Satisfaction with Breast Augmentation

Last year breast augmentation was the most popular cosmetic procedure performed in the United States. A whopping 330,631 were performed in 2012, and this is by far the most popular cosmetic surgery. This is no surprise to us at Little Rock Cosmetic Surgery Center. Breast augmentation is the most often performed surgery here in Arkansas too. In May, a study reported that most women are happy with their breast augmentation, a full 98% of them said that their expectations were met or even exceeded.

In this study, 225 women who had the surgery were interviewed over a period of 5 years (2002 – 2007), after undergoing breast augmentation. They were asked questions about recovery, complications, results, nipple numbness, and psychological effects. Most of the women had contemplated breast augmentation for 5 years, and on average the women were 34 years of age. You may note, that because of the date, most of these particular women had saline implants. If you recall, the ban on silicone implants was not lifted until 2006.  However, the importance of this particular study, is the information garnered from the actual patients. For medicine to be evidence based, we must know how the patients feel about the results. Here are some of the results:

• On average, patients reported that they used pain medication for 5.4 days. They also reported the pain was about 5.9 on a scale of 1 – 10. Patients reported they were able to drive at 5.4 days, go back to work at 6.6 days, sleeping comfortably at 18 days, and were “back to normal” at 25 days.

• As to happiness with the size of their implants, 85% felt size was “just right,” 13% thought they could have gone a bit larger, 1.4% reported they would have preferred a smaller size (mind you, this was only 3 women), and only 1.3% reported being unhappy with scars.

• 75.7% of these patients found the firmness of their breasts “just right,” and 23.4% thought their breasts felt too firm. (Don’t forget, most of these implants were saline, which tend to feel a bit firmer).

• As for nipple numbness, 39.1% of the women reported some temporary nipple numbness at the interview at four and half months after surgery, while only 5.9% (4 women) reported some lack of sensation 33.2 months later. In other words, in all but 2.3 patients sensation was normal.

• Complications were reported by 10.2% of the women.

• 91.9 % of the women said their self esteem improved after surgery. 64.3% said the breast augmentation improved their quality of life.

What we learn from this, once again, is that the great majority of women are happy with their breast augmentation, and that the procedure not only improves their self esteem, but also their quality of life. The more studies reflecting how patients feel about procedures the better. If you are considering breast augmentation, Little Rock Cosmetic Surgery center offers a full range of implant types for you to choose from, as well as a consultation.

Dr. Branman

Call Melinda at the front desk to set up a consultation 501-227-0707