| |
|
| |
I suggest that you read these breast implant FAQ's that follow and then click below to see many more before and after photos. - Dr. Studin
Rapid Recovery Minimal Discomfort Breast Implants
Many women would love to have breast enlargement but are afraid of the discomfort and the down time. In fact, the experience is very varied depending upon the technique and the management of the recovery. I believe that it is absolutely true that implants under the muscle give a better, more natural result. It is absolutely not true, that breast augmentation need to be painful or associated with a long recovery time.
Dr. Studin is the developer of a technique and holds the patent for an associated technology that allows implants to be placed under the muscle with minimal discomfort and a remarkably rapid recovery. These are the highlights.
The first part of this advance in breast enlargement surgery involves minimizing the injury to the muscle itself. If the pectoral muscle is elevated to accommodate the pocket with very little trauma, healing and discomfort are tremendously minimized. Dr. Studin pioneered a technique to accomplish this and has used it successfully for well over a thousand patients.
Another piece of the mosaic involves anesthesia. A long-acting local anesthetic is used to decrease the need for pain medicine, because if you wake up comfortable, the need for pain medicine is MUCH less and you just feel BETTER! This will be followed by carefully planned medication to stop the pain BEFORE it happens. If you meet a past patient, the vast majority will tell you that this combination allowed them to have their implants with remarkably little discomfort.
Breast Implant surgery takes only about half an hour in my
practice and is done in my accredited private surgery center with a
board-certified anesthesiologist. The anesthesia is very short-acting, similar to that used for colonoscopy so you wake up quickly and feeling much better than with older types of anesthesia. Managed properly, there should
be very little pain. In most cases if surgery is Wednesday, you are back to work or school on Monday! Upper body exercise is usually deferred
for 2-3 weeks.
During your free consultation, this information and a lot
more is covered and you will discuss how the surgery should
be individually tailored to you.
Should I get breast implants?
Many patients feel self-conscious about their
desire for bigger breasts. People will only realize that your
breast size has changed if you want them to! In a tight top
that hugs the midriff, even moderate sized breasts will draw
attention. On the other hand, if one wears a button-down sport
shirt and a conservative bra, no one will know whether you are
an A cup or a C cup. So your decision should not be based upon
being noticed. It should be based upon achieving the proportion
that you desire.The interesting fact is, that in my experience,
most patients don't want very large breasts. Instead, they are
worried about filling out their clothing with a more beautiful
feminine figure.
Proportion really makes
a difference when it comes to breast size. With a small chest a
person looks like they have big hips! When breast size
increases, the hips and waist look much smaller. The right chest
to hip proportion can actually make you look thinner. Of course,
you won't achieve that if you over-do it with implants that are
very large.
What size breast implants do I want?
In my opinion, this question is much easier to answer than
you might think. First lets talk about what I disagree with.
Looking at other people's pictures or at the results of a
friend can be very misleading. It's what you start with PLUS
what implant you add that will determine the size you
achieve. Computer imaging??? I have computer imaging in the
office, but do not use it for this type of surgery. It is
heading in the right direction, but still not perfect. The
best method that I have found in over 25 years of doing this
is to put on a sports bra, stand in front of the mirror and
put implants in your bra. You plus the implant will look
back at you in the mirror exactly! A trick here... black
sweaters hide them and white T-shirts accentuate them. Bring
both and clothing in-between these extremes. For more sizing tips click here.
Unders, Partials or Overs?
In the vast majority of cases it is my strong opinion that
breast implants completely under the pectoral muscle will give the
most natural results. Implants under the muscle are hidden
better, tend to feel more natural and sag less than those
that are just under the skin and breast tissue. They take a
bit longer to drop into position but the wait is well worth
the result.
There are several places to make the incision to place your
implants. This is an individual choice based upon your case and I find that people often have the wrong impression about the pluses and minuses of each choice.
Specifically, many people think that they avoid loss of feeling by an armpit approach. This is not the case. The reason lies in the path of the nerve that gives feeling to the nipple, the 4th intercostal nerve. In most, I think the edge of the areola is best. This is not
at the nipple, but at the lower edge of the areola.This is past where the nerve has already entered the nipple area. I have found that it is very rare to lose feeling in the nipple. I
feel that the scars going under the breast or through the
armpit are much more obvious and likely to be noticed. The
belly button incision is possible with salines, but a long
discussion during your free consultation is needed to
explain this choice. Ultimately, the choice of incision for your breast augmentation will be totally yours, but you should discuss it at length with the doctor.
Silicone vs. Saline?
Claims that silicone implants caused a particular disease
have to be tempered with the fact that, with over two
million women with breast
implants,
there are going to be women with virtually every disease
imaginable that have implants! Many studies have been done
regarding the relationship of implants to cancer and
auto-immune diseases such as arthritis. The preponderance of
data shows no increase in the incidence of these diseases in
women with implants. Armed with that data, the FDA released
silicone implants again in late 2006. As a clinical
investigator for both Mentor and Allergan in the studies
done to arrive at that conclusion, I never had to stop using
silicone implants and have been using both silicone and
saline breast implants for over 25 years. So which one is better for you?
