How long does it take to have natural feel after breast augmentation?

Q. How long does it take to have natural feel so that my husband or boyfriend cannot know the difference?

A. This is not a comfortable question to ask but is one that many are curious about. Today, I would like to answer this question.

Let’s look at that natural feel after the breast augmentation.





Many patients just consider the feel of the silicone implant.
So they think that it is best to use soft silicone implant so that their husbands or boyfriends to not recognize the difference.
The feel after the breast augmentation comes from the original breast tissue. The implant is below it. Therefore it is like touching a bread covered up with cloths.



If you want to know exactly what that breast is, then the cloth covering it needs to be thinner.
If the cloth is very thick, then you will not be able to know what is under it.

Now comes an important point.
If your skin is very thin or you have a thin body, then a person with small breasts who used large implants cannot cover up the fact that she got a breast augmentation surgery even after a long time.
There is a high possibility that people can feel the difference.
But, if you had thick skin layer, or were a little fat than normal person, there is a high possibility that people cannot feel the difference.



Also there is no proportional relation between time of recovery and the feel of your breasts.
Your breasts might feel unnatural due to the swelling in the first 2 to 3 weeks of recovery. They will feel natural after the swelling goes down but if you use a very large implants, your skin layer gets thinner therefore, your breasts might not feel natural after 6 months to a year.
(But, there is a proportional relation between the shape of the breast and the time or recovery)




So if you need to avoid sexual life due to the recovery from the breast augmentation, it is recommended that you avoid having sex in the first two weeks. It would be very concerning to touch the breast in the first few days of the recovery.

It’s been about 2 months since I got the breast augmentation. If everything goes fine, I would not need to worry about my husband or whoever touching my breasts.
Today, I posted on the answer for how long it takes for the augmented breasts to feel natural.

Thank you for reading. Have a great day.

24 hour recovery after Breast augmentation 

Today, I would like to clear some misunderstandings and perception on the 24 hour recovery system.


It is mentioned on the same book that the 24 hour recovery system can also result in minimized side effects and revision.

This is not another type or advertising message that tries to influence the patients to get the surgery, but it is a mandatory technique that a doctor should know in order to minimize any possibilities of aftermath problems and side effects.

A 24 hour recovery system is: to recover quickly within 24 hours from the breast augmentation so that you can get back into your daily work and life without any problems.  It means that you can get the breast augmentation in the morning and go out shopping in the late afternoon. Those patients who were able to recover within 24 hours had less incidence rate of side effect than those who did not recover within 24 hours.


......24 hour recovery also deliver optimal long-term outcomes with low complication and reoperation rates. (Referred from the book)

.....such results along with the same elements that make the 24 hour recovery possible proofs that the long term result from the breast augmentation is optimized. (Referred from the book)

But, how can a patient recover in 24 hours? There needs to be much experience and know-how in order to make this possible. I conducted a survey on those patients that I had for a one year period starting Feb 2013. There were 172 patients who responded.



Hi, this is Kies-U. We introduce the “24 hour recovery system from anatomical breast augmentation” to our patients all the time. We would like to conduct a survey on those patients with breast augmentation who recovered in 24 hours. Please choose a response that best describes your experience and reply with the response number. Thank you very much. 
(1) Definitely recovered within 24 hours
(2) Recovered somewhat within 24 hours
(3) Did not recover within 24 hours

We analyzed the statistics of this question. Here is the result.



90.1% of all the respondents stated positively about the 24 hour recovery system. There were 9.9% of the respondents who answered that they did not recover in 24 hours.
 
I looked at some factors that slow down the 24 hour recovery system

Although most of the patients state that the ‘recovery was quick and there were no discomforts’, there are cases that are opposite. So I have gathered such cases to come up with the following findings.

1) If the size is too big
2) If the patient has different body shape (Abnormal bone structure / very tight skin tissue / bad case of bird chest, etc
3) If the patient was not in a good condition on the day of the surgery

There are many factors but we could sum them up as such.
If the implant is too big, then the pocket needs to be made big. In doing so, there could be much bleeding or much bothering on the pain receptors leading to long term continuous pain.
If you have a tight skin then there would be extensive force on the skin leading to much pressure. The pressure causes pain on the bones and other parts of the body.
If you are a patient who is very thin and have tight skin, you might want to make your breasts as large as possible. This greed might hinder the quick recovery that you could have.

