If you are considering mammoplasty......
The most suitable candidates for mammoplasty
Implant Types
All operations involve risk
Planning the operation
Preparing for the operation
Where will the Surgery Take Place?
Kinds of Anaesthesia
The Operation
After the operation
Back to Normal
Your New Appearance
If you are considering mammoplasty...
Augmentation mammoplasty is a surgical procedure which changes the size and the shape of the breasts for the following purposes:
For breast augmentation in women who consider their breasts to be small
For correction of breast size differences in the event of asymmetry
For reconstructive purposes following breast cancer surgery
If you are considering breast augmentation operation, this brochure will provide you with basic information about the procedure- when it works, how it is done and what kind of results you may expect. However, you may not find the answers to all of your questions here. Consult your physician for more detailed information regarding the operation. Top
The most suitable candidates for rhinoplasty
Augmentation mammoplasty improves your appearance, increases your self confidence; however, the outcome may not exactly correspond to your ideal. Consider your expectations very thoroughly before you decide on the operation and discuss with your surgeon.
The most suitable candidates for augmentation mammoplasty are those who are not pursuing perfection in their appearance, but would like to see an improvement. If you are physically healthy and have realistic expectations, you may be a good candidate.
Even though augmentation mammoplasty is mostly performed for breast augmentation purposes, it may also be performed to compensate for differences between two breast sizes, and even with permanent or inflatable implants for reconstructive purposes following cancer surgery. Top
Implant Types
Breast implant consists of a silicone gel, and a silicone case filled with a salt water solution known as saline. Depending on their shapes, anatomic (drop implant) or round-shaped implants may be used. It would be a good idea to discuss this with your doctor since the choice of implant will vary according to the shape of the breast and chest structure. Top
All operations involve risk
As with every other operation, breast augmentation operations have their own risks and specific complications. Over time, the body forms a layer around the inserted implant. Known as the capsule, sometimes, this layer may squeeze the implant, causing it to be displaced and the breasts to appear asymmetric and feel stiff.
Known as capsule contracture, this discomfort may be treated in a variety of ways and may sometimes necessitate the removal of the capsule or its "scoring" (relaxation); sometimes the implant is removed and replaced with a new one.
As with every other operation, bleeding, infection, delays in the healing of wounds may occur in breast augmentation operations as well. If bleeding persists, it may necessitate a second operation to bring it under control or to drain the accumulated blood.
A minor portion of implant patients may develop infection around their implants. Infection may occur at any given time, but most frequently during the first week following the operation. In some cases, the implant is removed until the infection is totally brought under control, to be replaced with a new one later on.
Following the operation, your nipples may become oversensitive, or, you may experience some loss of sensation in that area. There may be small numb patches close to the incision areas formed during the operation. Generally, these symptoms disappear over time; however, they may be permanent in some patients.
There are no findings to indicate that breast implants have any impact on fertility, pregnancy or breast-feeding.
Breast implants are put through various biomechanical tests to prove their strength and durability; however, the outermost silicone sheet may be cut upon contact with piercing or puncturing devices and a leakage may form in the material contained in the case. The silicone or the saline leak into the surrounding tissues. In this case, the implants have to be changed. In saline implants, the saline that leaks into the surrounding tissue is absorbed by the body in a short period of time.
However, the puncturing of an implant filled with silicone gel may result in two ways. If the case is punctured but nothing happens to the capsule around the implant, it is possible that you may not feel any change. However, in the event of a scar puncture following a particularly heavy blow, the silicone gel may penetrate the surrounding tissue. The new type of implants used nowadays are produced in a manner which will not allow the silicone to penetrate the surrounding area even if its gets punctured. Therefore, there is only a deformation in appearance. In both cases, the implant has to be replaced.
Every implant has an expiry date. This period may vary from 7 years to 25.
Very few women with breast implants have reported symptoms similar to immune system diseases such as scleroderma or arthritis. These symptoms include painful or swollen joints, fever, fatigue and painful breasts. Research has failed to establish any link between silicon breast implants and what doctors define as "connective tissue disease".
We have no evidence to believe that breast implants cause breast cancer; however, they require a different mammography method of screening for cancer. When you want to have routine mammography, the experienced technicians and physicians at the ASG radiology centre will be able to obtain very reliable, special technique x-ray images of your breasts and implants. Additional imaging methods may be required. Ultrasonography may provide additional benefits in the detection of masses in some women with breast implants and also in the assessment of the implants.
