Breast augmentation roundup

Tuesday July 11, 2006 ins: Breast Enhancement Tag(s):

Technorati Tags: breast augmentation, breast implants, breast enhancement, cosmetic surgery, breast enlargement

Breast augmentation is a procedure designed to enlarge a woman’s breasts. It is one of the most popular cosmetic surgery procedures in 2005. It is also famous due to the fact that most female celebrities undergo breast enlargement surgery to enhance their appearance and flaunt their adorable breasts on screen.

History

A breast augmentation resource site provides a rundown of the history of breast augmentation.

Breast augmentation surgery employs prosthesis called breast implants in order to actually enlarge the breast size. Learning about breast implants would help greatly in understanding the breast enlargement procedure. A board-certified plastic surgeon resource site has an interesting article about the history of breast implants.

The Procedure

How is breast augmentation performed?

Breast augmentation may be performed in an office-based facility, in an outpatient surgical center or in a hospital. General anesthesia is employed but in most cases, local anesthesia combines with sedation is used.

The procedure is simple. The breast augmentation surgeon creates an incision within the crease beneath the breast, around the areola, or in the armpit. After creating the incision, the surgeon creates a pocket beneath the breast tissue. This is where the breast implant will be inserted. The surgeon then inserts the implant either directly behind the breast tissue or underneath the chest wall muscle. The surgeon makes sure that the implants are centered beneath the nipples, before closing in the incisions.

The procedure just takes one to two hours to perform. A bandage is applied over the breasts after surgery, and this will be removed after several days and may be replaced with a surgical bra. Patients can normally return to work within a few days. Physical contact with the breasts must be avoided for three to four weeks.

Glasgold Group and Spalding Drive have great resources for breast augmentation procedures.

Types of breast augmentation

What are the different types of breast augmentation procedure?

There are currently two popular methods of performing breast augmentation. These are the typical breast augmentation, and the transumbilical breast augmentation or TUBA.

TUBA is considered to be a breakthrough in breast enlargement. Using this procedure, women can have the desired bust size without that dreadful scar on their breasts. This is why TUBA is also known as scar-less breast augmentation.

Dr. Leonard Grossman’s site talks about how TUBA surgery is performed.

Types of breast implants

Saline-filled implants. These are the most commonly used type of implant in the United States. In fact, it is the only implant made available to women wanting cosmetic breast augmentation. These implants are made of a tough, semi-permeable silicone elastomer shell with a single valve in the front surface. They come in both smooth and textured surfaces and round or contoured, teardrop shapes.

McGhan Medical and Mentor Corporation are the only manufacturers of breast implants that are approved for use in the U.S. These companies offer breast implant warranties, which cover product replacement in case of a deflation and also medical expenses in the event of revision surgery.

Silicone-filled implants. Silicone implants are characterized by a silicone rubber shell filled with a fixed amount of silicone gel. They vary in shell surface, shape, profile, shell thickness and volume.

Silicone-filled implant is not used for cosmetic surgery due to certain controversies linking silicone implants to connective tissue diseases in women. The FDA however, clarified that there is no conclusive evidence regarding illnesses and silicone. Thus, silicone-filled implants are available for special cases such as breast reconstruction, or a medical condition causing severe breast abnormality.

Cohesive gel implants. Also known as “Gummy Bear Implant”, cohesive gel implants have all the advantages of silicone and at the same time preventing rupture and leakage.

Hydrogel- filled implants. This implant contains a lot of synthetic components, which were denied approval because of insufficient long-term safety data for the materials used.

Soya-filled implants. These implants were removed from the market in 1999, and in 2000 the Medical Devices Agency (now MHRA) recommended that these implants should be explanted.

More detailed information about the different types of breast implants is found in this breast implant resource site.

Risks and complications

Implantforum summarized the risks and complications of breast augmentation surgery. Some of these complications and risks are the following:

1. Bleeding (may require additional surgery and/or transfusion)
2. Neuroma (temporary or permanent painful areas in the breast, may require additional surgery)
3. Excess Scarring (thicker, wider, longer, different in complexion, or painful).
4. Asymmetry of Breasts (size and shape may change).
5. Sagging of the Breasts.
6. Allergies or unexpected responses to anesthetic agents, medications, skin preparations, or dressings used.

Dr. Doonica Moore also shares her insight about breast augmentation risks and complications.

Breast augmentation cost

How much does a breast augmentation surgery cost? This is an important question, and is surely one of the considerations in making that big decision to have breast augmentation.

Nicole of ImplanInfo has this answer:

Although prices are so divergent throughout the country, the general answer is that the nationwide cost of breast augmentation from pre-op to post-op is 5,000 - $6,000 on the average.

She also provided a table of plastic surgery procedures and costs that would surely help those interested in cosmetic surgery to gauge their budget.

Breast augmentation surgeons

Just what are breast augmentation surgeons? Plastic-surgeon-directory blog has an answer to that question.

Breast augmentation surgeons are plastic surgeons dedicated to perform plastic surgery procedures intended to enlarge the female breasts through the use of breast implants.

Choosing the right breast augmentation surgeon is one of the most crucial tasks a patient needs to do before undergoing a breast augmentation procedure. The patient’s decision on this matter could practically shape the desired outcome, which the entire procedure intends to produce. Knowledge about the surgeon’s trainings, experiences, hospital privileges, and pricing can help patients determine which surgeon possesses the right amount of knowledge and skills necessary for the operation to be as safe and as effective as possible.

Celebrity breast augmentation

A plastic surgery blog contains an entry with a listing of various Hollywood celebrities who had breast augmentation.

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