Breast enlargement surgery – Breast implants
Before the operation your surgeon will discuss how to prepare for it. For example, if you smoke you may be asked to quit as smoking will increase your risk of getting a chest or wound infection and slow your recovery.
The procedure is usually carried out under a general anaesthetic. This means you will be asleep during the operation. You will be asked not to eat or drink for about six hours before a general anaesthetic. However, some anaesthetists allow occasional sips of water until two hours beforehand. The operation usually takes one to two hours.Your surgeon will make cuts in the crease under your breast, around your nipple or towards your armpit. The implants are inserted into position beneath the breast tissue or under the chest muscle.
The cuts are closed with stitches (which may be dissolvable) and your breasts are wrapped in a special supportive dressing or support bra. Breast augmentation surgery is an operation that usually takes 1.5 hours to complete using a general anaesthetic and normally includes an overnight stay at the hospital. In certain circumstances it can be performed as a day case.
Breast enlargement has also generated discussion regarding the increased risk of breast cancer - but there is no evidence to substantiate or indicate this - yet the placement of the implant may make reading mammograms technically more difficult where placement of the implant under the pectoral muscle may interfere less with mammography examinations. Should there be a problem with mammography x-rays, you could always have different types of examinations to your breast, which would include ultrasound as well as magnetic resonance imaging.
