Breast Augmentation in Birmingham AL

Breast Augmentation Candidates

You may be a candidate for breast augmentation if:

• You are physically healthy and have realistic expectations.
• Your breasts are fully developed.
• You are bothered by the feeling that your breasts are too small.
• You are dissatisfied with your breasts losing shape and volume after pregnancy, after weight loss or with aging.
• You are unhappy with the upper part of your breast appearing "empty."
• Your breasts are asymmetrical.
• One or both breasts failed to develop normally or have an elongated shape.

Your Breast Augmentation Consultation

During your consultation with our Birmingham, Alabama plastic surgeons, be prepared to discuss:

• Why you want breast augmentation, your expectations and the desired outcome.
• Medical conditions, drug allergies and previous medical treatments.
• Use of current medications, vitamins, herbal supplements, alcohol, tobacco and drugs.
• Family history of breast cancer and results of any mammograms or previous biopsies.

Your breast augmentation surgeon will also:

• Evaluate your general health and any pre-existing health conditions or risk factors.
• Examine and measure your breasts, including detailed measurements of their size and shape, skin quality and placement of your nipples and areolas.
• Take photographs for your medical records.
• Discuss your breast enhancement options and recommend a course of treatment.
• Discuss the likely outcomes of breast augmentation and any risks or potential complications.

Breast Implants

Breast Augmentation Risks and Safety

Each patient must decide if the benefits of breast augmentation will achieve their goals, and if the risks and potential complications are acceptable. The risks of breast augmentation include:

• Anesthesia risks.
• Bleeding.
• Changes in nipple or breast sensation.
• Fluid accumulation (seroma).
• Formation of tight scar tissue around the implant (capsular contracture).
• Hematoma.
• Implant leakage or rupture.
• Infection.
• Persistent pain.
• Poor scarring.
• Possibility of revision surgery.
• Wrinkling of the skin over the implant.
• Wrong or faulty position of the implant.
• Certain risks associated with breast implants.

Breast augmentation risks will be fully discussed prior to your consent. Understanding all potential risk factors will help with better decision-making that is best for you and your health.

It is important that you address all your questions directly with your plastic surgeon. You will be asked to sign consent forms to ensure that you fully understand the procedure and any risks and potential complications.

Preparing for Breast Augmentation Surgery

In preparing for breast augmentation surgery, you may be asked to:

• Get a blood test.
• Take certain medications or adjust your current medications.
• Stop smoking or taking recreational drugs.
• Avoid taking aspirin and certain anti-inflammatory drugs, as they can increase bleeding.

Breast augmentations are performed at our accredited Outpatient Surgery Facility in Birmingham, Alabama. Be sure to arrange for someone to drive you to and from surgery and stay with you for at least the first night.

Breast Augmentation Procedure

Breast augmentation surgery is performed using intravenous sedation or general anesthesia. Your surgeon will recommend the best choice for you.

Breast Augmentation Incisions and Implant Placement

Incisions vary based on the type of breast implant, degree of enlargement desired, your particular anatomy and patient-surgeon preference. The incisions are made in inconspicuous areas to minimize visible scarring. You and your plastic surgeon will discuss the incision options that are appropriate for your desired outcome. Incision options include:

After the incision is made, a breast implant is inserted into a pocket either under the pectoral muscle (submuscular placement) or directly behind the breast tissue, over the pectoral muscle (submammary/subglandular placement). The method for inserting and positioning breast implants depends on the type of implant, the degree of enlargement, your body type and your surgeon's recommendations.

Incisions are closed with layered sutures in the breast tissue and with sutures, skin adhesive or surgical tape to close the skin. The incision lines will fade over time.

Transaxillary Incision

Patients who want to enlarge and reshape their bustline with scarless breast augmentation often choose the transaxillary incision, or armpit incision. During transaxillary breast augmentation, the incisions are made in the armpits, leaving the breasts free of scars. A channel is then created to the breasts through which saline breast implants are inserted, placed behind the breasts and filled with a sterile saline to enhance the breast size and contour.

