Breast augmentation is the plastic surgery procedure that gives women the most pride in their womanhood. When you feel that your breasts are not as big as you expected, or there is a significant bilateral breast asymmetry, or you are satisfied with your past breasts but now your breasts have lost their original volume and shape due to weight loss, childbirth, aging, etc., breast augmentation will be the best choice for you to get a beautiful figure or to regain your past voluptuousness. There are two recognized safe surgical breast augmentation methods: 1) breast implant augmentation; 2) autologous fat injection augmentation. In the following we will answer some common questions for you in detail.
Who is suitable for breast augmentation?
You may be a candidate for breast augmentation if you have the following feelings or symptoms
1. You always feel that your breasts are too small.
2. You feel that your breasts are too big when you buy clothes that fit your hips.
3.You always feel shy or your breasts are not full enough when you wear swimsuit, corset or low-cut dress.
4.After childbirth, your breasts become smaller and sagging with a big difference from before you gave birth, which seriously affects your life and appearance.
5.After losing weight the size and shape of your breasts have changed more obviously.
6. One of your breasts is significantly smaller than the other.
What do I need to do before the consultation?
You should first know the approximate size and shape of your desired breasts before your consultation so that you can clearly express your desires during the consultation, and so that your surgeon can choose the correct surgical plan for you. In addition, if you are planning to be hospitalized directly after the consultation, it is more appropriate to visit the doctor about 7 days after your period.
Should I choose breast implants or breast implants?
Generally speaking, if you have more fat in your waist, abdomen, thighs and buttocks and you don’t want your breasts to increase too much, you can choose fat injection breast augmentation; if you are thin and want your breasts to change a lot in a short period of time, we recommend you to choose implant breast augmentation; relatively speaking, more people are suitable for implant breast augmentation and the results are very reliable. Liposuction breast augmentation is more suitable for women who want to lose weight and increase the size of their breasts at the same time.
About breast implant augmentation
1. Is it safe to apply breast implants?
As far as breast silicone gel implants are concerned, there is a lot of long-term evidence that they are very safe for the human body, and large samples of domestic and foreign studies have shown that no correlation has been found between the use of implants and the occurrence of autoimmune diseases. The most serious complication of breast implant augmentation is not the implant itself, but the contracture of the peri-implant membrane. Usually, the pericardium formed around the implant is very thin and beneficial, but only in a very small percentage of cases does it thicken and contract and compress the implant, making it very hard to the touch. Even if it happens, we will take appropriate measures.
2.Where is the incision of breast augmentation?
Breast augmentation generally has three types of incisions, the first is in the fold of the skin under the armpit; the second is around the areola below; the third is located under the breast in the fold under the breast. These three incisions are more concealed, and the incision most people choose now is the subaxillary incision, which is about 3cm long.
3.Will breast implants affect breastfeeding?
No, your ability to breastfeed after surgery is related to your original breastfeeding ability and will not reduce your ability to breastfeed after the implant is placed.
4.Will breast implants hinder the diagnosis of breast cancer?
According to a large amount of foreign literature, there are no reports of delayed diagnosis of breast cancer due to the presence of breast implants. However, we recommend that you inform your doctor in advance of your mammogram that you have had breast implants to avoid any misunderstanding. If the result of general X-ray is not very clear, you only need to have a CT examination to make a clear diagnosis.
5.What is the brand, size and shape of the breast implant?
You just need to tell your doctor clearly the effect you hope to achieve and your affordability, the doctor will choose the suitable implant for you according to your requirements and physical conditions.
6.Will I feel pain during and after the surgery?
We generally use intravenous anesthesia during breast augmentation surgery, so you will sleep through the whole surgery, so you do not have to worry about pain during the surgery. The surgery usually lasts about 1 hour. You may feel some pain 1-2 days after the surgery. If you are sensitive to pain, you can apply for a pain pump from our doctor before the surgery.
7.How many days do I need to stay in the hospital? When can I return to normal work after surgery?
Generally speaking, we recommend that you can stay in the hospital for one week, i.e. after the stitches are removed and you are discharged. One week after surgery, you can resume your normal life and work. One month after surgery, you can do all other activities normally except for swimming, playing tennis and other strenuous activities of the upper limbs, and we encourage you to exercise more after surgery. About three months after surgery, you will be able to do strenuous exercise of the upper limbs.
8.Will the shape of my breasts change in the future after surgery?
If your original breasts are not large, it is unlikely that they will change with age even after augmentation. However, if your original breasts are not small, they may still change to different degrees after breast augmentation due to age, skin laxity and other factors.
About autologous fat injection breast augmentation (i.e. liposuction breast augmentation)
1.How many times do I need to do the surgery? How long is the interval between each surgery?
The number of surgeries depends mainly on the size of your desired breasts and the amount of your own fat, generally speaking it takes 3-5 times. It is best to go about 2 months between each surgery. Usually each liposuction is limited to one or two areas and your surgeon will develop a workable plan for you based on your body condition.
2. Why not inject a large amount of granular fat at one time instead of opting for multiple procedures?
This is mainly related to the characteristics of fat activation, if a large amount of granular fat is injected at one time, only a small portion will be activated, and the remaining large amount of unactivated fat will form liquefaction, necrosis, calcification, and produce breast lumps, while the method of multiple small injections will increase the total survival rate of fat and reduce the possibility of fat necrosis.
3.How is liposuction breast augmentation performed?
Liposuction breast augmentation is generally performed in two steps: firstly, fat cells are suctioned from fatty parts of the body, and then the purified granular fat is filled into the breast by injection method.
4.Do I need to be hospitalized for liposuction breast augmentation? Will there be any pain during and after the surgery?
Generally speaking, the surgery can be done in an outpatient clinic, and the surgery is performed under local anesthesia, so you can undergo the surgery in a fully conscious state. However, if you are more sensitive to pain and do not wish to undergo the procedure while fully awake, you can request an inpatient procedure with your surgeon under intravenous sedation, which is completely painless and more comfortable. The hospital stay is usually about 2-3 days. The liposuction area may be a little sore after the surgery, but it usually does not affect your daily work.
5.Is the surgical incision very obvious?
The incisions are usually only 3~4mm pinhole size and are usually located in relatively hidden areas (such as the armpit, umbilicus, pubic hair, hip line, etc.), so they are not very obvious.
6.Is liposuction breast augmentation safe?
Liposuction breast augmentation is the application of its own tissue as the material for breast augmentation, so the material is non-toxic and harmless to the human body, and the human body itself will not have immune reactions or rejection reactions to the injected fat tissue. It also will not cause changes in the endocrine environment of the human body and will not harm the breast itself, so there will be no adverse effects on your future fertility and breastfeeding.
7.How is the effect after liposuction breast augmentation?
It is normal to find that your breasts are not as big as they were after the fat injection, because generally speaking, only about 50% of the fat can survive each surgery, and the rest will be absorbed by the body. In general, the effect of breast enlargement after the first surgery is not very obvious, but as the number of surgeries increases, the effect of surgery becomes more and more obvious.
8.How long can the effect of liposuction breast augmentation surgery last?
You are injecting your own tissue, so it will change with your own weight and fat volume, i.e. if you are losing weight recently, your breast volume will decrease with weight loss, and if you have recently gained weight with a better appetite, your breasts will increase.