Many women consider having their breasts enlarged in order to satisfy their own desire for a fuller bustline. Your breasts may not have developed to a size that meets your expectations, or one breast may be significantly larger than the other. You may have been happy with your breasts in the past but feel that they look different now. Often, after weight loss, childbirth or as a result of aging, the breasts lose volume and their shape changes. Breast augmentation can enhance your breast size and shape, and give you the more proportional figure that you always wanted.

Risks Involved
As with any surgical procedures, there are some risks involved. With a breast augmentation procedure complications are infrequent and usually minor. However, each patient varies greatly in their anatomy, their physical reactions, and their healing abilities, and the outcome is never completely predictable. 

• The most common problem is capsular contracture, this occurs if the scar tissues or the capsule around the implant begins to tighten. 
• A small percentage of women develop an infection around an implant.  Some women may experience oversensitivity or decreased sensitivity of their nipples, and sometimes numbness.  These sensations are usually temporary during the recovery period.
• There is a small risk of having the implant rupture or break, this usually occurs as a result of an injury.

During your personal consultation with Dr. John DiTredici, these complications along with any other individual risks will be discussed in more detail.

Pre-operative Preparation
Specific instruction will be give to you by Dr. DiTredici on how you should prepare for your surgery.  The most important guideline is that you should stop smoking at least a week or two before and after surgery, this restriction is highly recommended because smoking inhibits blood flow to the skin, and can greatly affect the healing of your incision areas.  For your safety on the day of your surgery you should make arrangements for someone to escort you home. 

Surgical Procedure
An incision is made at the determined area for the insertion of the implants.  These four access areas may be the axilla, the areola, the infra-mammary fold and umbilicus.  This will be discussed between the surgeon and the patient during the consultation. 

After the incision, the dissection proceeds down to the chest muscle.  A sub-pectoral or a sub-mammary pocket is then formed.  This will depend on the amount of ptosis (droopiness) of the breast.  Next, a saline or silicone implant is inserted into the dissected pocket.  The saline is deflated and is expanded within the pocket.  It is rolled up into a tube and inserted through the incision, this way the incision remains as small as possible.  Silicone is already expanded and sealed, so it is squeezed through the incision, which may lead to a slightly larger incision depending on the size of the implant.  Next, the patient is sat up on the operating table and the breasts are checked for symmetry.  Most of the dissection is performed in this position.  After the adjustments the patient is returned back to the lying position and the incisions are closed.  A support bra is placed on the patient and the surgery is complete.  The approximate length of time for the procedure is one to two hours.

Post-Operative
After the procedure you may experience some minor discomfort, in which, Dr. DiTredici will prescribe some medication to alleviate the pain.  Dr. DiTredici will instruct you not to do any heavy lifting or strenuous movements while recovering from the procedure.  You will be instructed to wear a surgical bra for a few weeks following your surgery.  Your follow-up visit will be scheduled in 7-10 days after your procedure.  During this visit the doctor will remove your stitches and oversee the healing process.  You should be able to return to work in about a week after the surgery.  Further Individual instructions will be given upon discharge.