Getting breast implants is a very personal decision for a woman. There are many necessities and circumstances that could call for it: as a medical prosthesis used in reconstruction after the surgical removal of one or both breasts, as a corrective tool for defects and deformities a woman was born with — and, of course, as a personal choice for purely aesthetic reasons. Breast implant devices are not a passing fad. They have been used to augment breast size and modify breast shapes since the late nineteenth century. In 1895, a surgeon named Vincenz Czerny performed the first known insertion of implants in a breast from which a tumor was removed. Early procedures employed primitive technologies that proved prone to failure. Today, saline breast implant models are made with stronger, silicone elastomer-made shells. Saline breast implants now make a more conservative surgical technique possible, presenting fewer and smaller cuts. Who usually gets breast implants and goes for breast augmentation? The typical profile of such a patient is a young woman with body image issues, experiencing psychological distress about her physical appearance. She would have a history of being criticized about her looks. Studies have also shown that women who undergo surgery to augment this part of their body are ones who had also sought psychotherapy and suffered from low self-esteem and depression. Current mammoplasties, the surgical term for the procedure, are performed for the following reasons: primary reconstruction of breast tissues damaged by trauma, disease (breast cancer) and failed anatomic development; revision and reconstruction to correct an earlier surgery; and primary augmentation for aesthetic alteration of the breast size, form and feel. Surgical incisions are performed in various ways: an incision to the inframammary fold, the part of the body where the breast and the chest meet; a border-line incision along the areola's periphery; an incision to the armpit; and an incision at the navel or belly button — a less common technique. Scars from an augmentation mammoplasty are incurred six weeks after the operation but may fade within months. Breast augmentation procedures pose assorted risks and complications, including implant ruptures, leaks and capsular contracture — a painful occurrence that could distort either the breast or implant, or both. Minor complications that could arise include wrinkled appearance, loss of sensation and asymmetry. __
