Breast Augmentation

Feeling good about oneself is very important. Women like to have a youthful good looking breast of the right size and shape which is in harmony with the rest of the body. Women like to choose breast augmentation when

• They feel that their breasts are small
• The breasts are not of the same size,and they would like to increase the size of the breast
• After breastfeeding, the breasts may have lost volume and women like to have their youthful shape back
• More medial cleavage of the breast

Breast augmentation is a surgical procedure in which an implant is inserted behind the breast to give the breast a larger look and a better shape.

We would like to meet you before the surgery to talk to you in detail about what exactly you want, how we can fulfill your expectations, what the surgery would entail, the postoperative recovery, the risks and complications associated with this procedure. We would discuss with you regarding the size of the implant that you would like to have. We would also ask some questions regarding your general health to ascertain that you are fit enough to undergo the procedure. We believe in being very transparent,and we also do not pressurise anyone in going through the procedure as we feel that the decision to undergo the procedure should only be the patient’s decision. We are only there to help you make the decision and help you achieve your expectations. We may take photographs so that we can compare the result before and after surgery. We may take few blood tests and any other test that would be necessary for fitness during surgery.

A 5 cm incision is made underneath the breast. This is the best place to make an incision as this incision heals the best. We will take a lot of effort in making the scar look very good. But there are no means by which a scar less surgery can be done. We can only make the scar as good as possible.

The operation is done under general anaesthesia. After the incision is made underneath the breast, the breast is lifted off the underlying muscle,and the breast implant is placed in the pocket created. In some cases, we may lift a part of the muscle so that the breast implant partially lies underneath the muscle and partially under the breast. In certain cases, we may aspirate some fat from another area,and we will add it in certain areas of the breast that we feel are necessary to it a better result.

We don’t expect the patient to have much pain after the operation and we would be giving painkillers after the operation to take if there is pain. As we would be using dis-solvable sutures, it would not be necessary to remove sutures. We would call you to the clinic in 1 week and 2 weeks to look at the wound to review if the wound is healing well. The patient is advised to wear a fitted bra for 5 days,and sports bra for another 3 weeks. No wired bras are to be worn for 6 weeks.

No. The implant is inserted behind the breast and hence lactation and sensation over the breast will not be affected.

No. Breast cancer arises from the ducts and lobules in the breast. As on date breast implants have not found to cause breast cancer.

A recent study done in America shows that breast cancers are more easily palpable after breast augmentation as the implant behind makes it easily palpable. This makes breast cancers detectable even when they are smaller in size. Detection by mammography may need some special views,and MRI is taken if in doubt. Patients are advised to undergo regular screening by palpation and mammography just as they would if they did not have a breast augmentation

As the breast implant stays with the patient for a long time, we at Ganga Hospital put only good implants which are approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) which is a regulatory body in the United States of America. As textured implants have been recently associated with ALCL ( Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma), a type of cancer of the lymph nodes we do not use such implants. We use only smooth breast implants. We also use only round implants as the anatomical or teardrop shaped implants have been associated with rotation in the breast pocket and studies have shown comparable results between round implants and anatomical implants

The risks with this surgery can be divided into early complications and late complications

• Early complications ( within 5 days)
  1. Bleeding
  2. Infection

A lot of effort would be taken to avoid these complications are are not common

• Late complications
  1. Asymmetry Studies have shown that in women who have not had a breast augmentation, 88% of women have asymmetrical breasts and 65% of women have asymmetry in more than 1 parameter. So breasts which are very similar and as symmetrical as possible is what we plan to achieve and exact symmetry of both breasts are difficult to achieve.
  2. Implant rupture Implant ruptures are uncommon. If they do happen the company allows you to change the implant free of cost as the implants have lifelong warranty.
  3. Capsular Contracture Patients tend to form a scar around the breast implant that has been inserted. In some people, the scar formed around the implant may contract and become smaller in size. This tends to make the implant appear more spherical with time. This may be palpable in some and rarely may cause pain after few years. If it becomes very troublesome, then the implants need to get replaced.
  4. ALCL( Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma) Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma is a rare cancer of the lymph nodes associated with textured breast implants. It occurs in 1 to 3 women among 10,00,000 women with breasts. Even though it is very rare, we do not use textured implants,and we use only smooth implants. The ALCL presents with serous fluid collection around the breast implant or with small masses mostly around 8 to 10 years from implanting the breast implant.

Generally,it is told that breast implants need to be changed every 10 years. This is due to ruptures or capsular contractures. Each person reacts differently to the effects of surgery. Some may get their breast implants replaced earlier, some they may replace it longer than 10 years and some may not need any replacement at all.