Breast Augmentation Surgery

Breast Augmentation Surgery - Incisions and Scaring

Surgery leaves scars. While most breast augmentation incisions do heal well, a rate of 6-7% of unfavorable scaring has been reported for primary augmentation patients in FDA clinical trials.

The extent of the scaring can be determined by many factors. These include the patient's ethnicity, smoking, tissue quality, suture material, wound tension, tissue trauma from surgery and the individual's tendency toward favorable wound healing.

The type of incision also affects the amount and visibility of scaring. The type of planned incision should be discussed with your surgeon prior to the procedure.

The most common incision for silicone gel implants is the inframammary incision. This affords maximum access for precise dissection and placement of an implant. The incision is placed below the breast in the infra-mammary fold. This incision can leave slightly more visible scars in smaller breasts which don't drape over the IMF.

Transaxillary incisions are placed in the armpit. This allows the implants to be placed without visible scars on the breasts. It's also more likely to consistently achieve symmetry of the inferior implant position.

Periareolar incisions are placed along the areolar border. The incision is usually placed around the inferior half of the areola's circumference. Because of the incision length required, silicone gel implants can be hard to place using this method. These scars are often less visible in women with lighter areolar pigment since they occur on the edge of the areola. There is a higher chance of capsular contracture with this incision.