How Can This Book Help Me?
“If there were one best answer to each question, all breast augmentation would be done the
same.”
If you are considering breast augmentation, you probably have a lot of questions, questions that need answers before you decide to have an augmentation. Most patients begin thinking about this procedure and, hopefully, soon realize that they have more questions than answers.
How much does it cost?
How big should I be?
What is the best place to put the incision?
What is the best
type of implant?
How do I find a good surgeon?
How does that surgeon do the procedure?
How long will I be off work?
When can I return to normal activities and exercise?
How long until my breasts look natural?
Surely, there is one best answer to each of these questions.
You Are an Individual—Different from Other Women
In reality, the answer to each of these questions is the same, “It depends.” If there were one best answer to each question, all breast augmentations would be done the same. You are an individual, different from every other woman. Your tissues are different, your breasts are different, and your desires and expectations are probably different. Ask yourself, “Do I want a rubber stamp, standard augmentation, or would I prefer that every aspect of my augmentation be tailored to my specific desires and my tissues?” If given a choice, do you buy the same size and style of dress that you think other women would buy or wear? Of course not, and it’s not logical to think that the best choices in breast augmentation for your friend who had the procedure are necessarily the best choices for you.
If a surgeon does all breast augmentations the same, the surgeon is probably doing a lot of them wrong.
No two women are the same.
Rheir tissues are not the same.
Rhe best breast for each woman is not the same.
How do you know what’s best for you?
You begin by asking the right questions.This book helps you ask the right questions based on knowledge.
Helping You Ask the Right Questions
If someone you know has had an augmentation, have you seen the result? Do you like it? Even if you do, are your tissues exactly the same as her tissues before she had the operation? If not, your result won’t be the same either
A common practice by surgeons, implant manufacturers, and Internet Web sites is to show pictures and imply (even with disclaimers) that you can look at pictures and choose what type or size implant might be best for you. If you see pictures in a magazine of breasts that you like, can you take the pictures to a surgeon (like you would take pictures of a hairstyle to your hairstylist) and expect to get the breast that is pictured? Not if you or the surgeon are very sophisticated. Can you manipulate images on a Web site or a surgeon’s office computer and reliably predict how your tissues might respond to a certain type or size of breast implant? Can you make good choices based on pictures? The answer is no, but you should understand why it is impossible to logically compare what you’d like to have to any picture, whether it’s in a magazine or on the Internet.
Is the woman pictured your age? Did her breasts start out looking like your breasts? Are your pregnancy histories similar? Is the picture taken to enhance the look of the breasts? Has the picture been retouched? Most importantly, you can’t stretch the skin in a picture, and skin stretch is one of the two most important factors that determine optimal implant size to avoid tissue damage while optimizing the aesthetic result. You can’t accurately judge the width of the breast in the picture, and breast width is another critical factor in choosing an optimal implant that is compatible with your tissues. If a surgeon asks you to bring a picture and casually assures you that you will get that breast or if the surgeon asks you to stuff trial implants or bags into a bra the size you would like to be, beware! If you see pictures on the Internet, and anyone implies that you can even remotely make decisions based on pictures, beware! Using pictures to help understand what you like is logical, but you should thoroughly understand all the factors that make you different from the woman in the picture and understand and accept what your individual tissues will allow you to have. The same is true for trial implants or bags of fluid in a bra. The bra is not your tissue. It doesn’t respond to the presence of an implant in the same way that your tissues will respond. A bra never stretches in response to an implant like your tissue stretches. A bra doesn’t predictably age and stretch more with time as your tissues will age and stretch. Did your surgeon discuss all of these issues with you? More importantly, did your surgeon discuss how your choices now may affect your breasts in the future as you get older? How do you know what you need to know? How do you go about researching all of the important information? How do you ask the right questions in the right order?
How can this book help? By asking some basic questions and providing information to help you answer the questions in a logical sequence. As you read and review this chapter, ask yourself: Are these the logical questions I should be asking? Are the topics presented in an order that seems logical and helpful to me? If these questions and topics sound reasonable to you, you will find this book useful. Let’s look at an overview of the questions we will ask and the information we will cover, and you can determine how the information can best help you.
Asking the Right Questions in the Right Order
This book helps you ask the right questions in a logical order. Each chapter adds information that builds
your knowledge.
What does augmentation really do?
Is augmentation medically safe? Do I understand the medical evidence?
What are basic questions I should ask before proceeding?
Am I just being vain?
Can I correct the problem any other way?
Am I willing to do my homework and make this my own decision?
Am I willing to realistically accept the trade-offs and risks?
Can I handle the costs financially?
How can I locate qualified surgeons?
How do I prepare for my visit with a surgeon?
How do I “interview” a surgeon?
How do I judge a good result and a bad one when I see it?
How do I define what I want, and how do I reconcile my desires with reality?
How do I “grade” the surgeons I consult?
How do I finalize my decisions and prepare for surgery?
How might my choices and decisions affect my recovery, how do
I make choices to make my recovery as easy and rapid as possible, and how do I care for my breasts later?
p(margin).How might my decisions affect my risks of additional reoperations or problems in the future?
If you want the best breast, you need to know the answers to each of these questions. This book will help you with the answers.
What Does Augmentation Really Do?
Breast augmentation enhances what you already have and what you already are.
Breast augmentation works with your tissues and your wishes to improve what you have.
It fills the skin envelope of your breast (what you already have) to enlarge and improve the shape of your breast and usually helps you feel better about you (what you already are). Now that we know what it does, where do we start? You will need a lot of information, but the information is more useful if you learn it in a logical, stepwise process.
How Can This Book Help Me?
By now, you should a have definite feel for how this book can help you. If the questions sound logical, the topics sound intriguing, and the order of our information sounds logical, you’ll find this book helpful.