Transaxillary Breast Augmentation Before & Afters

Transumbilical Incision

Another scarless breast augmentation technique uses the transumbilical incision. Transumbilical breast augmentation, or TUBA, uses saline breast implants inserted through a small incision at the upper rim of the belly button, leaving only a virtually undetectable scar above the navel. The implants are then tunneled beneath the skin to the tissues behind each breast and filled with sterile saline, fulfilling your desire for a fuller appearance and more shapely feminine contour.

Transumbilical Breast Augmentation Before & Afters

Breast Augmentation Recovery

During your breast augmentation recovery, your breasts will be wrapped in gauze dressings, and an elastic bandage or support bra will minimize swelling and support the breasts as they heal.

Immediately after surgery, you will be taken into a recovery area for close monitoring. You may be permitted to go home when you are stable for discharge, typically after an hour or so.

You will be given specific postoperative instructions for your recovery and a follow-up appointment with your plastic surgeon. You may also receive medications or a prescription, but many surgeons prescribe postoperative medications in advance. Your prescribed medications may include pain pills and an antibiotic to prevent infection.

Wear your support garment (a bra or elastic band, called a bandeau) around the clock as instructed by your plastic surgeon. Some surgeons may ask patients to cleanse the incision sites and apply ointment, while others will ask their patients to keep tape or a bandage on. Instructions vary, so it's important to follow all your plastic surgeon's directions carefully.

Because it is possible to bleed into the pockets around the breast implants for the first several days, take it easy until you have permission to increase your activity level. Acute pain typically subsides after 1 to 5 days, but you may experience soreness and swelling for a few weeks. Resume exercise and normal activity according to your plastic surgeon's directions.

To help prevent complications and promote natural results, use these breast implant mobility exercises starting 3 to 4 weeks after breast augmentation surgery.

Breast Augmentation Results

While a breast augmentation with Dr. William Hedden, Dr. Stephen Gunn or Dr. Joshua Halka yields larger breasts right away, the final results may take a few weeks as the swelling subsides and the skin stretches. Some patients may need to wear a bandeau to help shape their breasts, especially if they have underlying asymmetry or very small breasts to start with. Incision lines may take several months, even a couple of years, to fade.

Breast Augmentation Words to Know

• Areola: Pigmented skin surrounding the nipple.
• Augmentation mammaplasty: Breast enlargement or breast enhancement by surgery.
• Breast augmentation: Also known as augmentation mammaplasty; breast enlargement or breast enhancement by surgery.
• Breast implants: Medical devices placed in your body to enhance an existing breast size or to reconstruct your breast. Breast implants fall into two categories — saline breast implants and silicone breast implants.
• Capsular contracture: A complication of breast implant surgery which occurs when scar tissue that normally forms around the implant tightens and squeezes the implant and becomes firm.
• General anesthesia: Drugs and/or gasses used during an operation to relieve pain and alter consciousness.
• Hematoma: Blood pooling deep to the skin.
• Inframammary incision: An incision made in the fold under the breast.
• Intravenous sedation: Sedatives administered by injection into a vein to help you relax.
• Local anesthesia: A drug injected directly to the site of an incision during an operation to relieve pain.
• Mammogram: An x-ray image of the breast.
• Mastectomy: The removal of breast tissue, typically to rid the body of cancer.
• MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; a painless test to view tissue similar to an x-ray.
• Periareolar incision: An incision made at the edge of the areola.
• Saline implants: Breast implants filled with sterile salt water.
• Silicone implants: Breast implants filled with an elastic gel.
• Submammary or subglandular or subfascial placement: Breast implants placed directly behind the breast tissue, over the pectoral muscle.
• Submuscular or subpectoral placement: Breast implants placed under the pectoral muscle, which is located between the breast tissue and chest wall.
• Sutures: Stitches used to hold skin and tissue together.
• Transaxillary incision: An incision made in the underarm area.
• Ultrasound: A diagnostic procedure that projects high-frequency sound waves into the body and records the echoes as pictures.