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Just What Is Breast Augmentation?
Breast Augmentation, known by its medical term as “augmentation mammoplasty,” is
a surgical procedure used to enlarge and enhance the size and shape of a woman’s
breast by placing an implant behind each breast. Many times, weight loss or
gain, childbirth, or simply as a result of aging, the breasts lose volume and
their shape changes. (We’ll talk about a breast lift and that thing called
“gravity pull” in another section!)
Age Considerations
In the U.S. the FDA has ruled that cosmetic breast augmentation cannot be
performed on anyone under the age of 18, although reconstructive and corrective
surgery is allowed for someone under 18. The average age for breast augmentation
is between 19 and 34 years of age, but approximately 35% of patients are between
35 and 50, and about 3% are older than 51 – so if your health allows it, there
is really no age limit to having breast augmentation surgery.
Understanding the Surgical Procedure
Breast augmentation surgery can be performed as either an outpatient procedure
(not in a hospital) or as an inpatient procedure (in a hospital.) Your doctor
will determine which is best for you, depending on your overall health, your
age, the type of surgery you’ve chosen, and a variety of other factors. Breast
implant surgery can be performed under local anesthesia (where only the breast
area is numbed,) or general anesthesia (where you are “knocked out” for the
entire procedure, and wake up when it’s all done.)
Depending on the type of surgery (i.e. if you’re having surgery on one or both
breasts, where the implant is inserted, etc.) the length of surgery can vary
from a couple of hours to up to 12! If you have your surgery done in a hospital,
the length of your hospital stay can also vary, depending on the type of
surgery, any post-operative complications and your overall health. You should
discuss all these variables with your doctor before the surgery begins. In fact,
at the back of this report is a list of questions you should review with your
doctor when you’re considering this kind of surgery.
The positioning and method of inserting your implant will depend on the type of
surgery your doctor recommends.
• Sub-muscular placement means the implant is inserted behind the chest muscle
• Sub-glandular placement means the implant is inserted in front of the chest
muscle
The incision is typically made on one of three places:
• The crease where your breast meets the chest (underneath the breast) (called
the inframammary incision)
• Around the areola (the dark skin surrounding the nipple) (called the
periarolear incision)
• In the armpit (called the transaxillary incision)
There is also a procedure that makes an incision in the belly button (called the
transumbilical incision), but most doctors don’t recommend it due to the
complications that arise from this type of incision
Read More: Breast
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