BREAST AUGMENTATION

Before undergoing any kind of plastic surgery, the patient should carefully choose his plastic surgeon making sure that he is qualified and registered in LSPRAS (www.lspras.com). This is the first unconditional step towards safety and trust.

Breast augmentation can improve the appearance of misshapen breasts, add volume to small breasts or breasts that are different sizes and has a very positive psychological influence.

“Seulement Pour VIP” exclusively interviewed Dr. TAREK HUSAMI, MD, Cosmetic, Plastic and hand surgeon. Graduated from New York University as a fellow of plastic surgery in 1990, he practiced in OHIO USA for 2 years before coming back to Lebanon AUH. Now in private practice.

SCARS
A small incision is made in one of three locations, under the arm, around the areola, or under the breast at the crease. Implants are placed either above or below the pectoral muscle. Scarring will fade after several months and be virtually undetectable.

SAFETY The procedure is safe, though like all surgical procedures, it does involve risks. When performed by a reputable, experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon, the results can be natural looking and beautiful with minimal risk.

ANESTHESIA & TIME OF SURGERY
The patient is given a general anesthesia while the entire procedure generally lasts one to two hours.

HOW LONG CAN THE IMPLANTS STAY IN?
Hundreds of women have had the original implants for over 20 years. If you take into account that the quality of the current implants has improved a lot, you can assume that a large part of the patients will have pleasure of the original procedure for a very long time, sometimes for a life time.

RECOVERY TIME
3 or 4 days are needed for the implants to settle. You will have to wear gauze and bandages for several days following the procedure. A firm bra is recommended for the first 10 days. After 3 weeks one can resume all activities, even heavy sport activities.  

IMPLANTS DRAWBACKS
Normally complications do not occur but in very rare cases:

• The body forms a hard capsule around the implant leaving the breasts hard and painful.
• The body rejects the implants.

TYPES OF BREAST IMPLANTS

Women can enlarge the breasts with either saline or silicone breast implants.
Saline and silicone breast implants both have an outer silicone shell. However, the implants differ in material and consistency.
Moreover, implants do not hide mammograms if special shots are taken.

SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS
Silicone breast implants are designed with a shell of silicone surrounding a gel, which is also silicone based. Silicone breast implants were at one time criticized for being unsafe. However, today, silicone implants are FDA approved and are considered a good, safe option for enhancing the breasts for women over 22 years of age.

ADVANTAGES
Silicone implants look and feel very natural comparing to the saline implants. The rippling effects risk is less common since the filler gel helps push out against the inward pressure.

RISKS
One of the main concerns with silicone implants is the risk of rupture. A patient could experience a ruptured implant and not even be aware for some time, as leakage occurs very slowly and there are no evident symptoms. The gel can escape the implant yet stay within the pocket of tissue keeping the implant in place, making detection of the rupture difficult.

SALINE IMPLANTS
Saline implants can be as small as 120cc or as large as 850cc, and they are available in round and teardrop shapes so that a procedure can be tailored to a patient's specific body contour. Most saline breast implants are filled during surgery.

ADVANTAGES
Saline is a sterile solution of salt and water, so if any leaks do happen, the body can take in the solution without any harm done.
Leaks with these implants are apparent almost right after the rupture while silicone can leak without a noticeable difference in the look of the breasts. The saline solution quickly dissipates, and the implant collapses.

RISKS
Saline implants reveal ripples in their lining more easily than their silicone counterparts especially in the case of thinner women who don't normally have a lot of breast tissue to be placed over the implants,
Capsular contracture is a potential complication from breast implants in which scar tissue forms around and squeezes the implants, causing the breasts to harden.

PIP BREAST IMPLANTS
Are faulty silicone implants made by the now-defunct French company “Poly Implant Prothese”, PIP. In some cases, the implants made with industrial-grade silicone have split open prompting many women to replace them.
PIP was shut down and its products banned in April last year after it was revealed to have been using non-authorized silicone gel that caused abnormally high implant rupture rates.
PIP’s silicone gel is transparent, but doctors say the substance often turns yellow when it comes in contact with body tissues.