Breast Augmentation in Raleigh

Breast augmentation poses no health risks to the baby or mother during pregnancy. However, pregnancy can affect the results of breast augmentation. Pregnancy causes a woman’s body to undergo natural changes, often including the breasts. Some women find their breasts increase in size while pregnant, while others see a noticeable decrease. Every woman is different. Breasts may change size or shape during or after pregnancy, so even though your implants remain unchanged, your actual breasts may look different. The surrounding breast tissue can change significantly or minimally – everyone’s breasts respond to pregnancy differently. For those whose breasts sag after pregnancy, the implants will still provide some lift to the breasts. Some women with post-pregnancy sag choose to have a breast lift, leaving the implants alone and just addressing the breast shape. For others who want to get the shape of their pre-pregnancy breasts back, Dr. Zenn performs a Breast Augmentation Revision by repositioning or exchanging implants to a different size, with or without a breast lift.

There are some women who are unable to breastfeed after pregnancy with breast implants in place. But keep in mind, approximately 25% of American women are unable to breastfeed without any surgery performed. Technically, every woman should be able to breastfeed after breast augmentation because the nipple is never separated from the breast gland. Dr. Zenn carefully chooses precise placement for incisions during the augmentation procedure so the breast gland is never disturbed. Typically, he makes incisions around the areola or under the breast as an entry point. If you are considering getting pregnant in the near future, Dr. Zenn recommends waiting for breast augmentation surgery until after you give birth and finish breastfeeding.

Numbness is related to injury of the nerves that run into the breast, which can happen while the pocket is being created to hold the new implant. Nerve damage can occur whether the implant is above or below the pectoralis muscle. The location of the incision does not affect the sensation of the nipple. The bigger the implant, the greater the risk for numbness. Numbness can make breastfeeding difficult if the normal response of the nipple is blunted or eliminated. For Dr. Zenn’s patients, the occurrence of permanent numbness is extremely rare.

You will have the chance to choose your implant size during your consultation. Dr. Zenn will recommend the ideal size range for implants according to what will fit on your chest. Then with the help of Lissa, Dr. Zenn’s nurse, you will try on different sizes (under a bra) until you have a good idea of what you want. This will allow you to get a realistic idea of how you will look after surgery (and is usually the most fun part of the consultation!). We do not use any imaging technology to predict what you will look like post-augmentation for one very good reason – they don’t work. Dr. Zenn’s experience with these technologies is that they do not accurately predict post-surgical results. He considers them more of a marketing gimmick. When it comes to sizing for breast implants, placing an actual implant inside your bra is the way to go!

Breast augmentation is the most common plastic surgery procedure in the US, and therefore most plastic surgeons perform this surgery. However, revision of breast augmentation requires particular expertise in breast surgery and years of experience fixing problems for all different reasons in all different body types. No other plastic surgeon in the Research Triangle has more experience or stronger proven results with secondary breast surgery than Dr. Zenn. It is not uncommon for Dr. Zenn to see patients who have had 2-3 attempts at revision before finally coming to Dr. Zenn to fix their problem. Dr. Zenn has many tools at his disposal to treat botched breast augmentations, which he honed during his nearly 30 years of medical practice, with a focus on breast surgery. Dr. Zenn has seen it all, and has successfully helped patients who had given up hope achieve the breasts of their dreams.