Breast Reconstruction After a Mastectomy: Using Breast Implants

August 23, 10:46 PMBaltimore Health and Beauty ExaminerDr. Jeffrey E. Schreiber

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Breast reconstruction after a mastectomy is very important to retore a woman's self-image afterward.  It helps to retore confidence and it provides a better outlook on life.  As far as the different ways to reconstruct a breast, you can use your own tissue or a breast implant.  Please see my previous article on breast reconstruction for information on using your own tissue.

As far as using a breast implant, this is the easiest recovery.  After the mastectomy is done, a tissue expander is placed underneath the muscle in the chest.  This will then be slowly filled weekly with sterile saline injected into the expander via a port buried in the expander.  The expander will the stretch the muscle and skin to make room for a breast implant depending on how large you want your new breast to be.  Then, a new nipple is created by folding the breast skin on itself.  Finally, a new areola is tattooed on the reconstructed breast.

It takes about a year to fully recreate a new breast, but the results are worth it.  Please see my website, www.DrSchreiberPlasticSurgery.com for some before and after photos and for more detailed information.

This 40 year old woman underwent a mastectomy of the right breast.  She chose to undergo breast reconstruction with a tissue expander and breast implant.  Here she is shown 3 months after the final stage of the reconstruction was performed (areola tattooing.)  Of note, she also underwent placement of a small breast implant in the left breast for symmetry.