What Is Breast Augmentation Surgery?

Breast augmentation, also referred to as Augmentation Mammoplasty, is one of the most frequently performed cosmetic surgery procedures in the U.S. and one of our most popular services. Breast augmentation can give women with small or unevenly sized breasts a fuller, firmer, better-proportioned look through the placement of saline or silicone implants in the breast.

Our patients elect to undergo breast augmentation for many different medical and aesthetic reasons, including balancing breast size, compensating for reduced breast mass after pregnancy or surgery, and correcting a congenital breast defect. 

What Are The Different Types Of Breast Implants?

After many years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved silicone breast implants for breast augmentation surgery. Breast implants are silicone shells filled with either saline (salt water) or silicone gel. Both implant types are very safe, and each offers its own advantages. We will help you decide which kind is right for you. During surgery, we will place the implants behind each breast, underneath either breast tissue or the chest wall muscle.

We are proud to offer patients the option of silicone gel-filled breast implants as well. These types of breast implants are much softer and feel more natural than saline-filled breast implants.

How Is Breast Augmentation Surgery Performed?

The breast augmentation procedure lasts one to two hours and is typically performed with general anesthesia. Incisions are made in inconspicuous places on the breast to minimize scar visibility. These may be located:

• In the armpit (transaxillary)
• In the crease on the underside of the breast (inframammary)
• Around the areola, the dark skin around the nipple (periareolar)

The breast is then lifted, creating a pocket into which the implant is inserted.

Saline implants may also be placed endoscopically through an incision in the navel. This minimally invasive breast enhancement technique is known as a transumbilical breast augmentation or TUBA approach.

Breast Implant Placement Options

Implant placement beneath the muscle of the chest offers a few advantages over placement beneath the breast tissue only. These include reduced risk of capsular contracture (post-operative tightening around the implant) and less interference with mammogram examinations. Possible disadvantages include need for drainage tubes and elevated pain in the first few days following surgery. We will discuss which option may be best for you.

In the TUBA procedure, implants cannot be placed beneath the chest wall.

After the implants have been inserted and positioned beneath the nipples, the incisions are stitched closed, then taped and bandaged. In a few days, these bandages may be replaced with a surgical bra.

What Is The Recovery From Breast Augmentation Surgery?

Breast Augmentation Amazon Aesthetic patients feel tired and sore after breast augmentation surgery, but this usually passes in a day or two. Many patients return to work within the week.

Stitches are removed in a week to 10 days after breast augmentation. Any post-operative pain, swelling and sensitivity will diminish over the first few weeks.

Scars from breast augmentation incisions will begin to fade in a few months and will continue to fade for months or years.