Menu

Breast Augmentation

Learn more about Atlanta breast augmentation with saline or silicone implants performed by Dr. Franklyn Elliott with Atlanta Plastic Surgery, P.C. who has offices at Northside & Alpharetta, GA.

Should You Choose Autologous Breast Reconstruction? Top Pros and Cons

, , , , ,

Breast ReconstructionIf you find yourself facing a single or double mastectomy, you have several options for your reconstruction. The procedures fall into two categories: implant reconstruction or autologous reconstruction. In implant reconstruction, I use a breast implant to reconstruct your breast, while in autologous reconstruction, I use tissue from your own body to rebuild the breast.

Every patient has different circumstances that may make them a better fit for one choice or another. As a double board-certified plastic surgeon specializing in breast reconstruction, to help you understand your potential options, I’m laying out the top pros and cons of autologous breast reconstruction.

Pro: More Natural-Looking Result

Autologous breast reconstruction often looks, feels, and acts as your natural breast because it’s using your own tissue – tissue that is extremely similar to that in your original breast. In most of these procedures, I use a flap of muscle, fat, blood vessels, and skin from your abdomen, and these same tissues make up a large portion of your natural breast too.

While implants have changed over the years to offer more natural shapes, they often have a slightly more rounded and lifted shape. Some patients prefer this, but particularly if you only had a single mastectomy, it tends to be more noticeable than your natural breast and reconstructed breast do not match.

Con: Longer Surgery

Understandably, autologous breast reconstruction is a more complex surgery compared to reconstruction with implants. After all, I operate on your breast as well as your abdomen, your back, or any other area where I take the tissue for your new breast. As a result, it takes more time to complete this surgery, which means that you will spend more time under anesthesia. While the risks are still low for this surgery, the extended time does mean that patients with some medical conditions may not be candidates for autologous breast reconstruction.

Pro: Tummy Tuck-Like Side Benefits

As I mentioned above, in most autologous breast reconstructions, I use tissue from your abdomen, back, or other areas. If I use tissue from your abdomen this reduces the size of your abdomen, and better yet, when I suture your abdominal muscles to close the area where I took muscle for your breast, it cinches your waist to a degree. You won’t see as much of a difference to your abdomen as you would from a true tummy tuck, but you will see some slimming and shaping.

Con: More Extensive Recovery

Autologous breast reconstruction is a significant surgery because, essentially, I am performing surgery on both your breast and your abdomen, back, or other areas. Because more areas of your body need to heal, the surgery tends to have a more extensive recovery compared to breast reconstruction with a breast implant.

Keep in mind, though, that every patient’s surgery and recovery is unique and customized to their specific needs, so the recovery time and experience will vary even among women who have a similar type of procedure.

Pro: No Need for Implant Monitoring

Breast implants have highly innovative and advanced designs that make them very safe and low-risk. However, there is always some risk of future complications, and because of this, women with breast implants need to have scans every so often to monitor their implants and look for potential ruptures. Implants also need to be replaced eventually. It often takes about 20 years (and sometimes longer) before that is necessary, but it is still an additional surgery to keep in mind. With autologous reconstruction, though, you don’t need this extra monitoring or eventual replacement.

Every woman who has a mastectomy deserves to have the reconstruction that best aligns with her goals, her body, and her needs. I am dedicated to making that happen. Schedule a consultation with me, Dr. Franklyn Elliott, to determine if autologous or implant reconstruction is the best choice for you. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter as well for more plastic surgery insights.

True or False: Breast Augmentation Surgery

, , , ,

True or False: Breast Augmentation SurgeryIt’s perfectly normal (and in many cases helpful) to have some concerns or reservations before undergoing a cosmetic surgery procedure. Even the most common, routine plastic surgeries like breast augmentation are often more complicated than many prospective patients realize. With so much information (and misinformation) available online, I often take it upon myself to educate my patients on the many cosmetic procedures that I perform. For the sake of clarity and knowledge, I wanted to take some time today to present some common true and false statements about breast augmentation surgery.

