As a woman, your breasts highly contribute to your confidence and sense of self. Breast implants can help you regain some of your confidence by increasing the overall volume of your breasts. Whether your breasts are not as full as you’d like them to be, or if they have gone through changes due to breastfeeding, aging, or weight fluctuation, breast augmentation might be the right choice for you.
What is Breast Augmentation?
Breast augmentation is a surgery that increases the size of your breasts through the use of breast implants. Breast implants are ideal if you are looking to increase the volume or size of your breasts, while also improving symmetry. Some women choose this surgery because they are looking to increase their overall size, but other women are looking to restore lost volume in their breasts after breastfeeding, weight loss, or other surgeries.
Breast augmentation is just one of the most common breast enhancement procedures, but there are other plastic surgery procedures to refine the look of the breasts. A breast lift procedure, with or without breast implants, focuses on reshaping and elevating breasts that have begun to droop due to gravity, pregnancy, or other factors. During breast lift surgery, your surgeon will remove excess skin and tighten the remaining skin, giving the breasts a more lifted and youthful appearance. Combined with breast implants, a breast lift can give you the ideal shape and symmetry that you are looking for.
What to Expect With Breast Augmentation Surgery
If you are considering breast augmentation, it is important to be aware of what the surgery entails so that you can prepare yourself and discuss any questions or concerns with your surgeon.
Breast implants are filled with either silicone gel or saline (salt water), with silicone being the preferred choice of most patients and the only implant style I offer at my practice. When determining the size of your implants, it’s worth considering several factors, including your weight and height, the elasticity of your skin, and your desired appearance after surgery. What tends to work best is for the patient and surgeon to work closely together to arrive at an implant style and size that is likely to be satisfying for years to come.
During the surgery, anesthesia will be administered to you to ensure that you remain comfortable and pain-free throughout the procedure. If you are having breast augmentation alone, the implants will be placed through small incisions. I usually make the incisions in the intramammary fold (the crease beneath the breast), or may instead use the areola of each breast. If your augmentation is combined with a breast lift, the implants will be placed through the incisions needed for the lift. These typically surround the areola and extend down to the breast crease. Once your incisions are closed and the surgery is finished, you will be monitored to ensure that you are recovering well. Finally, a family member or friend will drive you home and you’ll be on the road to recovery.
Am I A Good Candidate for Breast Augmentation?
Before booking your breast augmentation, it is important that you meet the criteria needed for a surgeon to classify you as a good candidate. These criteria include:
- Being in good physical health: This means that you have no active infections, cancers, or serious illnesses that could put you at risk during surgery.
- Your age: It is required that you are at least 18 years old to have saline implants, and 22 years old for silicone implants.
- Non-smoker: It is essential that you do not smoke during or after surgery as it can impair how well you heal.
- Pregnancy: You cannot be pregnant or breastfeeding at the time of surgery. However, it is likely that you will be able to breastfeed after you have fully recovered from your breast augmentation.
While most women are good candidates for breast augmentation, it is vital that you remain open and honest with your surgeon about your lifestyle and health, as well as any changes that may come up.
Serving the Boise area, Dr. Kramer is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, the only plastic surgery board recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties and the AMA, and is an active member of the prestigious American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