24 hour recovery = Low complication

The equation above is what Dr. Tebbetts tries to emphasize. I agree with it.
If there is no pain, and if you feel comfortable, then this means that there is no trauma caused from the surgery, and the skin tissue can recover quickly resulting in no capsular contracture or other complications.

Today, we looked at the 24 hour recovery system. Thank you for reading.
Have a great day.

Q. I have heard that many people suffer from pain after the breast augmentation. Is there no way that you cannot feel any pain?

A. If you do not touch any nerves, then there would be no pain.



What should one do to avoid any pain? This is an obvious answer, but one should not touch the nerves to avoid pain.

Then, what are the parts without nerves? There are no nerves on the subcutaneous fat.
How about the skin? The skin is very sensitive, more so any other part of the body. This is the first barricade that protects our body. But once you penetrate through the skin and get into the subcutaneous fat, one will not be able to feel the pain.

Before, I posted on the above the pectoralis muscle and below the muscle procedures for the breast augmentation. Above the pectoralis muscle means that the surgery is done under the subcutaneous fat. There is no pain when the incision in done here. You would not feel any pain with the sadation in the above the pectoralis muscle breast augmentation.

Then how about the bone? Does a bone have nerves?
Do you know the words “pain from carving your bones”? In oppose to this, there is no nerve in your bones.

The bone does not feel the pain, but the surrounding periosteum does. If you touch the periosteum during the incision, then there would be much pain.




If you look at the image above, you will be able to know why approach from the armpit leads to much pain.
This is approaching the periosteum that surrounds the ribs. The tools used for incision might touch the periosteum surrounding the ribs. Therefore, there is much pain when approaching from the armpit.

Of course, you can avoid pain when approaching from the armpit with the usage of the endoscope and investing much time in the surgery. However, the inframammary fold leads to least pain. There is no possibility of touch the periosteum when approaching from the inframammary fold therefore, this method is the most ideal one for a surgery without pain.

Another important point is,
That the bleeding and the pain are related to one another. The blood vessels and the nerves are usually together. So if there is much bleeding then one must have touched the nerves a lot as well. If there is no bleeding then there is no pain.




This image shows the perforator. A method that makes it easy to see these perforator is the approach from the inframammary fold. It is difficult to see these perforators with other methods. If you cannot see somethings properly then this means that there is much chance of bleeding as well.

When we approach from the inframammary fold, we are able to see the location of the blood vessels, therefore, we can avoid the bleeding and minimize the pain caused.
Now, I am sure that you will know that method leads to least pain.

1)
Inframammary fold leads to least pain as there is less chance of irritating the periosteum. The incision does not irritate the periosteum when you approach from the inframammary fold. Look at the image for better understanding.
One cannot avoid irritating the periosteum when approaching from the armpit. The curve from the ribs and the breastbone leads to high chances of touching the periosteum. When the incision is done on the areola, you can avoid irritating the periosteum however, one’s visual gets limited as you approach the inner parts, therefore this cannot be less painful than the inframammary fold incision.

2)
Whatever incision method you use, above the pectoralis muscle, i.e. below the subcutaneous fat incision leads to least or no pain. When the surgery is done through the belly button, the patient cannot feel any pain because the incision is done above the pectoralis muscle. Many say that the incision on the armpit leads to much pain, but the same on above the pectoralis muscle leads to no pain.

However, above the pectoralis muscle method should be well considered when applying for those patients who are really thin. An implant is a foreign substance to the body, therefore such foreign substance needs to be completely covered up when put into the body.

The above the pectoralis muscle means that there is not much skin covering the implant therefore the implant can be seen from outside over time.

Today, we looked at why the inframammary fold incision leads to least pain.
Another important fact is that the surgeon with much experience in inframammary fold incision needs to conduct the surgery to result in less or no pain. There can be much bleeding the pain if the surgeon is not experienced.

