Incision lines are required as part of breast augmentation surgery 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 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 giveaway 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 want others to 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 greatly advocate placing the incision line in the inframammary crease, which provides a natural crease that hides the incision.
This is the same concept 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 is a dividing line between the breasts and the belly. When the breasts are made larger, the crease becomes even more hidden, thus making this an ideal incision line placement.
The next priority for minimizing the incision line is to make 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: 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 suture type. In surgery, three types of sutures are available when the suture is placed internally and labeled absorbable.
Absorbable sutures are graded on how long they provide incision line support, which also indicates 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 is used universally at our center.
The final consideration in minimizing incision line prominence is minimizing the length of your incision. Typically, incision lines are made approximately 5cm or just shy of 2 inches. This is extraordinary, considering some implants may be as wide as 16cm or close to 6 inches.
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 you can get away with an incision line that is only one ¼ of an inch long.
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 consult our surgeon today.
Please see this 19-year-old female whose incision line is hidden in her inframammary crease following breast augmentation surgery.