Incision lines are required as part of breast augmentation surgery in order to complete breast augmentation surgery. Hence, minimizing incision line prominence during breast augmentation is important for aesthetic purposes. The breast incision is required to dissect down to the pectoralis muscle and then must be long enough to allow for dissection and visualization of the breast pocket.
Finally, the breast incision must be large enough to allow for the placement of breast implants. Minimizing incision line prominence during breast augmentation is often the priority of patients.
This is because the surgical incision line is the most obvious give away of having had breast augmentation surgery. When patients are seen for breast augmentation consultation, the concern over minimizing incision line prominence during breast augmentation routinely comes up.
This is understandable since most clients do not wish to have others know about their surgery. As such, minimizing incision line prominence during breast augmentation has become a priority.
The first priority for minimizing incision line prominence during breast augmentation is appropriate incision line placement. I am a big advocate of placing the incision line in the inframammary crease which provides a natural crease that hides the incision.
This is the same concept that is used in upper blepharoplasty surgeries where the incision line for removing redundant skin is centered in the supratarsal crease. When your eyes are open, the upper eyelid crease forms and in essence completely hides the incision line.
The inframammary crease serves as a dividing line between the breasts and the belly. When the breasts are made larger in size, the crease becomes even more hidden thus making this an ideal incision line placement.
The next priority for minimizing incision line is to makes sure that the incision line repair is optimized. This requires minimizing tension on the incision line by repairing your incision line in multiple layers.
We will typically repair this incision line in three separate planes which include the mammary fascial plane, the internal deep skin plane, and the subdermal superficial plane.
The final consideration for minimizing incision line prominence during breast augmentation is the consideration of suture type. In surgery, there are three types of suture available when the suture is placed internally and labeled absorbable.
Absorbable sutures are grade with respect to how long they provide incision line support and this is also indicative of the price. The longer the suture provides support, the more expensive it is; these sutures in order of longevity include Vycril, Monocryl, and PDS. The PDS is the gold standard in suture types and used universally at our center.
The final consideration in minimizing incision line prominence is minimized the length of your incision. Typically, incision lines are made approximately 5cm or just shy of 2 inches. This is extraordinary considering that some implants may be as wide as 16cm or close to 6 inches.
In order to minimize incision length even further, a funnel insertion mechanism has been introduced, called the Keller funnel, that can be used to save another half an inch from your incision line length. This means that you can get away with an incision line that is only 1 ¼ of an inch in length.
The Keller funnel is another technique that can minimize incision line prominence during breast augmentation by minimizing incision line length.
In summary, minimizing incision line prominence during breast augmentation is our priority. If you would like to discuss your incision line placement during breast augmentation please make a consultation with our surgeon today.
Please see this 19-year-old female whose incision line is hidden in her inframammary crease following breast augmentation surgery.
