Breast Augmentation

Breast Augmentation Before & After Photos

Keep in mind that each patient is unique and your results may vary.

Macleod Trail Plastic Surgery is best known for breast augmentation by many women from Calgary and throughout Alberta.

Each person has unique and personal reasons for wanting to enhance the size and shape of her breasts. Our Royal College-certified plastic surgeons excel at producing results tailored to each woman's body, creating attractive, natural-looking contours. Choosing an experienced surgeon who combines technical expertise with a keen aesthetic sensibility is the first and most important step in achieving your desired results.

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Is Breast Augmentation for You?

Cosmetic breast enhancement is one of the most popular procedures in our practice. Many of our patients contemplate getting breast implants for months, even years, before pursuing breast augmentation. The women who visit us for breast implants in Calgary do so for many reasons. One of the primary reasons is that women feel self-conscious about having smaller breasts and want to enjoy a broader range of clothing and swimsuit options. Others choose to get implants to balance the size of their breasts or restore the volume lost after pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Our surgeons sometimes recommend breast augmentation combined with a breast lift to achieve optimal results. In addition, the procedure is often combined with a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) for women who want to regain their pre-pregnancy bodies. This combination is often referred to as a "mommy makeover."

Breast Augmentation Safety

Choosing the right implants for your breast augmentation procedure can be an exciting process. At our Calgary practice, we help you select breast implants that are best suited for your body type and the cosmetic goals you describe during your consultation. Patients rely on the experience and expertise of Royal College-certified plastic surgeons to explain the benefits of the various breast implant options.

Begin your personal transformation by requesting a consultation using the online form to meet privately with one of our plastic surgeons, or call our office at (403) 452-7953 to schedule an appointment.

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Your Breast Augmentation Choices

The key to achieving your desired result is to choose a plastic surgeon who listens and understands your aesthetic goals and offers professional advice based on a thorough physical assessment. There are many individual factors our surgeons consider when crafting a surgical plan. These include body frame, tissue elasticity, breast size and any pre-existing asymmetries. Your surgeon will also discuss with you options, including:

Breast implant selection
Incision location
Implant placement

Our surgeons explain your choices in a way that will help you make the final decision. These options are also discussed during your breast augmentation revision surgery consultation breast augmentation revision surgery if you replace your old implants.

Breast Implant Selection

When you started thinking about getting breast implants, chances are you focused on the size you wanted. Choosing the implant size is undoubtedly an essential decision for breast augmentation patients, but there are several other factors to consider before making a final selection. The array of breast implant options available today enables our surgeons to customize the procedure to meet your aesthetic goals truly.

These are the characteristics you'll consider when choosing your breast implants:

Size
Implant filler
Projection

Choosing the Size of Implants

Though women are used to measuring the size of their breasts based on the bras they wear, breast implants are measured in cubic centimeters (cc) or grams. While you probably have a general idea about the size of implants you want based on photos or how a friend's implants look, it's best to wait for a specific choice after the consultation. That's because the identical size and profile of implants can produce very different results from patient to patient due to the unique proportions of each individual's body.

Our surgeons use their training and experience to recommend implants that will achieve natural-looking results that fulfill your aesthetic goals.

Silicone vs. Saline

The latest cohesive gel implants are the choice of most of our patients because most believe they look and feel more like natural breasts when compared to saline implants. However, each type of implant has benefits and limitations:

Cohesive gel

Unlike previous generations of silicone gel implants, cohesive gel implants are pre-filled with silicone that will maintain consistency even if the exterior shell fails. The highly cohesive gel implants are sometimes called "gummy bear" implants because the consistency is very similar to the candy. In addition, these implants hold their shape better and provide a smoother surface, resulting in less rippling.

Saline

After being inserted, saline implants are made of a silicone shell filled with saline (saltwater). If a saline implant ruptures, a volume change will become apparent as the body absorbs the saline solution. Saline implants have a higher occurrence of rippling and wrinkling and tend to have a less natural feel.

Projection

An implant's projection, or profile, determines how much the breasts project from the chest. Our surgeon will first determine your optimal implant width by carefully measuring your chest wall. Then, you can adjust your final appearance and size by adjusting your implant projection. The more projection the implant you choose has, the more fullness and ultimate breast size you will achieve. This allows you to customize your look while keeping the result proportionate and balanced.

