Quick Recovery Breast Augmentation

  QUICK RECOVERY BREAST AUGMENTATION

I specialize in quick recovery breast augmentation, also known as the “no-touch technique,” a surgical procedure that uses special instruments and techniques to minimize tissue damage and avoid touching the ribs (hence the term “no-touch”). It causes far less trauma to the surrounding tissue than traditional approaches and dramatically reduces my patients’ pain and suffering as well as their recovery time. After I began using this technique, my staff and I interviewed each patient postoperatively to assess the results. We discovered 95 percent returned to normal daily activities within 24 hours. (For more information, see Dr. John Tebbetts’ book, The Best Breast, CosmetXpertise, 1999.) Before I began using the quick recovery method, a substantial number of my patients would spend as much as two to three weeks stiffened with pain. Now I have a patient who reported that she had folded three loads of laundry and bathed her two boys the evening after surgery. A second patient worked a full day at her office the day after her surgery. Another went to a movie eight hours postoperatively. The patient shown doing arm exercises and smiling less than 24 hours postoperatively was one of my first patients to use the no-touch technique. She was off all prescription analgesics the day after surgery and drove herself to the office for her follow-up exam. This is not magic, but it sometimes seems that way compared to the old methods. My staff and I, as well as the anesthesiologists and recovery room nurses, absolutely, unequivocally see a significant difference in my patients’ recovery times. I now recommend this technique for almost all of my breast augmentation patients.

After Surgery

After your surgery, there are three very important things to do. The first is getting your arms over your head. You should begin to do this six to eight hours after surgery. Do a set of three arm raises every hour before going to bed. The worst thing a marathoner can do after a race is to lie around doing nothing. Instead, stretching and walking help the muscles to recover more rapidly. The same principle holds true for the quick recovery method. You may lift objects that weigh less than 30 pounds and drive a car if you’re off pain medication. The second is actually a don’t: Don’t baby your breasts. You can’t hurt or rupture your implants or rip open your stitches, a common but unnecessary fear, by going about your daily routine. Look at your breasts in a mirror. Touch them, and get to know them. They’re not the same as what you’ve been used to all these years and they are going to feel weird for a while, so it’s important to become familiar with them. Finally, lie on your breasts—yes, that’s right—for 15 minutes every day starting the evening of your surgery. Plan on doing this every day after surgery, basically forever. You will feel better and lessen the risk of developing scar tissue around the implant.

Road to Recovery

You can and should go about your normal activities after your procedure. Your surgeon will give you guidelines regarding aerobic activities, dressings, and other issues at discharge time.

“I was amazed at how quickly I recovered from my surgery,” one patient said. “I had the procedure done on Friday morning, and I was back at my desk at work on Monday morning. I was still a little sore, but I was able to get around just fine. Within two and a half weeks I was able to play softball.”

You should be able to return to work within a few days, depending on the activity level required for your job. Your breasts will be sensitive to direct stimulation for two to three weeks, so you should avoid physical contact during that time. Your scars will be firm and pink for at least six weeks. They may remain pink and the same size, or may even appear to widen, for several months. Your scars will never disappear completely but will definitely fade and flatten over time.

Quick Recovery** Breast Augmentation, also known as mammoplasty, is a surgical enhancement procedure to accentuate the size and shape of a woman's breasts. While breast augmentation will make the breasts larger, the surgery will not move the breasts closer together or lift sagging breasts.  Breast augmentation is tremendous help to patients who desire a fuller profile, who have lost breast volume due to pregnancy or nursing, or who have undergone breast reconstruction and want to gain a more natural look again.

Reasons for Considering Breast Augmentation:

  • Enhance body shape if breasts are too small.
  • Increase breast volume after pregnancy and nursing.
  • Equalize a difference in breast size (cup size) to gain breast symmetry.

General Procedure

Breast augmentation involves making a small incision to insert a breast implant into the breast area in order to enlarge the breast.  The surgery is performed on an outpatient basis at a same-day surgery center while the patient is under general anesthesia and asleep.  There are several possible locations for the small incision that will be used for inserting the breast implant.  The most frequent technique utilizes an incision made in the axilla (or armpit).  Another technique, involves making an incision in the lower portion of the breast.  A third technique makes an incision around the areola (the darker skin surrounding the nipple).  The best technique will be decided together between the patient and the surgeon during the consultation.

During surgery, the breast tissue is raised to create an open pocket under the breast tissue or beneath the chest wall muscle.  Inserting an implant behind each breast can increase a woman's breast size by one or more bra cup sizes.  Implants either contain a saline solution (similar to saltwater) or contain a silicone gel.   Surgery typically lasts 1 hour.

Recovery Process

Generally, post-operative instructions call for exercises and normal movement in order to speed up the healing process and recovery time.  Bandages are applied to the incision.  You will need to leave the bandages alone until they fall off.  Patients sometimes report minor pain associated with the surgery.  This pain can be treated effectively with oral pain medication.  While complications are rare, patients can minimize potential problems by carefully following the directions given by the physician after surgery.

**Medical references available

 

 

QUICK RECOVERY BREAST AUGMENTATION BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Tebbetts, J.B.  Achieving a predictable 24-hour return to normal activities after breast augmentation:  Part I.  Refining practices by using motion and time study principles. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 109: 273-290, 2002.

2. Tebbetts, J.B.  Achieving a predictable 24-hour return to normal activities after breast augmentation:  Part II.  Patient Preparation, Refined Surgical Techniques, and Instrumentation.  Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 109: 291-305, 2002.

3. Gryskiewicz, J.M.  Avoiding pain and suffering after breast augmentation (Brief
Communication). Plast. Reconstr. Surg.  110: 1812-1813, 2002.

4. Tebbetts, J.B.  Reply to “Responsibilities of Our Journal Editors and Reviewers.”  Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 114: 832, 2004.

5. Mahabir, R.C., Peterson, B.D., Williamson, J.S., et al.  Locally administered ketorolac and bupivacaine for control of postoperative pain in breast augmentation patients. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 114: 1910, 2004. 

6. Adams, W.P.  Brody’s Article on “The Perfect Breast.”  Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 115: 1204-1205, 2005.


SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATIONS

1. Gryskiewicz, J.M.  Quick Recovery and Dual Plane Breast Augmentation:  Analysis of 200 patients operated on from May 2002 – May 2003.  Presented at the University of Wisconsin, Department of Plastic Surgery, Madison, WI, July 11, 2003.

2. Gryskiewicz, J.M.  Breast Augmentation:  How I do It.  (Quick Recovery and Dual Plane) Presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Clinical Plastic Surgeons in Santa Barbara, CA, September 12, 2003.

3. Tebbetts, J.B.  Keys to 24-Hour Recovery in Breast Augmentation.  Presented at the ASPS Plastic Surgery Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2004.
    
4. Moderator: Tebbetts, J.B. with Panelists: Adams, Jr, W.P., Bengston, B., Deuber, M.A., Glicksman, C.A., Randquist, C., Teitelbaum, S.A.  Panel: Special Session: Another Level of Breast Augmentation: New Answers from New Faces Who Deliver a New Level of Outcomes.  Presented at ASPS Plastic Surgery Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2004.

BOOKS

1. Tebbetts, J.B., Tebbetts, T.B.  The Best Breast.  Dallas: CosmetXpertise, 1999, Pp. 215-216.

2. Gryskiewicz, J.M.  Your Body.  Your Beauty.  Your Safety.  Burnsville, MN: BellaSurgica, 2006, Pp. 71-76.


TESTIMONIALS

       Multiple patient testimonials are available for your reference