearer each other.

How is symmastia repaired?

A surgeon will repair symmastia by reconnecting the fat and soft tissues to the breastbone. If the patient's implant were placed beneath the chest muscles, the surgeon may excise the scar tissue from the pocket and then gather it up, forming a foundation on which permanent sutures can attach to secure the sternal skin in place. The remaining portion of the pocket is secured with stitches, too, and this creates obstructions which ensure the implants do not move out of position again. If the goal is to completely alleviate strain from the center of the breastbone, enlargement of the pocket is often required; alternatively, smaller implants must be exchanged for the one previously placed. Following symmastia repair, the patient normally wears a thong-bra and places something between the breasts to apply pressure to the breastbone, such as a rolled towel or bandage.