Breast Augmentation Syracuse

“Breast augmentation enhances the size of your breasts. It can also help correct breast droop.”

Breast Augmentation: Decisions

Breast augmentation is a very personal, often emotional decision. In CNY, changes after pregnancy are the most common reason for wanting augmentation. Below are a few things you need to consider:

Breast Implant

There are different types of breast implants available, including:

Saline: This is the least expensive option. This implant is filled with IV fluids during your surgery. To minimize the risk of leakage, the implant is filled to a level that is firmer than normal breast tissue. This has a higher risk of both leaking and rippling than other implant choices.

Standard Gel: This has a more natural feel than saline implants. There is a lower risk of leakage than saline implants, but a higher leakage rate than the gummy bear implant. The cost is in between saline and gummy bear implant.

Gummy Bear: Otherwise known as the form-stable implant. This means if you cut this implant in half, the gel remains in place. If you squeeze the cut implant, the gel bulges, but when you relax the squeeze, the gel pops back in place. While this implant is more expensive, it has the lowest failure rate at 10 years. It also has a lower incidence of rippling.

There are several versions of the gummy bear implant, including anatomically shaped implants, and a firmer version that may be useful for implant patients with ripples. Though more expensive, Dr. Branson’s preference is the gummy bear implant.

Implant Size

This is the most difficult choice. Often, looking at internet pictures can skew your thought of implant size. Here is how Dr. Branson helps you choose:

Vectra 3-D Imaging allows you to see your possible result, both au naturel or in a bikini top. With Vectra, you can see yourself from every angle. In addition, you have the option of viewing your pictures at home after your consultation on the secure website, ViewMyConsult.

Sizing Implants placed in your bra or bathing suit top help to confirm your choice of implant size. Working with Dr. Branson’s staff, you will be able to review and confirm your choice of size.

Rice or birdseed in a zip-lock bag can be used at home to gauge your implant size. You should “test” your new size in other clothing, including test-fitting clothes at your favorite store. Bring the clothing and your “implant” to your consult or a sizing visit at the office.

Where to place your implant: Above or Below your chest muscle

When it comes to implant placements, there are two areas Dr. Branson can place your breast implant.

Below: Though the internet shows more implants placed below the muscle than above, you have the choice of above or below. Below the muscle may mask the risk of implant rippling, but has a higher risk of the implant moving out of position.

The choice of above or below is your preference. If you are very thin with very little breast tissue, Dr. Branson may recommend your implants be placed below the muscle. When placed below the muscle, your post-operative pain is usually more intense. Below the muscle is best done with general anesthesia.

Above: In Europe, where the gummy bear implant has been available for years longer than in the USA, more implants are being placed above the muscle. Your surgery is usually done under local anesthesia with sedation, but you still have the general anesthesia option. In Dr. Branson’s practice, above the muscle is the most common option selected.

In particular, if you have a highly developed chest wall muscle (such as a bodybuilder), above the muscle is probably your better option. These women have a higher risk of the implant moving out of position, as well as a risk of breast deformity caused by contraction of your chest wall muscle.

Where to have your surgery

While having your augmentation in an approved office surgery facility may be less expensive, Dr. Branson strongly feels that your safest option is to have implant surgery in a hospital surgery center. If you want the science behind this recommendation, see Biofilm below.

Bottom line: When making recommendations for your surgery, Dr. Branson uses “the family standard.” In other words, what he would do for his wife. The added cost of the NESC surgery center is not a cost, but rather an investment.

Other surgeries

While augmentation “fills” your loose skin for most patients, sometimes you need to deal with your excess skin.

A breast lift can be combined with augmentation. It does require a longer incision and a longer recovery. Many women accept loose breast tissue over their implants. They’re happy with their appearance in clothing, commenting that the only time they’re undressed when it matters, the lights are off. If you’re not sure, although it’s another surgery, breast lift can be done later.

