Virginia Breast Augmentation Blog

One of the things most people don't understand about a face lift is that face lifts are not just one procedure, but many, and these procedures can be custom-designed to meet your cosmetic goals. They are designed specifically for your anatomy and your specific facial aging. A complete facial rejuvenation package will likely include several different facial plastic surgery procedures and a number of nonsurgical cosmetic procedures as well. Some procedures commonly combined to give natural-looking and long-lasting results include:

• Brow lift
• Eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty)
• Mid-face lift
• Face lift
• Neck recontouring
• Facial liposuction
• Facial fillers
• BOTOX® Cosmetic

During your consultation, we will listen to your cosmetic goals and help you decide what procedures are best to help you achieve those goals.

To get recommendations for a custom-designed facial rejuvenation procedure, please call or email The Austin-Weston Center for Cosmetic Surgery today, serving patients in Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

If you want to maintain your youthful appearance for as long as possible, nothing is as important as skin care. Your skin is your appearance: beautiful skin is the most universal element of attractiveness and youth. Here are a few tips to help you put off a face lift as long as possible:

• Give your skin the nutrients it needs. If you don't know what your skin needs, Visia digital complexion analysis can help.
• Avoid the sun. Reduce your skin's sun exposure to prevent the years of cumulative damage that will degrade your skin quality and decrease its ability to support itself and other facial tissues.
• Remove dead skin. When we are young, our skin sheds quickly, so that the skin on the surface is inherently younger, but this process slows as we age, leaving the older skin on the surface for longer. Chemical peels and laser skin resurfacing can help remove old dead skin to improve the luster and health of your skin.

Doing this will help your face look younger for longer. These are also good tips for completing the rejuvenating effect of your face lift and maintaining your results for longer.

If you live in Northern Virginia, Maryland, or Washington D.C. and want to learn more about how surgical and nonsurgical rejuvenation procedures work together to give you the best possible results, please schedule a consultation at The Austin-Weston Center for Cosmetic Surgery today.

Nipple sensitivity is important both for sexual activity and breastfeeding. Your breasts eject milk based on the amount of pressure applied by your baby’s mouth. Diminished sensitivity can result in insufficient milk supply to your child, making incision placement a necessary consideration for mothers who are thinking about breast augmentation.

Incision Placement and Nipple Sensitivity

Modern techniques in breast augmentation are intended to protect your milk ducts and the nerves in your breast. To help reduce risks, your breast augmentation incision can be placed in an area that will not affect nipple sensitivity. Periareolar incision, placed around the nipple, run the greatest risk for diminishing sensitivity, but provide our surgeons with greater control over implant placement. You should discuss your plans to become pregnant with one of our surgeons prior to selecting an incision option.

Our board-certified plastic-surgeons take every care necessary to ensure your nipple sensitivity is not impacted, but cannot guarantee against potential complications. For women who are concerned with decreased sensitivity, an Inframammary or trans-axillary incision may be a better option.

If you live in or around Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Reston, and Richmond, Virginia, Annapolis, Baltimore, Bethesda, and Columbia, Maryland, or Washington DC and are interested in learning more about breast augmentation incision options, please contact the experienced cosmetic surgeons at The Austin-Weston Center for Cosmetic Surgery to schedule a consultation today.

Recovery from breast augmentation will rely on implant placement and your body’s natural ability to heal. You can speed recovery by carefully following all of your surgeon’s post-surgical instructions, and giving yourself sufficient time to rest.

Placement and Recovery

Subglandular implants require a less invasive surgery and tend to heal more rapidly. For implants placed above the chest muscle, mild to moderate discomfort can be expected for one to two weeks. Swelling, bruising, and numbness may also last for up to two weeks. Work can generally be resumed within one week but exercise, besides walking, should be limited for up to one month.

Submuscular implants require a more detailed surgery. Implants placed below the chest muscle may cause moderate discomfort for up to two weeks. Swelling, bruising, and numbness may last for up to two months. Work can generally be resumed within one to four weeks depending on your job requirements. You can begin easing back into exercise within days of your surgery, but strenuous and high-impact exercises may have to wait up to 4 weeks, and final results should be apparent within four months.