Our surgeons explain your options in a way that is easy to understand so you can feel confident in your decision.

Incision Location

Although there are several possible options available for incision location, our surgeons strongly believe that the safest and most reliable options are:

Inframammary: The surgeon makes a short, horizontal incision at the crease where the breast connects to the chest wall.

Periareolar: The surgeon makes a small incision on the lower edge of the areola (the darker skin surrounding the nipple).

Implant Placement

There are two options available for implant placement:

Subglandular placement: Your surgeon places implants behind the existing breast tissue in front of the pectoral muscle.

Submuscular placement: Your surgeon places implants behind the pectoral muscle and the breast tissue. This is also termed a dual plane placement, as the muscle only covers the upper portion of the breast implant.

The Optimal Breast Augmentation

Based on their advanced training and years of experience, our surgeons believe the optimal breast augmentation procedure involves the inframammary incision and a dual-plane, submuscular placement using smooth, round, cohesive silicone gel implants. Additionally, in some cases, our surgeons may suggest using the patient's own fat to sculpt the final breast contours to ensure beautiful and symmetrical results. This combination produces the best results for several reasons:

The inframammary incision is associated with a significantly reduced risk of capsular contracture (post-operative tightening around the implant), the primary complication following breast augmentation surgery. It also poses minimal risk to a woman's ability to breastfeed in the future.
A dual-plane placement offers the best of both worlds. Most of the implant sits behind the pectoral muscle, which is also associated with lower rates of capsular contracture. In contrast, the lower portion of the implant is covered by breast tissue, providing a more natural breast shape. A submuscular placement also causes less interference with mammography and provides a more durable result over time.

About the Procedure

On the day of surgery, your surgeon will meet with you, address any remaining questions, and make some marks on your chest to guide him during surgery.

The procedure begins with the administration of general anesthesia. Next, the surgeon will make the incision and create a pocket to encase the implant. After inserting the implants through the incisions, your surgeon views the breasts from multiple angles to ensure the results are aesthetically pleasing and symmetrical. He will then close the incisions and cover them with bandages before you are taken to the recovery room.

Recovery

Breast augmentation surgery typically takes between 1 and 2 hours. You will wake up in the recovery room following surgery, where our surgeons and dedicated nurses will monitor you to ensure your safety and comfort. Typically you will be ready to head home 2 hours after your surgery is completed. Each patient receives detailed post-op instructions to make a recovery as comfortable as possible. I encourage communication with our office to maximize comfort and ensure no uncertainties. Everyone's experience is different; however, the pain will typically settle within the first few days, and many patients return to normal activities within two weeks.

It is normal for the breasts to appear high and feel hard initially; in most cases, the breasts soften, and implants settle within a few weeks. While experiences vary, patients typically are pleased with their appearance at six weeks; however, it can take up to 9 months to achieve your new look.

Frequently Asked Questions

The results of breast augmentation emerge gradually, so we recommend waiting before you buy your new bras. Breast implants usually sit fairly high on the chest during the first few weeks after the procedure until swelling subsides, tissues soften, and muscles stretch. Most women will have a fairly good idea of what their new breasts will look like about 6 weeks after surgery, but they can continue to change for several weeks or even months.

In certain cases, breast implants can uplift slightly sagging breasts, but implants won't help women concerned about moderate to severe sagging of the breasts. Breast augmentation alone does not remove redundant, sagging skin, and the weight of breast implants can actually exacerbate sagging. Combining a breast lift with implants is common in these cases and can be very satisfying for women who have lost breast volume with age or after breastfeeding.

Absolutely. Revision breast augmentation is performed for various reasons, including the desire for new or different implants. Patients who have saline implants, for example, come to our practice to exchange them for the latest generation of cohesive silicone gel implants. Other reasons women get revision surgery is to change the size or shape of their implants, or because they've experienced some type of implant-related problem.

Begin your personal transformation by requesting a consultation online to meet privately with one of our Calgary breast augmentation surgeons, or call our office at (403) 452-7953 to schedule an appointment.

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