What are Breast Implants?
Breast implants are either silicone or saline sacs that are inserted under the breast tissue of women’s breasts to augment them. Augmentation is a surgical procedure that is designed to increase the size and shape of the breasts giving an improved overall appearance that is not exclusive to just the chest area. Most implants will be round in shape, enhancing the breast size and will often give a rounder appearance to the upper breasts. Some implants can have a different shape to affect the slope of the breast. Some breast implants can also be textured, which can have the affect of not only holding the implant in place but also decreasing the risk of a hardening in the breast area.
The overall method of augmenting the breasts and inserting an implant will vary between patients and surgeons. Generally the surgeon will make an incision along the natural crease of the breast. This is usually where the lower part of the breast meets the wall of the chest (the imframammary fold incision). There are also other places to make the incision, including the armpit (transaxillary incision) and the areola (periareolar incision). The sites are chosen for a number of reasons, and one of them is so that there is minimal scarring as the incisions are hidden in areas where they can either blend in or are covered up. After making the incision, the surgeon will then make a pocket where the implant can be placed, which is often underneath the muscle of the breast with the positioning dependent on the initial size and shape of the breast. After the implantation is complete the surgeon will stitch up the incision with sutures that in some cases are dissolvable. Sometimes they may wish to provide greater support to the breasts by taping them up at the same time. These are factors that you will discuss with your surgeon. All in all, the surgery should take around one to two hours, but this time can vary.
Generally, patients will find that the surgery requires one overnight stay in hospital, however there will be examples of people being able to leave the same day. The operation will be carried out with a general anaesthetic.
The size of the implants are clearly a decision that will be made by you and your doctor, however surgeons are likely to warn against ones that are too large, as sometimes they can be visible and rather obvious after the surgery. Again, this is something you will discuss and think about with time.
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