5 Things Every Woman Should Know Before Getting A Breast Augmentation

Transcription

1 1 5 Things Every Woman Should Know Before Getting A Breast Augmentation By: Grace Gold 2009, All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The contents of this booklet are based on the opinion of Grace Gold and it is not intended to replace a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. It is not intended as medical advice. This booklet is only intended as a sharing of knowledge and

2 2 1: Implants Don t Last A Lifetime FACT: Breast implants are not lifetime devices. When I first thought about getting a breast augmentation, I envisioned getting the perfect breasts and POOF that would be it! I would run out and buy all of the sexy tops and dresses I had always wanted to wear but had felt too self-conscious to put on with a small chest. And I would enjoy these fabulously sexy breasts and my amazing new wardrobe my ENTIRE life damn it, even as an 80 year old Grandma who s hot to trot. Sophia Loren s husband would be checking ME out! Not so fast. The truth is, breast implants aren t designed to last your entire lifetime. They re man-made (although if you get them, you ll likely swear they re a gift from God), and life s wear and tear does have an impact on them whether you get saline OR silicone. Studies by the breast implant manufacturer Allergen report a deflation rate of 5% at 3 years, 7% at 5 years and 10% at 7 years. The longer implants are in, the higher the risk of rupture which appears to increase at the 7-10 year mark. In fact, all of the major breast implant manufacturers like Allergen and Mentor recommend that women consider replacing their implants at the ten year mark. That s not to say that some women haven t enjoyed the same implants for 15 or 20 years and even longer. Many plastic surgeons even suggest keeping implants for as long as nothing goes wrong. Keep in mind that if you remove implants after many years of wearing them, your original breasts probably won t look exactly like they originally did. There s a good chance there may be some skin stretching and other cosmetic changes. As with many things, it basically comes down to a personal decision based on your own comfort level. Some women plan on automatically changing their implants out in years to prevent any issues before they occur. Other women like yours truly insist that their girls aren t going ANYWHERE unless there s good reason for them to. Regardless of which way you feel, understand that having a breast augmentation comes with the assumption that you will need another surgery if not a few more down the road. Especially if you plan to be part of my Hot Grandma club. Disclaimer: The contents of this report are based on the opinion of Grace Gold and it is not intended to replace a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. It is not intended as medical advice. This booklet is only intended as a sharing of knowledge and

3 3 These girls are most definitely going down with the ship, and not anytime sooner! 2: You Can t Get Instant Boobs FACT: Breast implants need time to settle down before they look normal. Lots of women get the boob job bug right before big occasions in their lives. I m talking weddings, pageants, milestone high school reunions and anniversaries, and on and on. Bad idea. The initial recovery takes about a week, and could be a bit longer if you re getting a lift too. This is the time when you re sore and supposed to be resting so that your tissue and muscles can heal properly. But that doesn t mean you ll have normal boobs in a week. During surgery, your muscles react to the trauma by tightening up like a fist. So your new twins will start out resting higher up on your chest, and will most likely be oddly shaped since they re swollen. As you heal over the next 6 weeks to 6 MONTHS, your breasts will slowly drop down to a normal position on your chest and gain that pretty teardrop shape of a perky breast. Many women also gain cup size during this process, since your muscle may let go of some of your tissue that it had been tightly holding onto as you were healing. Getting a breast augmentation right before a major event can be a disaster, since your breasts won t be fully healed yet and you may not feel comfortable showing them off just yet. Until your breasts drop, you won t fit quite right in a bra either. So if you want your breasts to look amazing for a specific time or special event in your life, my advice is to plan to have the surgery AN ENTIRE YEAR before. This gives you room for a full recovery, as well as extra time should you need anything fixed or redone. (Which you hopefully won t ever have to worry about, especially if you ve read The Boob Job Bible first!) Disclaimer: The contents of this booklet are based on the opinion of Grace Gold and it is not intended to replace a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. It is not intended as medical advice. This booklet is only intended as a sharing of knowledge and

4 3: Silicone = MRI Every 2 Years 4 FACT: Implant manufacturers and the FDA recommend MRIs every 2 years to check the implant. When you get breast implants, you choose between two types of fills: saline or silicone. Both fills are encased in a silicone rubber shell, so you ll be putting some amount of silicone inside your body either way. This isn t anything new. Lots of prosthetic devices contain silicone rubber as well, and have been used in surgical procedures for years. Keep in mind that I m talking about the silicone casing NOT the silicone gel that goes inside of breast implants. Saline and silicone each come with a list of pro s and con s the biggest of which is the feel of the implant. A lot of women choose silicone because they feel it s soft and squishy, and better imitates a woman s natural breast tissue. On the other hand, saline is literally saline water inside of silicone casing, so it can feel a lot less natural to people. But if saline is placed inside of a woman who is starting with some breast tissue, it can feel soft and squishy too. It s a decision you should make with the help of a great board-certified plastic surgeon. There s a risk for rupture with either implant. A lot of women mistakenly believe that the new silicone implants can t rupture. This is NOT true. Remember, implants are manmade. They can rupture because of wear and tear, or even if there s a defect in the manufacturing process. When you have saline implants, you can see a rupture immediately since the saline water leaks out and is safely absorbed by your body. Your boob will definitely look smaller pretty quickly! But silicone can have what doctors call a silent rupture. Because the silicone is gelatinous, it doesn t go anywhere. Well at least that s the plan. The technology is too new to be proven by lifetime studies yet. But the point is, you can have a silicone rupture and have no idea that you re walking around with one. Most plastic surgeons agree that a ruptured silicone implant needs to be removed, or else you risk adverse health effects. So both the FDA and implant manufacturers recommend that you get an MRI three years after your breast augmentation, and then every two years after that. Disclaimer: The contents of this report are based on the opinion of Grace Gold and it is not intended to replace a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. It is not intended as medical advice. This booklet is only intended as a sharing of knowledge and

