Breast Augmentation

DESCRIPTION

Women choose to have breast enhancement for many different reasons. Some may want larger breasts. Others want to restore the breast shape they had before pregnancy. One of the most popular areas of plastic surgery today, breast enhancement can improve not only your appearance but also your self-confidence. This is the perfect procedure for any woman desiring an improvement in her self-esteem and her ability to wear clothes without feeling self-conscious or having ill-fitting garments.

Before making a decision to have surgery, your expectations and goals must be carefully discussed with Dr. Maggi to assure a predictable and satisfying outcome. The best candidates are women who are looking for an improvement in their appearance, are physically healthy, and have realistic expectations.

The procedure involves an implant being placed underneath the breast tissue, and sometimes, under the chest muscles. The choice
implant position is based on the amount of breast tissue, the shape of your current breast, and overall body size. Also based on current body and breast shape, incisions are made in one of three locations: under the breast, under the nipple, or in the underarm region.

Know that each of these choices will be addressed in great detail during your consultation with Dr. Maggi and the staff at Austin Plastic Surgery Center. You can also expect that you may need to go over them again for a second or third time. Making the choices that are right for you is a process, and we encourage patience, lots of consideration, and asking lots of questions. As Dr. Maggi often says to his patients, “Good planning gets good results.”

On the day of your consultation you will meet with Dr. Maggi and his staff, as well as tour our state-of-the-art, fully accredited Surgery Center. Your medical history will be taken, a review of your expectations, and an examination will be performed by Dr. Maggi. Dr. Maggi will review the type of breast implants and the surgical techniques available for the best individualized outcome. Additional visits, which are easily available and encouraged, with either Dr. Maggi or his staff may be required for a thorough understanding before undergoing surgery. To set up a consultation with Dr. Maggi, click here.

Each year Dr. Maggi performs several hundred breast augmentations and lifts. With years of experience, knowledge, and the latest techniques in breast enhancements, we are confident that we strengthen your confidence on the inside by giving you a new look on the outside.

RECOVERY

Performed as an outpatient in our own AAAASF surgery center. The surgery typically takes one hour. Anesthesia is either intravenous sedation or general. Although many factors are involved with your actual recovery time for breast augmentation, you will likely experience a post-surgical recovery period of 24 to 48 hours. After surgery, temporary soreness at the operative site, swelling, and some bruising may occur. Breasts may remain sensitive to stimulation for a few weeks.  In most cases, you should be able to be back at work in a few days.

Dr. Maggi Answers the 5 Most Common Questions
About Breast Augmentation

1. What is Breast Augmentation?
Breast augmentation also known as breast enlargement or breast enhancement has become one of the most commonly performed cosmetic plastic surgical procedures. This is a plastic surgical procedure to improve or enhance the size and shape of your breasts.

2. What kinds of implants are used in Breast Augmentation?
Dr. Maggi uses both saline and silicone implants. Silicone breast implants are filled with a gel-like material (silicone) and saline implants are filled with saline (salt water). Both implants have different benefits and once Dr. Maggi meets with you and discusses your goals, he will be able to give you his opinion on which implant is best for you and why.

3. What are the risks involved with Breast Augmentation?
Every surgery carries some type of risk. Fortunately, the risks are very small with breast augmentation. Some of the risks include infection, hematoma (bleeding), capsular contracture, breast implant displacement, saline implant deflation, and silicone implant rupture.

4. What techniques does Dr. Maggi use during the Breast Augmentation procedure?
Dr. Maggi uses a special surgical technique that allows him to perform the surgery in a gentle manner with little to no bruising. He is able to be very precise with the pocket which makes his results very beautiful and natural looking. The recovery is fast, and for the majority of our patients, pain is very minimal. Dr. Maggi makes a very small incision that is less than one inch long for saline breast implants. Silicone breast implants require a larger incision. The surgery takes less than one hour.

5. What is to be expected during recovery?
For the majority of our patients, recovery after a breast augmentation is very comfortable. Once Dr. Maggi has closed your incisions, you will be fitted into a surgical bra and strap. There will most likely be no need for wraps or drains. You will be monitored in the recovery area until you are fully awake and ready to go home. Dr. Maggi follows up with all patients 24 hours after surgery. Tenderness can be expected for several weeks and we would like for you to sleep on your back and with your body angled on pillows the first night or two. Dr. Maggi will discuss the need to wear a bra depending on your unique surgery and you should postpone rigorous exercise 4 to 6 weeks.

Who needs a breast lift?

Several things may cause the breasts to sag such as: natural aging, weight changes, pregnancy, and of course, genetics. Dr. Maggi may sometimes recommend a breast lift (Mastopexy) to correct or adjust the position of the nipples and/ or breast tissue hanging below the breast fold.

The breast lift can be done as a stand alone procedure or combined with an augmentation when a dramatic restoration of upper breast fullness is desired. The surgery that combines a Breast Lift with Breast Augmentation is called Augmentation Mastopexy.

Candidates for breast lift may have:

• elongated breasts
• skin laxity
• one breast lower than the other
  
• oversized areolas (the darker skin around the nipple)
  

Women seeking a breast lift wish to regain the projection that they had in their youth. As we age, the breast skin and ligaments that hold the breast to the muscle beneath, become stretched and weak. There are a variety of breast lift techniques that are performed to tighten and lift the breast. Common terms used are: crescent lift, lollipop or vertical lift and then there is the inverted T shaped incision that is also referred to as the anchor incision.

Dr. Maggi specializes in the Breast Lift Augmentation procedure. Which option is best for the individual patient will be determined at consultation. At that time you will know if a lift is necessary, what technique is necessary, and you will have a clear understanding of risks, recovery and expectations. The Mastopexy, or breast lift procedure, whether combined with breast augmentation procedure or alone, is performed in our private surgery center under general anesthesia in an out patient setting.

The Balance Procedure is a procedure that is similar in many regards to a breast lift augmentation. This technique lifts the breast to create an enhanced shape and the incision sites can be similar to the breast lift. The Balance Procedure removes displaced or excessive tissue from below the fold of the breast, lifts the skin to a pleasing location and adds youthful fullness through the use of a saline or gel implants. This improves upper pole fullness and cleavage. To learn more about the Balance Procedure click here.

For more information on all breast procedures, visit our BEI (Breast Enhancement Institute) website.