breast augmentation
implant placement...
During your breast augmentation procedure the implants are placed either in submuscular, subglandular or subfascial position, based on your physical characteristics.
- subglandular position - under the breast tissue but above the pectoral muscles
The advantages of subglandular breast implant placement is that the breast augmentation results leads to less complicated surgery and quicker recovery since only skin and fat are cut and the muscle is not affected. However, the major drawbacks are the risk of capsular contracture or visible rippling because the implant is covered only by skin or tissue. In addition, this breast implant placement obstructs mammography more then other techniques.
Because of the drawbacks specified, our cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Nikko, seldom recommends subglandular implant placement.
- submuscular position - partial or total submuscular position
The advantage of submuscular breast implant placement is that it lowers the risk of capsular contracture or visible rippling while leading to a more natural look. It also does not obstruct mammography. The drawbacks of this procedure are that the recovery from this procedure is longer and the patient might experience muscle post-op discomfort. In addition, the implants take longer to settle until the muscle relaxes.There are two submuscular positions:
Partical submuscular position- under your pectoralis major muscle and partially covered by muscle thus the implants are mostly behind the breast.
While this approach leads to minimal capsule contracture and rippling, and unobstructed mammography, flexing muscles can contract implants into unnatural appearance. In addition, since the bottom of the implants is supported only by the skin tissues, the risk of downward bottoming-out is greater than total submuscular position.
Total submuscular position - under the pectoral and non-pectoral muscles and totally covered by muscles thus the implants are totally behind the breast. This type of implant placement can only be achieved by transaxillary approach. The advantages of this approach are minimal capsular contracture and very low mammography interference. In addition, there is no implant visibility which leads to even more natural look.
Because of the complexity of this procedure, total submuscular breast implant placement is not available from all cosmetic surgeons. Our cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Nikko, performs total submuscular technique especially for thin patients with minimal breast tissue using the transaxillary technique.
- subfascial position - under fascia (connective tissue covering the muscle) and above your pectoralis muscle.
This type of implant placement allows placement of implants below a thin firm layer of connective tissue covering the muscle. It has many advantage of submuscular position without lifting the muscle from the ribs. In addition, this position does not push the implant down as does the muscle in submuscular position. The healing process is also more controlled with subfascial placement.
Our cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Nikko, prefers subfascial implant placement because it combines the advantages or subglandular and submuscular placement while avoiding their drawbacks.
