Breast Implants Procedure

Choosing Your Implant Size

The size of the implants differs from client to client, although most women often go for the advice of their doctors when it comes to choosing the right size for them. Your doctor can give you a suggestion and allow you to test various sizes using a surgical bra to know how each will look on you.

Anesthesia

For your comfort, you will be placed under sedation or general anesthesia prior to the start of the procedure. Your doctor will determine which is best for you. Once you are under sedation, the doctor will then start to create an incision under your breast, the armpit or round the edge of the areola where the implant will be inserted. These sites are chosen because they are locations where the scars will be less visible.

The doctor can position your implant either under the breast tissue or under the muscle beneath the breast. Another option is to go through the umbilical area or the belly button using an endoscope. The implant is inserted and placed in front of the pectoral muscle.

Recovery

Breast enlargement procedures, also called augmentation mammoplasty, are often done in an outpatient basis and usually take not much longer than two hours. Once the procedure is done, the incisions are sutured back into place and the patient is made to wear a surgical bra for support. Patients often feel sore from the incision and the pressure being applied by the implant, something that the body will get used to within a few days. Fortunately, the initial soreness and pain can be relieved by medication. Patients often go for a return visit within a week to have the stitches taken out, or in the case of absorbable sutures, the stitches are allowed to be naturally dissolved by the body. Patients can resume normal activities, except for strenuous ones, within a few days.

A longer recovery time is expected for procedures with implants placed under the pectoral muscle because muscle has been cut during the surgery. Patients can expect the swelling to subside and the scars to start fading a few months after surgery. Patients can expect the full effects of procedure to be more visible 6 months to one year after surgery.