In the past, plastic surgeons placed breast implants in front of the chest muscle, through an incision made in the crease of the breast or next to the areola. While these are still the most common breast augmentation surgeries, plastic surgeons have quite a few more choices for both the placement of the breast implant, as well as where the incision is made.
There are three different types of incisions for the breast augmentation surgery:
• Inframammary Fold Incision - made in the natural crease of the breast
• Transaxillary Incision - made in the natural crease in the armpit; breast implant is placed with the aid of an endoscope
• Areola Incision - made in the tissue where the dark skin of the areola meets the light skin of the breast
There are also additional choices for where the breast implant is placed behind the breast:
• Over the Muscle - breast implant is placed behind the breast tissue, in front of the muscle
• Partially Under the Muscle - upper 2/3 of the breast implant is placed behind chest muscle, while bottom 1/3 is supported by natural breast tissue.
• Completely Under the Muscle - the chest muscle covers the upper 2/3 of the breast implant, while the lower 1/3 is supported by the chest muscle connective tissue called the fascia.
The differences in the incision placement and the implant placement not only change how the breasts will look after the surgery, but they also determine where any resulting scars will be. By concealing scars within the natural folds, or creases of the body, your plastic surgeon can provide you with wonderful breast augmentation results without any noticeable evidence of having cosmetic surgery.
After working with the plastic surgeon, you will be able to determine which type of incision and breast implant placement will work best to provide you with the results you want. Some plastic surgeons specialize in only one version of breast augmentation surgery.
Although a crease or areola incision and over the muscle breast implant placement is the most common form of breast augmentation, a skilled surgeon can provide equally successful results with any of the incisions or breast implant placements.