Breast Augmentation Frequently Asked Questions

As a reminder :

• Breast augmentation with implant consists of inserting silicone prostheses in the chest
• On the other hand, with the lipofilling, breast enlargement is achieved by injections of autologous fat (taken from the patient); there is therefore no use of foreign bodies to achieve the desired increase

Volume : lipofilling allows a moderate increase in volume (about a half to a cup). For a consequent increase, the implant will be used.

Breast ptosis : if it is moderate, implant placement can improve the ptosis. This is not the case with lipofilling.

Appearance : lipofilling and implant placement give a result that looks natural, as long as we remain reasonable in terms of the desired increase for the prostheses.

Scars : invisible for lipofilling, very reduced for breast implants, especially with minimally invasive methods.

Postoperative reaction : although they are very rare, lipofilling avoids the use of a foreign body and therefore reduces any likelihood of a reaction.

Duration of result : in both cases the result is reliable and durable.

For more than 60 years, women have been able to use breast prostheses.
Women's breasts in industrialized countries are regularly monitored.
Many studies have been conducted on thousands of women who have benefited from breast augmentation by prosthesis (serum or silicone), in most industrialized countries.
None of these studies identified any incidence of breast cancer in women with breast implants.

In addition, prostheses are regularly used in the case of breast reconstruction after breast cancer.

Each patient has her specific expectations: natural and discreet appearance, or curved effect; desired cleavage, breast shape; final cup size.
Dr. Christophe Desouches, who has been practicing breast augmentation with various approaches for more than 15 years, listens to your wishes during an initial consultation, studies the specificities of your anatomy, in order to recommend the ideal volume for you to achieve your goals. In addition to the volume of the implants, their morphological characteristics will have a significant impact on the final result: the shape (round, anatomical, ergonomic), the profile, the projection, the dimension of the base, etc.
To give you a benchmark, the average of the implants used in Europe would be around 300 cc, the equivalent of a well-filled C cup in bra size.
Beyond 600 cc, we find ourselves in a delicate situation, which can generate? Mechanical? tensions. and accelerate breast ptosis.

For the materials used, it is necessary to distinguish the envelope from the content:

• Silicone is You can choose between two types of breast prostheses : round implants and anatomical implants. The final choice depends on your wishes and the study carried out by the surgeon, as mentioned in the previous question. used for the envelope. Only the smooth or micro-textured envelope has been authorized by the ANSM since 2019
• Contents may be silicone gel or hydrosaline solution (physiological serum)

Note: macro-textured silicone envelopes have been banned in France since 2019, as a precautionary principle.

Saline breast implants are filled with sterile salt water. They can be pre-filled to a predetermined size or filled at the time of surgery to allow for minor changes in implant size. The advantages of this technique: safety of the serum in the event of leakage, reduced incisions, fine balance of volumes in the event of asymmetry. This type of implant is still little used because it has a less flexible and less natural appearance.

Silicone gel-filled breast implants are filled with a soft, elastic, non-toxic gel and are available in a wide variety of shapes. All silicone gel breast implants are pre-filled and may require a larger incision for insertion. This type of prosthesis is the most used, its lifespan can reach 15 years.

Depending on your medical history, your morphology and your aesthetic goals, Dr. Desouches will recommend breast implants in silicone or saline.

The market for breast prostheses is booming and the marketing promises are often tempting. Experience and practice allow Dr. Desouches to select the safest and best quality products.

According to the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products, the lifespan of a breast prosthesis is approximately 10 years. It can last much longer, although after this period the risk of rupture is greater.

Dr. Christophe Desouches will explain to you the various possibilities for introducing implants that are available to you to achieve your goals. Know that the final choice is yours.
The usual options are:

• The submammary route, widely used because it provides convenient access, whose discreet scar can however be noticed according to the movements of the patient's arms or in a bikini
• The nipple areola border or even horizontally in the nipple which allows for a very discreet scar, but which involves passing through the mammary gland
• The axillary approach whose scar is almost invisible (in the armpit), which requires specific know-how, especially when the implant is inserted between the mammary gland and the muscle.

Each patient has her sensitivity and her personality, and the feeling after an intervention can range from slight discomfort to more present pain. Depending on the type of operation, the patient may experience postoperatively:

• Bruises
• Numbness or changes in sensitivity (nipple)
• Itching around incision sites
• Feeling of cramps
• Tensions in the thorax
• Back pain

These discomforts and moderate pain after breast augmentation can persist from a few days to a few weeks. To reduce them, the surgeon can recommend simple analgesics such as Paracetamol, possibly more powerful analgesics such as Codeine or even intravenous analgesics.

To note : axillary breast augmentation is generally painless. The discomfort that results from the procedure is similar to other implant methods. The pain is mainly due to the submuscular breast augmentation, the implants in front of the muscle in the subfascial position being much less painful.

the lipofilling, which consists of taking fat from the patient (buttocks, thighs, etc.) to reinject it after purification into the chest, is the breast augmentation technique considered to be the most natural.

Dr. Christophe Desouches will tell you how long it will take before you can return to your normal level of activity. This duration is 5 to 15 days depending on your professional activity.

For sports activities, it depends on their intensity:

• Light activities requiring mainly the lower body: one month
• Intense activities involving the pectorals: 2 to 3 months

Before breast surgery, it is recommended not to have any pregnancy plans in progress. If you plan to have children within 2 or 3 years, you must postpone cosmetic breast surgery. Pregnancy can stretch the skin of the breasts and reduce their volume, which compromises the benefits of this surgery.

That said, breastfeeding is possible because the prostheses are behind the mammary gland regardless of the type of scars. The milk ducts or milk ducts that allow milk to flow to the nipple are intact after this type of surgery.

Depending on the type of intervention (breast prosthesis, breast ptosis (lifting), breast lipofilling, breast ptosis and lipofilling, ptosis and breast prosthesis), the rates vary between 4500? and 5200?.

Social security generally does not take these interventions into account. Only breast atrophy (boy's thorax) or tuberous breasts (malformed breasts with a very large areola) can benefit from reimbursement.

The increase in breast volume by breast surgery is most of the time a purely aesthetic act. As a result, no coverage is envisaged by social security.

In all cases, the scars are small in size and usually hidden in the natural folds.

Transaxillary breast augmentation is a state-of-the-art technique for placing breast implants while avoiding any visible scarring on the breast. The scar in the armpit is one of the least detectable of all breast augmentation procedures. The incision is placed directly into one of the natural skin folds so that when it heals, it blends in with the natural appearance of the armpit. In addition, the incision is short and may not exceed 3 cm in length.