Breast implants: For breast augmentation, the women normally want to have breasts bigger than what God gave them. PHOTO | FILE
The desire for a perfect body is increasingly becoming the reason for many women the world over to seek the services of plastic surgeons.
Dr Tilman Stasch, a plastic, reconstructive and hand surgeon at Valentis Clinic at 14 Riverside drive in Nairobi says unlike reconstructive surgery which focuses on repairing damaged tissue to bring back normal function, cosmetic surgery is purely to enhance appearance.
“Patients choose to have the surgeries to improve their aesthetic appeal while others look for symmetry and proportion,” he explained.
Today’s increasing focus on both physical and psychological wellness is making more women head for the gym and use nutrition to look beautiful.
With cosmetic surgery becoming much safer and easily available in the country, a huge number of ladies are opting to go for it to improve the stubborn areas.
“However, it can be hard to completely get rid of the fat in some places like the underarms and belly. This is where cosmetic surgery come in to complement nutrition and exercise,” he explained.
He has a three-month programme which integrates both nutrition and exercise to help the patients become healthier before the surgery is undertaken though some patients who are considerably fit opt not to have this.
A number of his women clients go for plastic surgery to either have their breasts reduced, increased in size, lifted or operated on to achieve perfect symmetry.
70 years
The most common surgeries he says are for women who come in to have their breasts reduced and those who want them augmented.
“The average age of most of my patients is between 30 and 40 years though there are some women above 70 years who have come in for breast lifts and tummy tucks,” he explained.
Patients who go for reduction are normally born with very large breasts in proportion to their body frame. This ends up causing medical problems like neck pain and a strain on their chest.
“We use a modern technique that causes minimal scarring as we remove upto one and a half kilos of fat and tissue from each side so they end up with smaller, natural looking breasts,” Dr Stasch explains.
Even though the medical problems might start from an early age, it usually is recommended that the surgery to reduce the breasts is done once the breast development is complete.
Apart from the removal of excess breast tissue, the surgery also reduces the size of the stretched areola to allow for tightening and moulding them into a natural shape.
Those undergoing the surgery are normally admitted on the day of the surgery and have one or two nights stay depending on how quickly they recover.
The women get to wear a support bra for 12 weeks and are advised to keep off strenuous activities.
Implants
With proper wound management, it is possible to get back to normal schedules in a week or two although it might take upto three months for the final look to become apparent.
For breast augmentation, the women normally want to have breasts bigger than what God gave them.
“Augmentation is very popular across the female populations from the 18-year-olds who have undergone puberty to those who have had babies and want to look like their younger selves,” he said.
The new breast volume is normally achieved either using breast implants or with fat through lipo-filling and fat-grafting. The implant can either be placed behind the breast which is least likely to cause discomfort.
In slender patients, it can be placed behind the muscle for extra padding or partially behind the breast and muscle. The implants are normally round or tear-shaped and selection is based on the desired look.
Unlike a reduction surgery which can take up to three hours, augmentation is done in one and a half hours.
Patients might stay in hospital for a night after the surgery then have follow-up clinics every two days thereafter.
Dr Stasch says some of his patients have had faster recovery and resumed their normal schedules in three to five days.
“For breast augmentation, a week off is sufficient,” he said
Drooping
Breast lifts are recommended for women who are through with child bearing, breastfeeding and want to look like they did in their youth. Lifting is done with tissue from the same breast or with additional fat.
Some women who have one breast larger than the other also go for surgery to have them the same level and size.
After a mastectomy - the removal of breast as treatment for cancer - some women might opt to go for reconstructive plastic surgeries.
For patients with severely drooping breasts, Dr Stasch recommends both augmentation and a lift which can be done at the same time.
All these procedures cost between Sh250,000 and Sh600,000 but the costs can increase if procedures are combined and take longer to complete. Before any of the surgery is done patients come in for consultation where they discuss their expectations and how they want to look afterwards.
“It is an opportunity to get to know the patient, they also get to know you and you get to manage unrealistic expectations so that both parties are happy,” he says.
Google
Dr Stasch notes that while some patients book the surgeries immediately after the first consultation others come back for a second consultation with additional questions and at times photos of their desired look.
In order to get the neatest scars he uses a buried stitching technique with absorbable thread which do not require removal.
“Don’t Google too much he advises as there are lots of horror stories and amazing surgery results that may not necessarily be true,” he advises.
