How is the Breast Augmentation Procedure Performed?
Breast augmentation is an outpatient surgery performed in our accredited surgical facility under general anesthesia. Dr. Garlick employs many techniques to maximize the overall outcome of breast augmentation, including customized suturing of each breast fold and use of the GalaFLEX® Scaffold “internal bra” in some patients to reinforce and support the breasts after surgery. This internal, bioresorbable scaffold can help support the soft tissue of the breast and implant, adding to the longevity of your breast augmentation surgery. This is especially helpful when using larger-sized implants and in patients with thin skin and minimally defined inframammary breast folds.
Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation
“Fat transfer” or “fat grafting” is a technique designed to inject excess fat cells taken from elsewhere on the body into the breasts, allowing your own tissue to provide a natural volume enhancement. This is commonly referred to by many as “natural breast augmentation.” Fat grafting is most successful when used to shape and contour the breasts, often being utilized to enhance breast cleavage. In general, about 50 to 80 percent of the transferred fat will remain in the breasts and behave just like the rest of your fat cells, meaning the size of your enhancement will increase and decrease as you gain or lose weight. Due to the fact that not all of your fat survives in fat grafting, Dr. Garlick usually discusses planning for a possible second round of grafting to ensure you achieve your optimal and equal breast size. In your consultation, Dr. Garlick will discuss all of the pros and cons of fat grafting to the breasts with you.
Custom Cleavage™ with Fat Grafting Breast Augmentation
Custom Cleavage™, Dr. Garlick’s custom-tailored approach to breast augmentation, often involves enhancing the cleavage lines with a combination of implants and fat grafting. Many women have naturally wide breast cleavage due to their anatomic breast footprint, which is specific to each patient. While the breast footprint cannot be repositioned, your own fat can be transferred to the medial quadrants of the breasts to add shape and contour, bringing the cleavage lines closer together. This works best in combination with implant placement to truly achieve a beautiful, proportional breast shape and the custom cleavage you desire without the help from a bra.