When you’re thinking about having any kind of plastic surgery treatment, you understandably need some good advice to help you decide if it’s right for you.
Here we share some of the questions we have been asked recently about breast surgery.
The answer has less to do with the amount of breast tissue and more to do with the thickness of the subcutaneous fat above the breast. If you are very slim, it would probably be better to have the implant under the muscle but, with careful management of the muscle retraction, you can get good expansion of the constricted breast base with a tuberous breast either way.
A breast uplift is an option in conjunction with implant-based augmentation. When carried out correctly, this will reshape the breast tissue and reposition it, allowing the implant to augment the upper pole as well as add volume generally.
There is no real problem with you getting on a plane within a day or two of your surgery though I advise my patients to stay local to me for at least a week until we are happy that things are healing satisfactorily. If you are planning on going on a typical holiday with pool activities etc you should be at least 4 – 6 weeks down the line in order to feel confident enough to fully enjoy your trip.
We advise patients to avoid sleeping on their front for the first 4 – 6 weeks. In practice, this is not something that needs to be overstated as people naturally sleep in their most comfortable position. At some point between 6 and 12 weeks, people tend to find themselves quite naturally reverting to stomach sleeping – Mother Nature will let you know!
This is a question we hear a lot as many slim, fit women are looking for breast augmentation and want to be able to return to a full and active lifestyle post-operatively. If you are looking for a nice, sensible result with modest-sized implants then there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t expect to be able to return to a full exercise regime after your surgery. We normally advise people to refrain from any form of upper body exertion for the first month but to gradually increase the level of activity over the following weeks to the point where you should be able to exercise entirely normally by three months post-op.
In our experience, size is less important than shape. The most pleasing-looking results usually come from accurate, bespoke, tissue-based planning, resulting from a full physical examination and, ideally, 3D imaging.
Whilst the difference between anatomical and round implants is probably less than you might think, you will certainly get a fuller upper breast by using a soft, round silicone implant, probably under the muscle in your case. We have found that 3D imaging is invaluable.
The combination of a c cup breast with 500cc implants in addition sounds quite big but, if you are quite tall, you may carry this combination well. Implant choice is best made as a collaboration between surgeon and patient and requires discussion, imaging, measurement, and an idea of what the patient is looking for. 3D imaging can certainly help with this, as can photographs.