Our doctors are committed to your comfort. Pain medications can be prescribed to reduce discomfort and compression garments will be supplied to reduce swelling. Taking walks can also help reduce discomfort and speed the recovery process.

If you live in or around Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Reston, and Richmond, Virginia, Annapolis, Baltimore, Bethesda, and Columbia, Maryland, or Washington DC and are interested in learning more about recovering from breast augmentation, please contact the experienced cosmetic surgeons at The Austin-Weston Center for Cosmetic Surgery to schedule a consultation today.

Many women worry that having breast implants will interfere with detecting and treating cancer. The placement of your breast implant can have some effect on the type of screening required to detect cancer. Recent study results presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons' 2011 meeting showed that women with breast implants experienced delays in the detection of breast anomalies. However, breast cancer survival rates were not affected.

It is also believed that because the study has a long time frame it does not reflect the impact of modern imaging technology, such as digital x-rays, on the ability of screeners to detect cancers.

Placement and Detection

When you go for your recommended mammograms, it's important to mention that you have breast implants so you can work with an experienced screener who knows how to look around the implant to better visualize cancers and pre-cancers.

Implants placed above the muscle in your chest can make cancer screening more difficult. Implants placed below your chest muscle are less likely to interfere with manual mammograms.

Breast augmentation is a proven safe way to restore symmetry and beauty to your body. We will be happy to address any safety concerns you have during your initial consultation.

If you live in or around Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Reston, and Richmond, Virginia, Annapolis, Baltimore, Bethesda, and Columbia, Maryland, or Washington DC and are interested in learning more about mammograms and breast augmentation, please contact the experienced cosmetic surgeons at The Austin-Weston Center for Cosmetic Surgery to schedule a consultation today.

Capsular contracture is a potential risk of breast augmentation. An abnormal response of the immune system to foreign materials in the body, capsular contracture occurs when the collagen-fiber capsule tightens and squeezes the breast implant. This can cause both pain and implant disfigurement and may result in having to have your implant removed and replaced.


How Common is Capsular Contracture?

Capsular contracture is one of the more common risks associated with breast implants, but its incidence has been decreasing as surgical techniques improve. Some studies indicate that the risk of capsular contracture is lowered with the use of saline breast implants instead of the old silicone gel breast implants, but it is not known how the capsular contracture rates of the new cohesive gel breast implants compare to the older style.


Treating Capsular Contracture

Some instances of capsular contracture are minor and do not require any treatment. Others may be treated with the use of antibiotic and anti-inflammatory medications. If nonsurgical options do not work, your collagen-fiber capsule may need to be removed to allow new tissue to form around your implant. When this is the case, often times the implant is replaced and repositioned to reduce repeat contracture.

While uncommon, capsular contracture is still a potential complication and should be a consideration prior to undergoing breast augmentation.

If you live in or around Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Reston, and Richmond, Virginia, Annapolis, Baltimore, Bethesda, and Columbia, Maryland, or Washington DC and are interested in learning more about breast augmentation, please contact the experienced cosmetic surgeons at The Austin-Weston Center for Cosmetic Surgery to schedule a consultation today.

Immediately following your breast augmentation surgery you can expect to feel dizzy or nauseous. As the anesthesia wears off, you may continue to feel tired for the next 24 hours, but this is common with any surgical procedure.

Pain and discomfort may be present anywhere from one week to one month. Most women report feeling "back to normal" in about four weeks. Our doctors can help you manage discomfort with prescription analgesics. During this time, swelling and bruising are also common. This can be kept under control by wearing compression garments supplied by our office.

Scarring is inevitable with breast augmentation surgery. The incision option you choose will determine where the scar is located, and in most cases scars fade naturally over time. It may take up to four months for the results of your augmentation to be fully realized, but many women notice results in as little as one month.

Your recovery from breast augmentation will rely on your carefully following all of our advice after your surgery. We will continue to work with you even after your implants are placed to ensure your healing and recovery is going as smoothly as possible.

If you live in or around Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Reston, and Richmond, Virginia, Annapolis, Baltimore, Bethesda, and Columbia, Maryland, or Washington DC and are interested in learning more about recovering from breast augmentation, please contact the experienced cosmetic surgeons at The Austin-Weston Center for Cosmetic Surgery to schedule a consultation today.