Does Breast Augmentation Leave Scars?

The primary physical change a girl experiences during puberty is the development of her breasts. It is during this period that they feel their femininity and embrace being women. However, some are unhappy about their fully developed breasts in terms of aesthetics. The reason is that they feel either it’s smaller or larger. When the issue is with smaller sizes, doctors suggest breast augmentation or mammoplasty so that they can experience the desired size/shape and gain self-confidence. Alternatively, to reduce the size, they suggest a reduction mammoplasty procedure.

 

About breast augmentation surgery

Breast enhancement or augmentation surgery is a procedure that places synthetic implants into your breasts to increase their size. Most of the time, this is performed as an outpatient procedure. It takes only 1–2 hours to complete the procedure with local anesthesia. Then, the patient can leave the healthcare center and strictly adhere to the recovery guidelines prescribed by the surgeon. 

 

Coming to your question, ‘Does breast augmentation leave scars?’, the answer is definitely ‘yes.’ As it is a surgical procedure, scarring is unavoidable. However, when it’s done the right and best way, doctors can make these scars less visible or hidden under the natural curves of your body.

 

Watch the video on How breast augmentation works.

 

How will the scarring look?

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, it will take 18 months to see a fully healed or matured scar. As said earlier, when a board-certified, and experienced surgeon does the surgery with advanced techniques, you can see a scarcely visible scar. And most likely, that can be hidden under your innerwear. You can spot these scars either in a light red or pink color. Sometimes, they appear white too. 

 

What influences breast enhancement scarring?

The primary factors that influence scarring are the type of surgery, the technique, and the location of incisions. 

(i) Most doctors prefer the no-touch technique. It uses a Keller funnel device to place the implants, paving the way for no contamination or spread of infections. 

(ii) When it comes to breast augmentation incisions, the most preferred one is the inframammary incision. It involves two incisions at the lower part of your boobs, making it fall into the natural curve.  Some surgeons prefer the periareolar incision, which involves a semi-circular incision in the lower areolar region. Both of these types will have scars that are rarely noticeable to the eyes after healing. 

 

The secondary factors that influence your scarring are age, quality of recovery, skin tone, genetic makeup, and sun exposure. 

 

How can you minimize the scars?

• Avoid increased sun exposure and smoking for 6–8 weeks after the surgery.

• Following a healthy diet that boosts faster recovery

• Strictly adhering to your surgeon's recovery guidelines in terms of food and physical activity.

 

When you stick to these healthy tips, you can be confident that your scars will heal sooner and will be barely seen. However, if you’re concerned about your scar, your plastic surgeon will introduce you to scar revision procedures. It could be prescribing a cream, vitamin E, or laser skin treatment.

 

Still not convinced of the scars that these implants cause? Here is an alternative. Instead of synthetic implants, you can choose a breast augmentation fat transfer procedure. This procedure will involve extracting fat from other parts of your body (thighs or abdomen), processing it, and implanting it. This surgical procedure will implant natural fat tissues so that you don’t feel any discomfort or artificial feeling of having something inside your breasts.  

 

Conclusion

By now, you might have understood what scars will look like and how we can make them rarely apparent to the naked eye. So, no more; this question of, ‘Does breast augmentation leave scars?’ should stop you from undergoing the surgery.