Breast Augmentation

Breast augmentation surgery increases the size of the breasts through the use of saline or silicone gel implants. Since individual patient goals vary, Dr. Horowitz offers a variety of breast implant shapes, sizes and incision placement options.

Who is an ideal candidate for breast augmentation?

Ideal candidates for breast augmentation have realistic expectations, understand the surgery’s limitations, and are emotionally mature.

Common experiences of breast augmentation candidates:

• Feeling that your breasts are too small
• Feeling that the size of your hips and bust do not match well
• Form-fitting tops and swimsuits make you self-conscious because of your bust size
• Breasts have lost size and shape after weight loss or childbirth
• Having breasts that are asymmetrical in size

There are many factors to consider before breast implant surgery that will help you determine which procedure is best for you. During your consultation with Dr. Horowitz, you will discuss your goals and expectations for breast augmentation. Dr. Horowitz will be able to demonstrate what you would look like with various sized implants so that you can make an informed decision.

Choosing saline or silicone

Saline and silicone implants are the two options available to you, and each has relative advantages and disadvantages. It is important to carefully weigh your options and discuss this with Dr. Horowitz before making your final decision.

Saline breast implants
Saline breast implants have an outer shell made of silicone rubber, and are filled with a salt-water solution. Should the implant ever rupture, it is perfectly safe for the saline to be absorbed into the body. Since saline implants are filled after insertion, it is possible to place these implants with slightly smaller incisions than would be possible with silicone implants.

Saline implants are sometimes criticized for feeling overly firm and unnatural. Depending on the patient, modern placement techniques can be used to place the implant behind the pectoralis muscle. This placement technique can help make saline implants feel more natural and limit any visible rippling. In some patients, there are advantages to placing the implant above the muscle. In selected candidates, Dr. Horowitz may perform a “dual-plane” approach, which combines the advantages of both techniques while limiting the negatives of each. This technique represents the latest thinking from national breast augmentation experts.

Silicone gel breast implants
Silicone breast implants have an outer shell made of silicone rubber and are filled with cohesive silicone gel. Silicone implants feel very similar to breast tissue and are not prone to the occasional adverse effect seen with saline implants, such as visible ripples beneath the skin.

Because the size of silicone implants cannot be adjusted after placement, slightly larger incisions may be required to accommodate the implants.

After a 14-year absence from the market, silicone breast implants became available again in 2006. Mentor and Allergan, the two companies which manufacture silicone implants, have both concluded definitively through long-term clinical trials in cooperation with the FDA that silicone implants are safe and effective. If you’re interested in learning more about the safety of silicone breast implants, visit breastimplantsafety.org

Both saline and silicone implants are now available that vary in the degree of projection for any given size.

Current FDA regulations require that you must be at least 22 years of age to get silicone implants.

Where are the incisions made during breast augmentation surgery?

The type and size of your breast implants, combined with the natural shape of your breasts, will determine how noticeable your incisions are. Generally, incisions are made under the breast in the existing crease or around the nipple/areola.

It is also possible to place the incision in the underarm. However, if a complication occurs, it may be necessary to make a new incision under the breast or around the nipple/areola.

What if I want my breasts to be larger and lifted?

In this scenario, Dr. Horowitz often performs breast augmentation and lifting at the same time, a procedure called an augmentation-mastopexy. Depending on the amount of sagging, the resulting scar from this procedure may be limited to around the areola only. Greater degrees of sagging will require additional incisions. As with all the surgeries he performs, Dr. Horowitz endeavors to limit the amount of scarring without sacrificing the result.

What is the recovery like following breast augmentation?

Immediately after breast augmentation surgery, most patients experience swelling and some discomfort. Dr. Horowitz will prescribe a pain medication to alleviate any pain or discomfort and may recommend that you wear a support bra for a few weeks.

Many patients are able to resume work after as little as three days after breast augmentation. It is important to remember that the final results may not be evident for several weeks as your body adjusts and heals.