Breast Augmentation

There are many decisions that need to be made regarding augmentation. Dr. Lee spends the time to help you make these decisions and guides your decision to help create the best breast implants for you.

Volume and size are not the only important decisions. There are several ways to customize your implants in order to get the results you’re looking for. Saline breast implants and silicone breast implants are available, and each option offers its own particular look, texture, firmness, and weight.

Moderate profile, moderate plus, and high profile breast implants are available, and round and anatomic implants. Dr. Michael J. Lee dedicates time to your consultation to review these decisions and often meets patients more than once to help make their decisions.

Dr. Lee places different temporary sizes in the operative room to ensure the best possible fit for you.

During your consultation, Dr. Lee will determine whether you are a good candidate for the breast enlargement procedure. The two of you will go over your complete medical history, and an examination will be performed.

Those individuals who have small breasts, loose skin from weight loss or pregnancy, and breast asymmetry can all have an improvement in the shape with breast augmentation. As with any surgery, individuals who have little to no medical problems are unlikely to have major complications.

During your consultation, you can also review breast augmentation before and after photos. The techniques used in the procedure, and the overall time the procedure takes.

Saline and silicone implants are both approved by the FDA for breast augmentation. Both implants have been studied for long-term complications and the effects of silicone and saline in the body. The results of these studies have not shown any increased risk for breast cancer or autoimmune diseases.

There are some risks to having implants such as risks of infection, deflation for saline implants, capsular contraction, or scars forming around the implant. There are also risks for placing the implants which include decreased or increased nipple sensation, bleeding, asymmetry, and the need for further surgeries.

For the last several years, implants have been placed underneath the muscle to minimize the risks of capsular contracture (scar forming around the implant) and to minimize the rounded appearance at the top of the chest.

With newer implants and silicone implants, the shape of the breast can be natural with placement above the muscle. This type of placement is now called subfascial placement. For breasts that have dropped in position with age or pregnancy, placement above the muscle can provide a better shape.

Dr. Lee will discuss with you whether placement above the muscle or below the muscle is better. The recovery above the muscle is shorter and is usually associated with less pain.

Some patients benefit from large breast implants, while others have a frame that is more suitable for small breast implants. The ideal size of the implant is usually determined by the breast width or diameter. There can be some variation and selection based on your desire to be closer to a B, C, or D cup bra size. Dr. Lee spends the most time discussing what you envision as your ideal shape and volume, and helps you determine what that size implant will be.

To help determine your size, you can use a bag of rice to find the right volume in a sports bra and then measure that amount in a cup. The rice volume (measured in cups) can then be estimated in Dr. Lee’s office to correlate with cc’s in saline or silicone implants.

Mammograms need to be performed using a different technique when you have implants. There are no current studies that show women with implants are indicative of a more advanced or delayed diagnosis of breast cancer.

Many plastic surgeons are advising the removal and replacement of implants every 15 years but this is not absolute. Dr. Lee recommends evaluation of the implants and the position and shapes at 15 years post-op. If there are some changes that are unacceptable, then this is a good time to replace them.

Sometimes from weight loss or following pregnancy, the breast loses volume and the nipple drops lower than the breast. In some cases, an implant is good enough to lift the breast tissue and the nipple position. In other cases, a breast lift needs to be performed along with the implant.

This combination procedure is known as augmentation mastopexy or a breast augmentation with lift. Getting a breast lift and implants in the same procedure results in a decrease in sagging and an increase in volume and perkiness. It also only requires a single recovery period. However, when the required amount of lift is significant, it may be better to do the procedures separately.

Dr. Lee will perform an evaluation to determine if an implant is able to lift the breasts alone or whether additional surgery needs to be performed to help lift the nipples. If the breasts sag but are not experiencing a lack of volume, a breast without implants is typically the ideal option.

Fat grafting is a form of natural breast enlargement that is becoming more commonly performed for breast augmentation, breast reconstruction, and breast revision procedures.

Fat is harvested from an area and then strained and centrifuged and transferred to the breast. There has been some controversy regarding the long-term safety of fat injections to the breast. The concern has been regarding cyst formation from fat as well as the effect of fat transfer and mammography and cancer detection.

With the new techniques and quality of mammograms, the ability to detect and differentiate fat cysts from breast cancer has significantly improved over the years and more plastic surgeons and patients are becoming comfortable with the technique.

The technique has been performed for many years on other areas of the face and body without problems.

Good candidates for fat transfer need to have enough fat to be able to create a visual improvement in the breast. The goal of the transfer is typically an increase in cup size or improvement in shape, particularly at the top of the breast.

Fat grafting can also help patients who have already had breast implants that have been complicated by the following problems: rippling from implants, too wide of a distance between the breast implants, too round at the top of the breast, or the implants being too easily felt underneath the skin.

If there is too much skin or wrinkling, or the breasts are too low, then the fat transfer is not likely to make significant improvements.

The cost of a breast augmentation in Chicago varies, because it is a highly individualized surgery tailored for each patient. The overall price may include anesthesia, operating room facilities, new breast implants, and other related expenses. Additional tests and imaging may also add to your total. Contact us for additional information.