Plastic Surgery Articles

Avoiding Common Bra Mistakes

August 28, 2006 -

Bras are perhaps the most important piece of a woman’s wardrobe. When properly fitted, a bra can enhance the female shape, lifting and accentuating a woman’s curves. However, when a bra does not fit properly, it can flatten the breasts, making them look heavier and less attractive.

Unfortunately, many women regard bras as one the more inconsequential pieces of their wardrobe - a fact that leads to a number of common bra mistakes. Some women wear the same bra for years, despite changes in breast size. Others fail to take into consideration the fact that bra sizes vary according to manufacturer and style.

Are You Wearing The Right Bra?

The following are signs that you’re not getting the support you need from you’re current bra:

When you remove your bra, there are red marks and indentations in the place of the shoulder straps.

The bra band sits too high on your back.

You feel tightness and discomfort when you wear your bra.

Your breasts are spilling out of the sides when they should sit entirely inside the cup.

Bra lines and lumps are visible through your shirts.

To avoid these and other common bra mistakes, you should make sure to get a proper fitting from a trained expert who will take your measurements and help you find the best bra for you size and shape.

A proper bra fitting is especially crucial for those who have gained or lost significant amounts of weight, or who have recently had a breast procedure.

Considering breast augmentation? Please contact us to learn more about your options or to schedule a consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon near you.

The Benefits of Breast Augmentation

August 23, 2006 -

Breast augmentation has become increasingly popular with women — especially mothers in their thirties –over the years because it offers so many benefits.

“Augmentation offers a woman results unparalleled by any bra. No matter what she is or isn’t wearing, her breasts are a part of her appearance,” said Dr. Mark Jewell.

Last year, approximately 365,000 women underwent breast augmentation surgery - a nine percent increase from the previous year. In fact, breast augmentation procedures are second only to liposuction in popularity among women.

What Breast Augmentation Can Do For You

• Breast augmentation may help to bring the body into proportion. A plastic surgeon will measure the bust line and breast size - taking into consideration the natural shape and skin elasticity - to determine the implant size that will help a woman achieve the most natural-looking results.

• Breast augmentation can also be used to achieve symmetry in women with volume differences in their natural breasts.

• Women with naturally small breasts often see significant results after a breast augmentation procedure, especially because the tighter skin helps create a “perky” breast appearance.

Additional benefits of breast augmentation surgery include enhanced cleavage and minimal scarring. Although breast augmentation cannot create cleavage in those whose natural breasts are spaced far apart, it can achieve volume, which can be boosted with a push-up bra.

Also, surgeons are able to minimize scarring by hiding the incisions in the crease of the breast or armpit, and also the navel.

Considering breast augmentation? Please contact us to learn more about your options or to schedule a consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon near you.

Silicone Implants Expected To Return

August 21, 2006 -

When silicone breast implants were withdrawn from the market in 1992, many in the medical community thought they would never return. They may have been wrong. The return of the silicone breast implant now appears to be imminent.

The use of silicone implants never completely ended. For years, their use has been limited to breast reconstruction after mastectomy or clinical trials. Currently awaiting FDA approval, they may soon be available for general breast augmentation surgery.

The FDA is expected to approve silicone implants by the end of the year pending certain conditions. Silicone implant makers, Mentor and Inamed, will be required to meet the following conditions prior to approval:

• Market only to board certified plastic surgeons who have received proper training in the use of silicone implants
• Maintain a patient database to track leakage, rupture, or other problems reported with the implants
• Compel surgeons to obtain informed consent from patients

Silicone breast implants have long been the subject of much controversy and the source of numerous lawsuits. They have been accused of causing capsular contracture (development of scarring around the implant) and cited as possibly linked to various diseases.

However, saline implants also cause capsular contracture, and research has found no link between silicone implants and connective tissue disorders or life-threatening systemic illnesses.

Additionally, the new silicone implants will be made with thicker shells and more cohesive, less runny, gels.

The demand for breast implants has not waned over the years. In fact, it has steadily risen. One plastic surgeon predicts that the return of silicone breast implants will only lead to a greater demand.

“When (the FDA) release them for general use, I think you’re going to see a huge upsurge in breast augmentation surgery,” said Dr. Brian Kinney, Los Angeles plastic surgeon.

Considering a breast augmentation? Please click here to locate a board certified plastic surgeon near you.

Silicone Breast Implants Save Woman’s Life

August 16, 2006 -

A 24-year-old Israeli woman underwent implant surgery two years ago for the purpose of aesthetic enhancement. Little did she know that her choice to get breast implants would one day save her life.

The woman was wounded by the fallout of a recent Hezbollah rocket attack in northern Israel. Fortunately, her silicone breast implants received the brunt of the trauma, preventing shrapnel from reaching her heart - just inches away.