Take care and thank you for reading.

Why is 24 hour recovery important?

My patients tell me that they come to me because of the quick recovery from the breast augmentation.
Today, let’s look at why quick recovery time is important and how this can be achieved.

Here is the summary of 24 hour recovery system so that you can understand it easily.




Whatever surgery it is, a good surgery is one that least bothers your daily routine. This applies especially well for the cosmetic surgery more so than other health or physical function related surgeries.

The discomfort and pain from the surgery should be minimized and the social or economic activities of the person should not be restricted.

A surgery that does not penetrate important parts of the body and that ends quickly so that the patient can get back to daily life quickly leads to less possibility of complications also. If the night is long, then you will dream more. If the surgery takes long time and is very complicated, there is much possibility of increasing problems.



A world renowned breast augmentation specialist, Dr. John B. Tebbetts from Dallas, US, first introduced up with the 24 hour recovery system.

24 recovery needs careful analysis of the surgery, clear understanding of the patients, good preparation of the anesthesia and the surgery, and well prepared manpower that helps coordinate the surgery properly from the start to finish without any hesitation.


 
In order for 24 hour recovery to be successful,

Accurate planning before the surgery is very important
Everything needs to be decided in the first meeting with the patient.
What type of implant to use?
Is the size appropriate, what spec or profile to use?
How the symmetry should be controlled,
What is the problem that needs to be solved foremost?
Where to approach for the incision?
If the wrong decision is made in any of the question above, the surgery will be complicated and the recovery would be painful and slow to the patient. There would be higher possibility of side effects as well.



It is better to choose the inframammary fold approach for 24 hour recovery. This applies more so if the anatomical implant is used.
The inframammary fold approach leads to accurate and no fault surgery.
In oppose to this, if the approach is made far away from the breast, the surgery becomes more complicating, longer and the number of variable for the surgery increases. There would be more pain and the recovery takes longer than 24 hours.
I approach from the armpit often, and there is higher possibility of fault with this approach than the inframammary fold approach.
There is no one who wants to take risk on the surgical bed. Accuracy and certainty are very important in a surgery therefore there are many doctors around the world who choose and apply the inframammary fold approach.



A doctor’s technique is important for the 24 hour recovery. The doctor should not give any trauma to the patient and have the skills to perform the surgery quickly and accurately. The procedure should be conducted according to the surgery plan and should not be influenced by any variables caused during the course of the surgery. In fact, this is what determines the result of the surgery.

Also, other surrounding variables such as the surgery environment, tools and devices, endoscope, anesthesia and the experienced nursing staff are all important for the 24 hour recovery

There are many who are misunderstood about the 24 hour recovery system.
A quick surgery and recovery are necessary to result in a beautiful looking breast with no complications.

Quick recovery is not the ultimate goal. Quick recovery is necessary for the good outcome of beautiful looking breasts. Quick recovery means that the surgery was done without any problems or hesitations. This leads to less side effects as well.

Today’s post was for those who perceive that the breast augmentation is something that is scary and painful. The recent advances in the breast augmentation is the 24 hour recovery system.

Thank you for reading. Have a great day.

Q) I have heard that if I get dual plane breast augmentation, my breasts would end up looking anatomical so I do not need to use the anatomical implants. Is this true?

There are growing number of people who ask me the question stated above. I do not know what to do if I get asked such question, but there is the answer first. Dual plane and anatomical implant breast augmentation are completely different concepts. This is similar to saying that you can taste watermelon when you are actually eating round shaped pumpkin.



Dual plane refers to the depth of the implant put in, i.e. the location that the implant is put in to.
Anatomical implant breast augmentation refers to the anatomical implant that is used for the augmentation.

These two cannot be the same. They have different objectives and purposes.






Dual plane is applied in order to reduce the side effects and improve on the disadvantages, and anatomical implant is used for cosmetic reasons.




Today, we looked at the two concepts of dual plane and anatomical implant breast augmentation and how they are different. There are many deceiving information in breast cosmetic surgeries.

 Thank you for reading. Thanks.