5 5 Because the MRI is considered cosmetic, a lot of health insurance companies don t cover it and you may have to pay out of pocket. Uninsured MRI s can cost a couple thousand dollars a test. Overtime, this can add up to be some very expensive maintenance. Plastic surgeons are mixed on this recommendation. Some doctors insist that patients follow the MRI instructions exactly in order to have a safe experience with silicone implants. Other doctors don t feel it s necessary to have MRIs that often. So again, this will likely come down to your personal comfort level and the recommendation of your own plastic surgeon. For a lot of women, this is a deal breaker for silicone breast implants. Disclaimer: The contents of this booklet are based on the opinion of Grace Gold and it is not intended to replace a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. It is not intended as medical advice. This booklet is only intended as a sharing of knowledge and

6 4: 1 In 2 Women Are Disappointed 6 FACT: 1 in 2 women are disappointed in their size; 1 in 4 women get a redo within 5 years. Yes, you read that whopping statistic correctly. HALF of all women say that they re disappointed in their size after the first breast augmentation. And out of that disappointed crowd, the majority of women say they wish they had gone bigger. Now most of these curvaceously perky gals aren t walking around depressed or traumatized over it. They re just saying to themselves, Man, I wish I had gone a bit bigger! When you ve been flat or small your entire life, it can be REALLY hard to imagine what bigger breasts would look like on your body and a lot of women guesstimate on the lower side. The best way to prevent this from happening to YOU is to take your time researching and look at TONS of pictures to figure out what size it is you really want. And while you re deciding on your perfect size, keep in mind that lots of boob job patients wish they had gone a bit bigger. So round UP. Don t rush the process just because you re super eager to get boobs. And I know that feeling once you decide you re getting a boob job, you just want to hit that fastforward button and get the damn breasts already! But you want to make sure that this investment and yes, it s an INVE$TMENT is worth the cost you put down and recovery time you give up. You should get exactly what you want and be thrilled with the results. So by the time you re sitting in the plastic surgeon s consultation chair, you should know exactly what size you re aiming for. If you don t, or if you re leaving that guesswork up to someone else you re almost guaranteed to end up on the disappointed side of the statistic. It s true that a quarter of all women do end up getting a redo within 5 years. This includes changes because of size disappointment as well as complication reasons. That s a really high percentage, and it s indicative of a lot of women who rush into this all too quickly without taking the time to really do the research involved. Disclaimer: The contents of this report are based on the opinion of Grace Gold and it is not intended to replace a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. It is not intended as medical advice. This booklet is only intended as a sharing of knowledge and

7 5: Your Strongest Defense Against Complications: A Great Surgeon 7 FACT: A large majority of complications can be prevented simply by choosing a highly qualified, board-certified plastic surgeon. The truth is, you can knock out your chance of getting a bunch of complications just by choosing a high quality, board-certified plastic surgeon. Careless surgery practices that lead to complications like scarring and infection are not something you need to spend much time worrying about if you re seeing a solid plastic surgeon. The bare minimal requirement that you need to look for in a plastic surgeon is board certification. Let me break that down for you. The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is the parent organization for tons of certified specialties. Among them is the one we re interested in - The American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS). You should only consider hiring a plastic surgeon who is certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery. To find out if any doctor is certified, just visit Be sure to double-check any doctor on that site, since a surgeon can claim that he s certified but he could mean certification in another field entirely, like gynecology. That doctor better be certified in PLASTIC SURGERY if he s going anywhere near your body with a scalpel! So what does board certification even mean? To get a plastic surgery certification, the doctor has to have graduated from an accredited medical school and completed five additional years of residency. This residency is broken down into three years of general surgery practice as well as two years of specialized plastic surgery work. Work and patient results during this time are thoroughly analyzed by the board to make sure everything is up to par. Disclaimer: The contents of this booklet are based on the opinion of Grace Gold and it is not intended to replace a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. It is not intended as medical advice. This booklet is only intended as a sharing of knowledge and

8 8 Doctors then have to pass tough written and oral exams. Once a plastic surgeon does pass certification, the board maintains regular checks to ensure that the doctor is still in compliance with all standards. Remember ALWAYS check to see if a doctor is board-certified, even if he claims to be. And don t be blinded by celebrity doctors who think fame and fortune are a convenient pass out of getting board certified. Anyone who takes their craft seriously and truly values the safety and results of patients as their first priority will take the time to get the proper credentials. You re putting a lot of money into this elective surgery, and you deserve the BEST results. Make sure every decision you make along the way puts you on the path to the sexy AND safe breast augmentation of your dreams! Disclaimer: The contents of this report are based on the opinion of Grace Gold and it is not intended to replace a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. It is not intended as medical advice. This booklet is only intended as a sharing of knowledge and