Fw: Breast Surgery gets a facelift

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Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 11:07 AM

Subject: Fw: Breast Surgery gets a facelift

http://www.click10.com/mia/health/kristisgoodhealth/stories/kristisgoodhealth-128759720020305-140329.html

Breast Surgery Gets A 'Facelift'

New Techniques Improve Results

Posted: 3:26 p.m. EST March 5, 2002

MIAMI -- Over the years breast surgery procedures for both augmentation and reconstruction have been changed and refined. Now there are techniques available that patients and doctors say are virtually scarless. Francine Karp had a double mastectomy last year. To reconstruct her breasts, her doctor recommended breast expanders -- partially filled implants, gradually inflated over several weeks. The expanders are used to stretch the skin before permanent implants are in place. Karp says that her surgery was virtually scarless. "My mother in 1999 had her left side removed and she has the scar, so you can see how things have changed since then." Dr. Weiser of Memorial Regional Hospital says, "What we're trying to do is reduce the scarring after mastectomy in certain patients who are candidates for reconstruction." He says that in the past mastectomy scars were large and extended across the breast, but with this scarless surgery a much smaller incision is used. It takes several operations to achieve the final result. Weiser explains: "First the mastectomy is closed… the patient heals from the mastectomy, then the nipple is reconstructed in a later surgery and the nipple reconstruction lies on top of the mastectomy scar." Implant surgery has also changed. According to Memorial West's Chief of Staff Dr. Blane Shatkin, teardrop implants are gaining popularity because of their natural look. "It gives a much more natural sloping to the upper pole of the breast," Shatkin says. "The outer surface is still silicone, and the inner part is saline." The tear drop implants are a bit more expensive, typically running about $5,000. Dr. Shatkin says requests for these implants is on the rise among certain women. "They've gotten older they've had a few children and so they want their breasts back or they want they're breasts lifted again." New techniques are allowing surgeons to create more natural looking breasts, leaving women like Francine Karp feeling more confident in themselves and more comfortable with their bodies. "I can't even tell there was surgery done there and they feel great. I feel like a woman again," she says. Another popular technique with reconstructive surgery is medical tattooing to give parts of the breast more natural coloring.