Baby facelift uses the injection of human placenta tissue under your skin. This acts as a biomodulator to improve the natural quality of your skin. While this is natural, it is not yet a proven treatment. This cannot replace surgery, it can work with surgery, but can make your breast skin “perky.”

Radiofrequency is currently being studied as an alternative for limited skin tightening & lift.

Complications

It is important to note that no surgery is without risk. For augmentation, risks fall into two categories: Surgery-related and implant-related. Common risks of any surgery are bleeding, infection, scarring, altered sensation, and the possible need for more surgery.

The following complications are implant-related:

Capsular contracture is the single most important factor in how natural your breast looks and feels. It is the relationship between your implant and the healing tissue around your implant. The best research shows capsule contracture is related to something called “biofilm.”

While not yet proven, Dr. Branson believes that the number of particles in the OR air will increase the risk of biofilm and capsule contracture. Dr. Branson has other tools that he uses to help reduce the chance of contracture.

Shadow on mammography may require extra views to adequately evaluate your breast tissue for cancer.

Implant leaks can occur with any implant but are most common with saline implants and least common with gummy bear implants. An implant leak is not a medical emergency. It does not create a risk to your health. All implants are warranted for your lifetime. If it leaks in the first ten years, you are also eligible for financial assistance to replace the implant.

Rippling is most common in saline implants. There is a new version of the gummy bear implant that is supposed to have the lowest risk of rippling.

 

Biofilm

Why does Dr. Branson think this is important? Because biofilm is associated with capsule contracture, and because biofilm starts with bacteria attaching to a surface, he believes that air quality will prove to play a role in the long-term success of your surgery.

When you consider everything you know about bacteria (infection, antibiotics, antiseptics), this is only half the picture. This traditional view of bacteria describes how bacteria behave in solution and is called the “planktonic” state. The alternate bacterial state is called “biofilm.”

If you think of planktonic bacteria like college kids on spring break in Cancun, biofilm acts as a retirement condo complex in South Florida.

Biofilm starts with bacteria attaching to a surface, like your skin or a breast implant. It changes its behavior to create a slime layer. Bacteria in the biofilm state are resistant to antibiotics and antiseptics. The gene that allows the bacteria to be recognized by your immune system is turned off. There is a continuous exchange in the slime layer, where bacteria shift between the planktonic state and the biofilm state. While biofilm is not an infection, there is very strong research that shows capsular contracture is related to biofilm.

What we don’t know is how or why bacteria attach to start the biofilm in the first place. Silicone can attract dust like a Swiffer, which intuitively means the less dust in the air of the operating room the better.

When any foreign body (like a breast implant) is placed, you want the lowest risk of foreign material contamination possible. Agencies that certify Office surgery centers do not have a criteria standard for particles in the air or air circulation. At the NESC (NorthEast Surgery Center), where Dr. Branson performs breast implant surgery, the OR air is changed 22 times per hour, and it is ultra-filtered.

In research done in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control, the numbers of particles (dust) in the air of an office were measured, as well as in the NESC operating rooms. In the office, there were 2000 particles per cubic centimeter. In the NESC OR, the particle count was 35-50 particles per cubic centimeter.

What does this mean? While there is no conclusive way to treat or prevent biofilm, there are a series of steps Dr. Branson takes before and during your surgery to minimize your chance of biofilm formation. Does he still see capsular contracture in his patients? Yes, but much less often and less severe. Unfortunately, some of these steps add some cost to your surgery.

Breast Augmentation Cost

The cost of this procedure depends on many variables, like the type of implant you are getting, the length of the surgery, the technique used, and other various factors. If you have any questions about the cost of your breast augmentation, be sure to ask Dr. Branson during your personalized consultation.

Schedule Your Consultation Today

If you are interested in learning more about breast augmentation and think you may be a good candidate for this procedure, contact the office of Dr. Denis Branson for a consultation today. Dr. Branson is a board-certified cosmetic surgeon who will be happy to answer any questions you may have about this procedure.