“This is an extraordinary case, but it’s a fact that the silicone implants prevented her from a more serious and deeper wound. She was saved from death,” said hospital spokesman Jacky Gorvin.

The woman was treated and eventually released from the hospital but not before having her damaged silicone implant replaced.

Considering breast implants? Please contact us to learn more about your options or to schedule a consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon near you.

Fat Grafts Help Contour Breasts

August 14, 2006 -

Breast implant surgery is the second most sought after surgery in the United States. Still, not all women want strictly to increase the size of their breasts. Some merely want to enhance the shape. Fat grafting offers women that option.

The idea of using one’s own fat to increase the size of the breasts has long appealed to women, especially since it offers the added benefit of minimizing stubborn fatty areas below the waist.

In 1987, the procedure was abandoned over concerns of potential side effects such as cysts, tissue scarring, and calcification. However, recent research has shown the safety and effectiveness of the breast “lipomodeling,” and many are expecting its resurgence.

Dr. Sydney Coleman was one plastic surgeon who never abandoned the prospect of using fat to enhance the shape of breasts. For years, he and numerous others in the field refined and improved the technique.

Now, with the help of more precise breast imaging technology and fat grafting skills, surgeons are able to use the procedure as an adjunct, rather than a replacement, for breast implants.

According to Coleman, fat grafts are good for “getting enough soft tissue to cover implants and to correct contracture of implants. If you put an implant in, you can put fat around it. It will become the norm. It won’t replace implants, but it will be an operation performed commonly.”

The procedure may also prove helpful in breast reconstruction surgeries, particularly with regard to repairing tissue damaged by cancer treatment. “We found that if you place fat under damaged tissue from radiation, it appears to provide new blood supply and heal the area,” Coleman said.

Not all surgeons are qualified to perform the procedure. “You’ve got to go to someone who understands how to make fat live. It’s a matter of injecting carefully and slowly. You can’t just squirt it in,” he added.

Considering breast augmentation? Please contact us to learn more or to locate a board certified plastic surgeon near you.

Natural Breast Implant Breakthrough

August 9, 2006 -

Researchers at the University of Illinois have made a scientific breakthrough using human stem cells to create natural breast implants.

Dr. Jeremy Mao and his team of scientists took bone marrow stem cells from healthy volunteers and placed them onto a gel-like scaffold, which can be molded into any shape. The scaffolds were implanted into mice where the stem cells eventually grew into fat cells.

The findings, which will be published in the journal Tissue Engineering, showed that the implant was able to retain its size and shape. The researchers also found that with this type of implant, there is no risk of leakage or rupture.

Natural Implant Alternatives

Previous research has examined the possibility of combining stem cells with a woman’s own fat cells to create a natural implant. However, this would require an additional invasive procedure to harvest the large quantity of fat tissue necessary for the implant.

Also, the implants would most likely decrease in volume over time - losing as much as 60 percent of their volume.

The Future of Natural Breast Implants

Dr. Mao said that even though more research needs to be conducted, the new technique has the potential to transform breast augmentation surgery as well as other plastic surgery procedures.

“Patients will have a choice - stem cell grown structures or an artificial implant,” he said.

Considering breast augmentation? Please contact us to locate a board certified plastic surgeon near you.

Breast Implants: Are They All Equal?

August 7, 2006 -

Breast augmentation remains one of the most sought after cosmetic procedures in the United States, with more than 360,000 women undergoing implant surgery last year alone.

For more than two decades, women have had few options with regard to breast implants. In fact, saline implants have been the only option for most since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration restricted the use of silicone implants in the 1980s.

Saline Implants

While many women are pleased with the results they are able to obtain with saline breast implants, some women have problems with leaking. Saline leaks in implants are not associated with adverse health effects. Still, a leaking implant requires replacement surgery.

A recent study compared the leakage rate in saline implants from two manufacturers - Mentor Corporation and Poly-Implant Prosthesis (PIP). According to the findings, PIP saline implants had a failure rate of 15.4 percent after four years compared with 4.4 percent in Mentor saline implants over the same period of time.

Women considering saline implants should consult with their plastic surgeon to discuss their best options.

Alternatives to Saline Implants

Silicone implants are expected to return to the market. The FDA is currently in the approval process. Until approved, however, their use is limited to reconstructive procedures and clinical trials.

A new type of breast implant known as a “cohesive” gel implant may also provide an option for those looking for a saline alternative. Firmer and less likely to leak than others, the innovative gel implants have been nicknamed “gummy bear implants.”

“Saline implants remain popular, but we have had a huge amount of interest in the cohesive gel implants. Our experience with the new implants has been very positive,” said Dr. David A. Stoker, plastic surgeon and co-author of the saline implant study.

Interested in breast augmentation surgery? Please contact us to find a board certified plastic surgeon near you.