BREAST AUGMENTATION

Breast augmentation offers the unique opportunity to transform your breast size, volume, and shape, resulting in a flattering new you. This procedure involves using breast implants to increase the size of your breasts and to restore breast volume that may have been reduced because of pregnancy, general aging or weight loss.

Understanding Your Breast Augmentation Options

Incision options can be discussed with patients in a breast augmentation consultation, but they will be made in inconspicuous areas to hide scarring. You have many options when it comes to breast implants and this is a decision our plastic surgeons make with you. The size and type of the most suitable implant depends on multiple factors such as your desired increase in size, but also on your breast anatomy, skin elasticity, and body type. There are many resources to help you evaluate and understand your options with breast augmentation, but sometimes it’s hard to know which source to trust. We can help answer any questions or address any concerns you may have.

Are You a Good Candidate for Breast Augmentation?

While many women are interested in breast augmentation, for a variety or reasons, not every woman is a viable candidate. At Charlotte Plastic Surgery we are zealous both for effective procedures and for patient safety, which means we carefully screen our patients to ensure they are a good fit for breast augmentation in a one-on-one consultation with our renowned plastic surgeons.

The patients who make good breast augmentation candidates are:

• In good overall health and with fully developed breasts
• Bothered by the feeling that their breasts are too small
• Concerned that they have lost volume and shape following pregnancy, general aging or weight loss
• Unhappy with the upper part of their breasts feeling “empty”
• Worried that their breasts are not the same shape or size (known as asymmetry)

In a pre-surgery consultation with your plastic surgeon, you’ll learn more about whether you are a qualified candidate for an effective and safe procedure.

How Much is Too Much?

A common question about breast augmentation: How big should breasts be? This is something you can discuss with your physician, but one thing we like to tell people is that the “Baywatch look,” which emphasized exceedingly buxom physiques is no longer trendy.

The sweet spot is when your breasts feel big to you when you’re wearing your swimsuit, but not so big that you feel the need to cover up; and, they feel small again when you get dressed. More than anything else, good plastic surgery appears natural and is potentially undetectable. We want to offer our patients the volume and self-confidence they seek, but we also want to give them plausible deniability; it should not be obvious that they’ve had implants, except perhaps to the people who know them the best.

What’s New in Breast Implant Technology?

Another important note is that breast implant technology is always evolving. At Charlotte Plastic Surgery, we delight in remaining on the forefront of new advancements, and in offering our patients the most sophisticated breast implant options available today. Specifically, some of the latest implant technologies can:

• Offer better breast contour customization
• Provide better implant matches for the patient’s desired size, volume, and shape
• Give more control over some of the nuances of breast shape
• Create greater longevity of results
• Offer better results with smaller incisions
• Provide higher standards of patient safety

During your breast augmentation consultation, your plastic surgeon will be glad to go over the options in greater detail.

Is Breast Augmentation the Right Approach?

For those who are seeking increased breast volume, augmentation is likely the way to go—but what about women who are fine with their volume, yet worried about the shape of their breasts? For these women, our team generally recommends a breast lift, also known as a mastopexy.

Some women may wish to have both procedures performed, while others will only need one. As you meet with your surgeon, you’ll get a better sense of the procedure that best matches your desired outcome.

Imagine the New You with Vectra

Charlotte Plastic Surgery offers the Vectra 3D imaging system to help you visualize what breast implants will look like on your own body. In your Vectra consultation, a series of cameras take a photo of your body and that image is then turned into a 3D avatar that can be manipulated, moved and rotated. Our experienced physicians walk you through “trying on” different implant shapes, styles, and sizes so you can see the way your body may look following breast surgery. In an independent study performed right here at Charlotte Plastic Surgery, it was discovered that the Vectra simulated post-op images were more than 90 percent accurate when compared with real post-surgical results.

Interested in a preview? Try the Sculpt My Dream tool from Vectra, where you input your current body type and size and can simulate different implant sizes on a 3D model. Click here to see how this technology has helped our patients visualize results. To discuss your breast augmentation options in more detail, see the results you can expect, and learn about the costs associated with this procedure, please schedule a complimentary consultation with one of our renowned breast augmentation plastic surgeons.