First, silicone and saline
implants do not look different except for one thing. It is
more possible to see rippling of the implant with saline. As
far as shape, they are the same and both silicone and saline are available in
each contour. The real difference is in how they feel. You
can often feel the edge of a saline implant when you touch
the breast. Especially if you are thin. Silicone implants
are usually not detectable to feel.
Memory Gel is the name used
for cohesive gel implants by Mentor. These implants do not
run easily when cut. This
MemoryGel™ breast implant is cut in half to plainly show how
the material holds together uniformly (no leaking) while
still retaining the natural give of breast tissue. It does
this because of a cohesive, gelatin-like substance that acts
as a solid rather than a liquid.
Actual silicone implant cut in half!
Many people are under the impression that
breast implant patients should have a proverbial "tire
change" every ten
years. This is not true but some explaining is necessary to
completely understand this topic.
From about 1978 until 1986
implant manufacturers used second generation implant shells
which were made with a process called room temperature
vulcanization. These suffered from a very high rate of
failure. After 1986 most manufacturers changed to high-temperature
vulcanization. I have found the failure rate of third
generation implants to be very low in my practice. No one,
however, knows what the forty-year failure rate of these
third generation implants is going to be! We only know that
from 1986 till now, the implant failure rate is much lower.
Given my present experience
with third generation implants I believe the failure rate
will not prove to be high, but only time will tell. The
good news is that changing an implant that has deflated can
usually be done very quickly and the major implant companies
often have warrantee coverage for both the new implant and
the procedure.
Teardrop breast implants have become popular among some
surgeons in recent years. I will use them if requested, but
don't recommend them in most cases.
A teardrop breast implant favors fullness
at the lower part of the breast. Most of my breast
implant patients are equally concerned with the filling
the upper portion of the breast to create some fullness
up top. A round breast implant tends to create fullness
throughout the breast.
There may
also prove to be a higher rate of fold failure in
anatomical breast implants or teardrop breast implants
that may lead to deflation.
When you hold a round breast implant
up on it's side, hanging it from the top, which is the
position it is in when you stand, it becomes a teardrop
shape anyway! The filler, whether saline or silicone,
has weight and therefore stretches the bottom somewhat.
The top then collapses somewhat. If you start with a
smaller top, and the bottom stretches slightly over
time, the top can end up empty when you stand. This
would allow the empty area to rub, front against back,
and theoretically increase the possibility of fold
failure. (This deflation
theory is theoretical at present and has not been proven
statistically to my knowledge!)
Does a round implant make a round breast?....No!
I do not see a very big difference in
the shape of the breast when standing after the implant
settles into it's optimal position! This is because a
breast implant is easily molded into whatever shape it
is pushed into. A soft breast implant cannot overcome
the pressure of the overlying muscle and skin very much,
if at all.
Therefore, in my opinion, the ultimate
shape of the breast will mostly depend upon the size and
position of the pocket we make, the shape, elasticity
and thickness of the muscles and skin, and the size of
the implant we use. An artificially round breast usually
occurs due to placing the implant outside the muscle in
a situation where there isn't good skin and fat
coverage.
The possibility of less fullness
across the upper portion of the breast after settling is
something that should be considered in making this
choice. I do not think teardrop breast implants are
medically unwise and do not force the choice. I will allow
the patient to choose whichever implants they prefer.
Considering these issues, however, I recommend staying
with round breast implants for most patients.
Smooth vs.
Textured Implants
The implant shells were originally smooth. Then some surgoens thought that using a rough or textures surface
would reduce the probability of capsular
contracture. The vast majority of implants ordered
by surgeons today are smooth because most of us feel
that the texture does not work to reduce capsular
contracture and the smooth implants give a more
natural result.
High or Low
Profile Implants?
As you see here, implants come in different projections. At
each given size, they can be either wider or higher. Wider
implants give better cleavage but can stick out under your
arms on the sides. Higher implants tend to give younger,
more uplifted looking breasts. If you have breasts that are
somewhat hanging, often just choosing high profiles can
eliminate the need for a lift. Each person is different as
hang and chest width will be taken into account. When you do
your sizing in a bra, the effect of each profile can be
easily seen!
Alternative
fillers such as soybean oil and peanut oil are not approved or,
at the time of this writing, even in active patient trials in
the United States. Soy implants were recently abandoned in
European studies because they caused several problems. Early
complications with these appear to have sent researchers back to
their drawing boards and we do not expect to see anything new
approved in the near future.
Here are some before and after photos. You can click below to see many more.
Sub Muscular Breast Implants - Incision at the lower edge of the areola.
Before and Three Months Postop. |
|
|
Sub Muscular Breast Implants - Incision at the lower edge of the areola.
Before and Twelve Months Postop. |
|
|
Sub Muscular Breast Implants - Incision at the lower edge of the areola.
Before and Twelve Months Postop. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current Plastic Surgery, Botox and Fillers Sales,
Promotions, Coupons and Discount Offers
Are there ever sales or discounts on plastic surgery and fillers?
Our manufacturers and their reps will often sponsor discount programs.
Learn about what is on sale now!
|
| |
