Breast augmentation is typically performed by NYC plastic surgeon, Dr. Sherwyn, to enlarge small breasts, underdeveloped breasts or breasts that have decreased in size after a woman has had children. The procedure is accomplished by surgically inserting an implant behind each breast. Both the saline and silicone breast implants are available today for this purpose. These implants are silicone shells filled with saline, or salt water, or silicone gel, respectively.
Augmentation mammaplasty is often times oversimplified as a procedure. Rather, it entails a fair amount of planning which takes into consideration a multitude of factors including the person's height, weight, body habitus, chest wall measurements, their desired breast size and shape, and selected photographs of their desired breast size and shape. In those instances where a patient remains uncertain despite the aforementioned, this office provides "sizers" to assist the decision making process. A "sizer" is a sample implant that the patient may use beneath clothing to simulate the anticipated result. If equivocation remains, this same device can be sterilized for use during the procedure to determine the ideal size for the requested outcome. As always, communication between physician and patient is critical.
The physician must weigh and convey other, additional, considerations which include implant location (behind the breast tissue or behind the muscle), implant type (round or teardrop), implant surface (smooth or textured), incision placement (armpit, around the areola or beneath the breast). Each consideration should be individualized to each respective patient.
A modification of the traditional breast augmentation procedure is referred to as the dual plane technique, published extensively in the plastic surgery literature since 2001. The dual plane approach combines the techniques of augmentation both beneath the muscle superiorly, or above, and the gland inferiorly, or below, thereby permitting a more natural "take-off" and shape of the breast while simultaneously allowing for the existing breast envelope to be filled as it exists. The result is a more pleasing aesthetic appearance of the breast oftentimes avoiding the need for an uplift in women with a sagging, or overtly ptotic, breast.
These devices may be utilized for reconstructive purposes such as breast reconstruction following mastectomy, congenital malformations or anomalies, and even those women desiring both uplift and augmentation.