Monday, January 3rd, 2011
I’m sure you’ve heard women who have had breast augmentation describing their painful, awful recoveries in graphic detail. “I felt like a truck backed over me.” “It feels like an elephant sitting on my chest.” I hear these same comments when I’m consulting with new patients about breast implants. “My friend had implants and she couldn’t get out of bed for a week and her breasts were black and blue and purple.”
I wonder how many women who would want and benefit from breast augmentation have balked because of stories like these. Probably a lot. Perhaps you’re one of them. It’s sad. Because though I believe those stories and experiences, it doesn’t have to be that way at all.
Here is how my typical patient describes her pain the day after surgery:
“It feels like I worked out too hard yesterday.” Ok, not a pleasant sensation. Tight, sore, uncomfortable. But nothing like an elephant, truck or bowling ball crushing your chest. A discomfort that most of us have experienced and made it through just fine.
Why do some breast augmentation patients have so much less pain than others?
The pain level you experience after breast augmentation depends mostly on what your surgeon does in the operating room. If he or she handles the tissues delicately, you will recover with less pain.
Unfortunately, most breast augmentations are done in a manner that is far from delicate. In most cases, the implant pocket is still made using something called, “blunt dissection.” That means that the surgeon tears the pec muscles off the rib cage. That really hurts. And it bleeds. And it’s not very precise.
The better way to do this is with electrocautery dissection. You can think of the electrocautery as an electric scalpel. The cautery gently divides the attachments between the muscle and the ribs. The current seals the blood vessels so bleeding is minimal. The pocket is opened up gently and precisely.
Electrocautery dissection is why my patients have much less pain after surgery. It’s also why most of them don’t even bruise. The recovery is quicker and easier and the results are prettier and more predictable.
Don’t let fear of pain keep you from breast augmentation. Your recovery won’t be painless but it will be a lot easier than you think.
Tags: Breast Augmentation
Posted in Breast Procedures, Cosmetic Surgery, Dr. Kapp's Blog, Plastic Surgery Procedures No Comments »
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
LifeCell Tissue Matrices: advantages for women considering device (implant) breast reconstruction after mastectomy.
Over the last several decades, in an effort to achieve better aesthetic results for their patients, surgeons have increasingly switched from full muscle coverage to partial muscle coverage techniques for breast reconstruction procedures. Full muscle coverage has a number of benefits, but it also has numerous limitations. Over time, some surgeons migrated to partial muscle coverage for many of their patients because it provided a number of benefits that directly answered the limitations of full muscle coverage. Although partial muscle coverage provided many new benefits, it came with a host of limitations all its own.
LifeCell Tissue Matrices help Dr. Kapp attain optimum aesthetic outcomes for his patients without an increased risk of complications.
LifeCell Tissue Matrices:
For more information about LifeCell Tissue Matrices call Dr. Daniel Kapp today at (561) 833-4022 to schedule your consultation.
*This blog post contains content directly from www.lifecell.com.
Tags: breast reconstruction, LifeCell Tissue Matrices, mastectomy, reconstruction
Posted in Breast Procedures, Dr. Kapp's Blog No Comments »
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
West Palm Beach based board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Kapp offers both silicone and saline breast implants for breast augmentation procedures. Breast augmentation can achieve dramatic and beautiful results on its own as well as in conjunction with other cosmetic surgery or non-invasive procedures. Dr. Kapp sometimes recommends combining breast augmentation with other procedures such as a breast lift for more satisfying results.
Tags: augmentation, breast, breast implants, FDA, implants, silicone
Posted in Breast Procedures, Dr. Kapp's Blog, Plastic Surgery Safety No Comments »