Breast augmentation is a plastic surgery that aims to enhance the shape and size of the breasts, and cosmetically improve the breasts’ fullness and firmness. It falls under the body contouring umbrella that aims to quickly improve your self-image and confidence.
What Breast augmentation surgery is?
Breast augmentation, also known as augmentation mammaplasty, is a plastic surgery procedure performed to enlarge breasts’ size, enhance their proportion, or fix asymmetric breasts.
Breast augmentation vs breast reconstruction
Although both surgeries shared the same technique, which is either silicon or saline-filled breast implants, they are different in aims and drives.
Aims of breast reconstruction
Breast reconstruction is performed to restore function and near-normal appearance of breasts following mastectomy, or in the case of a patient who was born without the organ needed for breast development.
Aims of breast augmentation
breast augmentation aims are:
- Enhance your breasts’ size, appearance, fullness, and proportions.
- Fix asymmetric breasts’ size or shape.
- Breast contours to look more feminine.
How are the breasts’ size enlarged?
There are two main ways to surgically enhance breast size, breast implants or fat transfer.
What are breast implants?
A breast implant is a surgically placed prosthesis within the breast to enhance its size. Implants are empty sacs that are filled with fluid or gel-like silicone or saline.
Breast implants increase size, and add firmness, shape, and contour to your breasts.
Types of breast implants
The most advanced and safest breast implants are silicone gel or saline-filled implants, and both have the same outer silicone shells.
Each type has its own set of advantages, and the choice between them often confuses patients, so your best plastic surgeon in Egypt will provide you with the exact information you need to know to make the right decision.
Saline-filled Implants
Saline-filled implants contain a sterile salt water solution. Thus, if leakage occurs, which is highly unlikely, your body will naturally absorb the saline with no negative side effects.
In addition, the implant is placed as an empty shell into the breast and later filled with a predetermined amount of solution, which means a small incision is needed to place the implant.
Silicone-filled Implants
In silicone implants, the implanted sac is filled with a cohesive silicone gel, which is as safe as saline.
Advantages of silicone implants
the FDA-approved silicone gel used has unique cohering properties which add some advantages to it like:
- enable the silicone inside the implant to behave as a solid, and the gelatin-like nature makes patients feel that they look and feel like natural breast tissue thus giving it a realistic contouring effect.
- If the unlikely rupture or leakage event occurs, the gelatin-like substance is self-binding, thus preventing it from spreading outside the area of the implant itself.
Differences between both implants types
Unlike saline implants, silicone implants must be pre-filled before being inserted, which means that the incision needed is much larger.
Fat transfer breast augmentation
Another technique to achieve enlarged breasts is through fat transfer or fat grafting, During this technique, liposuction is used to remove unwanted fat cells from selected body areas, these fats are then purified and reinjected into breasts to enhance their size.
Fat transfer breast augmentation PROS and CONS
Achieving breast augmentation by fat transfer has the following PROS
Dual sculpting procedure
Dual targets are achieved. Unwanted fat deposits are removed while another area is augmented, which is mean a dual-toned procedure.
Minimal Invasive procedure
Unlike breast implants, breast augmentation using fat transfer is a less invasive procedure with smaller incisions that do not exceed 4 mm.
Relatively Fewer Complications
Inserting apart from the same body of course carries minimal postoperative complications than inserting a foreign part.
More natural goals
The resulting breast appearance looks more natural compared to breast implants.
The results obtained are lifelong
Despite implants available nowadays being designed to last more than a decade, the result obtained from fat transfer remains for life, but it might take up to six months to notice the final results.
Natural breast augmentation by fat transfer carries also the following CONS
Limited goals are achieved
Unlike breast implants, a limited increase in breast size is achieved by the fat transfer technique, which does not exceed one cup size enlargement.
Not everyone is an ideal candidate
Almost all are candidates for breast implants, however, if you are lean, or do not have enough adipose tissue to use in the fat transfer, you might not be a good candidate.
Additional cost
Since it includes two procedures in one, the overall cost might be more than breast implant surgery.
Breast sagging
Since the results obtained are extremely natural, aging, pregnancy, weight gain or loss, and many other factors change the breast shape, unlike breast implants.
Which technique best fits me?
Like all body contouring, no one-fits-all technique, you choose the technique that fits you according to the goals you need to achieve, your overall health conditions, and your body shape and nature.
Although the final decision is up to you, your plastic surgeon highly helps you in taking such a decision by disclosing all information about the risks, benefits, and outcomes of each option.
Tips might help you to reach the right decision
Breast implants fit you if
- You are very lean.
- You need flexible results.
- You need maximum enlargement, together with a lifted contoured shape.
- You need immediate results.
While fat transfer fits you if
- You want a small push that seems natural.
- You need to shape another area of your body simultaneously.
- You need a mildly invasive procedure.
- You need lifelong results.
How long does it take to recover after a breast augmentation procedure?
Breast augmentation is a major surgery that requires at least a week off from work, and about two weeks to resume your routine tasks.
Is breast augmentation painful?
Not as painful as you think, the post-surgery pain you feel is controlled by over-the-counter medications.
Finally
Breast augmentation surgery is a safe and effective option for you to feel more feminine if you are very slim, your breasts size is very small, or unproportional to your body shape.