Even though the majority of women do not experience these complications, consult your doctor about each and every one of these complications and make sure that you understand all the risk and results involved.Top
Planning the operation
On your first visit, your physician will make a general assessment of your health and depending on the skin tone of your breasts, he will decide on the most suitable surgical technique for you. If you have saggy breasts, your doctor may also recommend breast lifting (mastopexy) operation. To make sure that you fully understand all the details of the procedure your doctor has recommended, discuss all treatment options with him prior to the operation.
Make sure you discuss your expectations openly with your physician. He will explain you the treatment options and the risks and limitations involved. If you are a smoker or if you are on any kind of medication or vitamin regimen, inform your physician.
Your physician will inform you of the kind of anaesthesia he will be using, the hospital where he will be performing the operation, and the costs involved. Many insurance companies do not consider breast augmentation to be a medical requirement; therefore, policies do not cover the cost of this procedure. Top
Preparing for the operation
Your surgeon will be giving you special instructions about how to prepare for the operation, eating and drinking rules, smoking and about starting or interrupting the intake of certain vitamins and medications.
When preparing for the operation, make sure you put someone in charge of taking you home after the procedure and helping you with going out for one or two days. Top
Where will the Surgery Take Place?
Your operation will be performed in one of the hospitals of the Acibadem Healthcare Group and you will be required to spend one night at the hospital. Top
Kinds of Anaesthesia
General anaesthesia is the preferred method for breast augmentation operations. In this case, you will be asleep throughout the surgery. Some surgeons prefer to use local anaesthesia in conjunction with a sedative to make you feel numb. In that case, you will be relaxed but awake and make experience some discomfort. Top
The Operation
The insertion of the implant depends on your breast and chest structure and the preference of your surgeon. The surgical incision may be made on the folding where the breast meets the chest wall or around the areola (the dark-coloured area around the nipple) or in the armpit. In any case, no effort will be spared to make sure that the incision is made in a way which will keep the scars out of sight.
Your surgeon will be working along the incision and will be lifting it to form a pocket either directly behind the breast tissue or underneath the chest wall muscles (pectoral muscles). Following that, implants of a desirable size are inserted in the space that has been created for them and the breasts are thus augmented.
Some surgeons believe that inserting the implants behind the chest wall muscles helps reduce the incidence of the above-mentioned capsule contracture. Compared to the insertion of the implants directly behind the breast tissue, this technique presents less of an impediment for mammography examinations. However, when compared with the technique of inserting the implant directly under the breast tissue, the insertion of the implant behind the chest wall muscle may be more painful in the several days following the surgery.
The operation usually lasts one-two hours. Top
After the operation
You may feel some fatigue and sensitivity in the few days following the operation, but you will be able to get up and walk within 24-48 hours. Most of your discomfort may be brought under control through the medications prescribed by your physician.
Gauzes(or Dressings) will be removed within a few days, if any, and you will be required to wear a special kind of brassiere. You should be wearing this brassiere the way that your surgeon recommends. You may experience a burning sensation in your nipples for approximately two weeks; this will pass as the redness disappears.
It may take 3-5 weeks for the swelling in your breasts to go away.
No effort is spared to hide the scars underneath the breast folding, around the areola and in the armpit. The breast tissue and the skin are lifted in order to form a pocket.
The breast implant may be inserted directly underneath the breast tissue or behind the chest wall muscles.
Following the operation, the appearance and the contours of your breasts will be fuller and they will look natural. Scars will be fading over time. Top
Back to Normal
Depending on the level of activity your job requires, you may go back to work within a few days.
Follow your physician's recommendations about exercising and going back to normal activities. Your breasts will probably be very sensitive to direct stimulation for two-three weeks, therefore, avoid this kind of physical contact. Later on, by the time there is no more pain in your breasts after three-four weeks, the sensation in your breasts will have gone back to normal.
Your scars will be remaining hard and pink for a minimum of six weeks. Following that, they will remain the same size for a couple of months; they will even appear to have somewhat enlarged. The scars will be starting to fade within a few months; however, they will never completely disappear.
Even though the mammography technician will have to be using a special technique for more reliable imaging, in women who fall into the required age group, routine mammograms should be continued after breast augmentation operation. Top
Your New Appearance
Because women feel very happy with their newly acquired fuller and well-endowed appearance, the results of breast augmentation operation are very satisfactory and pleasurable.
Regular check-ups by the surgeon and routine mammograms prescribed for specific age groups will ensure the early detection and successful treatment of complications, if any.
The decision to have breast augmentation is something that is totally up to you and no one else can understand your reasons for it. The important thing is how you feel about it. If you have realised what you yourself have been aiming for, then the operation has been a success.
To healthy days.......... Top |
