Background Note
Breast augmentation surgery in the U.S. today uses one of two brands of implants filled with saline (salt water) approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for use in the U.S.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), breast augmentation was the fourth most popular invasive surgical procedure among cosmetic plastic surgeries performed in 2000. In a press release dated July 12, 2001, the ASPS says that breast augmentation was performed on 212,500 women last year.
Breast augmentation surgery uses saline-filled implants to enhance the size and shape of the breasts. Women often desire breast enhancement surgery if their breasts have lost volume and changed shape after weight loss or childbirth or as a result of aging. Surgery can also correct cases in which a woman’s breasts are of significantly different sizes. Augmentation can be performed at any age after the breasts have finished developing, but, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), federal regulations that took effect in May 2000 prohibit breast augmentation for purely aesthetic (that is, non-medical) reasons in women less than 18 years old.
Although breast augmentation will enhance the appearance of the breasts, it will not necessarily produce an ideal body. The ASPS says that the best candidates for breast augmentation surgery are “women who are looking for improvement, not perfection” in the way they look. When consulting a plastic surgeon about breast augmentation, women should be prepared to discuss their expectations about the results of the procedure as well as their past medical history and current health, including any family incidence of breast cancer.
The procedure can be performed in either an office surgical suite, a free-standing surgery center, or a hospital out-patient department under general anesthesia (being “put to sleep”) or with local anesthetic supplemented by medication for sedation. The doctor will then make a small incision either in the crease of the breast (just above where the breast joins the chest), below the areola (the pigmented skin around the nipple), or in the armpit—all places where the scar will be the least conspicuous. The doctor will insert the implant through the small incision, then fill it with sterile saline. The implant can be placed either behind the breast tissue (on top of the pectoral muscle, which sits between the breast tissue and the chest wall) or underneath the pectoral muscle.
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