Breast Augmentation Decisions – Part I

I can’t help noticing that a lot of women who come to me for breast augmentation in this city wanted larger breasts for a long time before they actually present in the office.  They tell me that they were anxious and had feelings of guilt over wanting to improve their looks and self esteem.  Furthermore, they were confused about who to go to for the operation because everyone claims to be “the best plastic surgeon in New York City”.  In my opinion, there are several things you should consider before having breast augmentation and they include the following:

• Is your surgeon Board Certified in Plastic Surgery?
• How much experience does he or she have in breast augmentation?
• What is the quality of their before/after photos?
• Do you feel comfortable with the surgeon?
• Do you feel comfortable with their staff?
• What is their local reputation?

These are all very important questions to ask yourself when moving forward with breast augmentation.  As you may notice, the one question I did not include is price.  The difference in cost of your cosmetic surgery should be relatively insignificant amongst qualified plastic surgeons.  As a matter of fact, I would recommend staying away from cosmetic surgeons if their fees are either excessively high or low.  There is typically a range of fees that are realistic for any given procedure.

Keep in mind that surgery is an art as well as a science, so the exact outcome cannot be predicted, however you should be able to get a pretty good idea of what your results will look like before you proceed.  I typically allow patients to try on a variety of different sized implants in their bras before actually inserting any of them.  I also remind them of several issues postoperatively concerning swelling, the length of time needed for settling, symmetry, and nipple position.  I imagine that most legitimate, board certified plastic surgeons do the same.