Breast Enhancement Advice

Breast Enhancement and Implant Surgery

April 6th, 2008 by glenda Subscribe To Our Feed

Breast enhancement or enlargement is increasingly seen as a way to improve the quality of life for many women.

Despite the many dangers of surgery, breast implants are more popular than ever amongst women who want to increase their bust size quickly, or to restore what has been taken away by disease.

Cosmetic surgery is often undertaken without the due consideration of long term factors of health as well as appearance.

breasts before and after augmentation

Before and After Breast Implant Surgery

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons says 255,000 breast enhancement implant surgeries were undertaken in 2003, nearly twice the number of 1998. Another 68,000 women had surgery for breast reconstruction following a mastectomy for cancer or other disease.

However, in 2003 there were also 62,000 patients who had their implants removed.

According to the FDA, “most women with breast implants will experience some local complications such as rupture, pain, capsular contracture (a tightening of the scar tissue or capsule the body forms around the breast implant), disfigurement, and serious infection.

These may lead to nonsurgical medical treatments and repeat surgeries.”

The FDA also points out

breast implants are not considered to be lifetime devices and you are likely to require additional surgery
you are likely to have surgery to replace the implant sometime over the course of your life
changes to your breasts are irreversible and may include loss of tissue, wrinkling etc
implants may affect your ability to breast feed
routine mammography screening will be more difficult, leading to increased radiation exposure
implant surgery and/or complications may not be covered by health insurance

A retrospective study by Gabriel et al shows that 24% of women with breast implants experience adverse events resulting in surgery during the first five years after
implantation (silicone and saline implants were studied together).

According to this study, about 1 in 3 women getting breast implants for reconstruction may need a second surgery within five years, and about 1 in 8 women getting breast implants for augmentation may need a second surgery within five years.

These additional surgeries may result in the loss of breast tissue.

Breast augmentation surgery is not to be considered lightly, as there can be unpleasant consequences for some women that last for the remainder of their lives. If you do decide to have surgery, here are some questions that you should ask your surgeon -

1. What are the risks and complications associated with breast implants ?

2. How many additional breast operations can I expect over my lifetime ?

3. How will my breasts look if I choose to have the implants removed ?

4. What shape, size, surface texturing, incision and placement site is right for me ?

5. How will my ability to breast feed be affected ?

6. How can I expect my implanted breasts to look over time ?

7. How will my implanted breasts to look after pregnancy and breastfeeding ?

8. What are my options if I am dissatisfied with the cosmetic outcome ?

9. What alternate procedures or products are available ?

10. Do you have before and after photos I can look at for each procedure ?

Lastly, consider other alternatives to breast enhancement by surgery.