Breast augmentation, also known as augmentation mammaplasty, is a cosmetic surgical procedure that seeks to increase the size of a woman’s breasts using implants or fat transfer.
In addition to enhancing the volume of your breasts, the procedure should give you more rounded breasts and improve your breast size symmetry. The procedure can also improve your self-image and give you a confidence boost.
Here is what you need to know about your breast augmentation options.
Candidates for Breast Augmentation
Like other cosmetic surgical procedures, the decision to get breast augmentation should be based on your personal need to look and feel better about yourself. Therefore, you should never do it for someone else or to look like someone else.
The ideal candidates for the procedure are those who are willing to accept that they are unique and the results of the procedure will also be unique. In other words, if you are thinking of going for breast augmentation surgery, you need to have realistic expectations. Furthermore, your breasts must be fully developed, and therefore, you must be over 18 years old. However, if you want silicone gel breast implants, you will need to wait until you turn 22.
Last but not least, breast augmentation is major surgery, and you need to be in good physical and mental health to get the surgery.
What Does Breast Augmentation Involve?
Breast augmentation is usually performed under general anesthesia or intravenous sedation. Once the anesthesia has taken effect, your surgeon will make an incision in your armpit, along the edges of your areola, or in the folds under your breasts. The implants will then be inserted through the incisions. The implants can either be placed under or over the pectoral muscle. Once the implants have been placed, the incisions will be closed with sutures and skin adhesives.
How Will Recovery Be?
After the surgery, your breasts will remain wrapped in an elastic bandage and gauze dressings to minimize swelling. You will be monitored in the plastic surgery facility for about an hour, after which you will be allowed to go home. But before you can go home, you will be instructed on how to take care of yourself and when you should go back to your surgeon for follow-up appointments. You might experience pain for the first few days, but you will be given medications to manage it. You will be required to avoid physical activity for a few weeks, and your surgeon will guide you on which kind of physical activity you can engage in at a particular stage of recovery.
Are There Any Risks?
Like any other surgical procedure, breast augmentation is not without risks. Some risks of breast augmentation include blood clots, infection, pain, and bleeding. The procedure might also cause you to lose your breast and nipple sensitivity, and you might even end up with asymmetrically-sized breasts. But although these problems can occur, they are quite rare, and you are unlikely to experience them.
As you can see, if you do not like the small size and the shape of your breasts, you can go for breast augmentation surgery to enhance the size of your breasts and your overall chest contour. Talk to a plastic surgeon about what you can expect by getting breast augmentation surgery.