Claim #1: Breast augmentation is only meant for adult women.

It’s true that I typically will not recommend this procedure for any woman under the age of 18. I personally feel that it is important to wait until the breasts have had time to fully grow and develop. However, every person develops differently and there can be exceptions. For instance, breast augmentation may be able to provide relief for younger women who experience breast asymmetry (one breast considerably larger than the other). In these cases, I always meet with the patient and her parents to determine the safest and most appropriate surgical plan.

Claim #2: Undergoing breast augmentation surgery will prevent you from being able to safely breastfeed.

This is false. In my personal experience, patients who have undergone breast augmentation will not have any difficulties safely breastfeed their babies if they choose to. It is very uncommon for breast implants to interfere with breast function. In some very rare instances, complications like a loss of sensation in the breast can potentially affect a woman’s ability to breastfeed after breast augmentation, but we will discuss this during the pre-surgery consultation appointment.

Claim #3: A breast augmentation procedure always includes a breast lift.

It’s not true that these two procedures are always performed together, but combining breast augmentation and a breast lift is in fact very common. Doing so can help women simultaneously enhance the size of their breasts while improving their overall positioning and perkiness. As long as an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon deems the patient to be a good candidate for both procedures, it is very safe to undergo a combined breast augmentation and breast lift. But to reiterate, these procedures do not need to be performed together.

It’s important and often incredibly helpful for patients to come into their plastic surgery consultation with as much knowledge and information about their respective cosmetic procedure as possible. However, I’m always happy to address any questions or concerns my patients may have during my consultation appointments. For more information or if you would like to schedule an in-person consultation appointment to discuss your options, please contact me, Dr. Franklyn Elliott. And you can also follow along with me on Facebook for additional plastic surgery news, tips, and much more.

What’s Currently Trending In The World of Cosmetic Surgery?

, , , , , , ,

What’s Currently Trending In The World of Cosmetic Surgery?As a double board-certified plastic surgeon, I have always been interested in monitoring what’s going on in the industry at large. I feel it is important and helpful to my patients for me to be aware of the ever-changing societal preferences pertaining to cosmetic surgery. With this in mind, I wanted to discuss some current trends in plastic surgery that I’ve seen recently and what they could mean for my patients.

The Zoom Effect

With so much time spent on different video chat services like Zoom and Facetime over the past year, it’s no wonder that the last year saw a surge in demand for facial procedures including eyelid surgery and facelift surgery. This trend should only continue with more people working from home today and video conferencing remaining so common.

An Influx of Younger Patients

The time when cosmetic surgery was seen as something that only appealed to middle aged or older patients is far gone. Now more than ever, millennials (and even some members of Generation Z) have begun to turn to cosmetic surgery to help rejuvenate their appearance. After all, the aesthetic results of plastic surgery are far more wide-ranging than just anti-aging.

The Continued Preference For Smaller Breasts

The trend we’ve noticed over the last few years among women who prefer smaller breasts does not seem to be slowing down. In addition to a rise in breast reduction procedures to reduce natural breast size, I have also noticed a preference for smaller sized implants during breast augmentation procedures.

The Steady Rise in Facial Injectables

Cosmetic injectable treatments like Botox® Cosmetic Injections and facial fillers are more in-demand than ever before. However, they are not the only injectables that seem to be surging. In the last few years, the popularity of fat transfer injections for the face (as well as the breasts and buttocks) has also soared. These treatments are often also used to further enhance the results of other cosmetic procedures for the face.

I hope my readers find these recent trends as compelling as I do. For more information on what’s happening in the world of cosmetic surgery or to schedule a plastic surgery consultation, please contact me, Dr. Franklyn Elliott, at Atlanta Plastic Surgery today. Don’t forget to follow along with me on Facebook for additional plastic surgery tips, news, and much more.

«‹ 6 7 8 9›»