In today's times we come across many women who have got envious busts by undergoing breast augmentation operations. So much so, that these women get very famous for their newly acquired assets and do not mind flaunting them. This leads to almost every woman think twice about breast augmentation. There are several doubts that are not answered properly by the newspaper articles and television programs that appear about the issue. This article attempts to answer the several questions that women may have regarding breast augmentation.

Breast augmentation is the scientific term for breast implant surgery. This surgical method involves the insertion of implants into the breasts in order to increase their sizes. Hence, the name breast augmentation surgery. Along with an increase in the size of the breasts, there could also be noticeable enhancement of the firmness and the rotundity of the breasts. However, it is needless to say that the surgeon conducting the operation must be a very qualified and skilful surgeon. Any problem with the operation could cause permanent and irreversible problems with the shape of the breasts.

In order to implant the material within the breasts, the surgeon must make an incision on the breasts. The incision is generally made below the breasts from where it would not be apparent later on. Skilful surgery could make the incision almost imperceptible after the operation. Very carefully, the implants are then inserted by the surgeon in a pocket-like cavity between the pectoral muscles (muscles of the chest) and the overlying tissues of the breasts. Special forceps are used to lift the cavity and insert the implants in them. Once this is done, the incision is closed by sutures. Cosmetic surgeons may be involved in order to reduce the possibility of scars.

Since the initial stages of the development of breast augmentation, even the material that is used for the implants has undergone a radical change. In earlier times, silicone was the prime implanting material that was being used. In order to implant silicone, a gel of silicone was filled within a capsule of the same material. But the medical fraternity was very quick to find out a serious issue with silicone gel implants - and that is, silicone gel implants can cause cancers in women. The Food and Drug Administration of the US hence never certified silicone gel as a transplanting material. By the early nineties the use of silicone as the implanting material was banned in most countries.

This led to the quest of another suitable implanting material - one which would have the flexibility of silicone and yet not prove harmful to the body in any way. Doctors got their answer in the form of saline gel implants. These contain gels of saline materials filled within a silicone capsule. The use of silicone capsule is made because it is necessary to maintain the rigidity of the implants. However, the silicone capsule used in the saline gel implants is almost harmless to the human body. Also, the silicone capsule used can adhere better with the tissues and the muscles that make up the cavity inside the breasts, which makes the implants more firmly implanted into the breasts.

In this way it was a long time before the proper implanting material was discovered. In fact, the surgical method of inserting implants into the breasts was developed much prior to the discovery of a suitable implanting material.

Women who are contemplating to go in for breast augmentation are faced with a difficult choice - whether to go in for round implants or tear-shaped implants. Here we try to objectively discuss the merits and the demerits of the two common implants in vogue today.

The round implants are round in shape, as the name suggests. That means they are circularly symmetrical. These implants are easy to insert, because they can be placed in any which way within the incision. For this reason, these implants and cheaper and also the augmentation surgery with round implants does not cost much. However, there are some shortcomings of round implants. The female breasts are not naturally round in shape. They are a bit flatter on the top while they are more curvaceous on the bottom. Due to this, the round implants could give an unnatural look to the breasts. Round implants will tend to make the breasts look round from top to bottom. This will not work for women who are not buxom. The breasts could look vastly out of proportion.

The second type of implants commonly used today is the teardrop shaped implants. These implants are designed to complement the natural shapes of the breasts. They are tapering at the top while they are round at the bottom. Due to this the surgeon needs to put them in very carefully. Any fault of the surgeon in making the implants will cause the woman to have ungainly asymmetrical breasts. Though these breasts look very natural, they do not come cheap. They cost almost twice as much as round implants, and even the surgery costs are higher.

The breast augmentation surgery does not take more than a couple of hours. Even the woman can be back to work in a week. This is goading more and more women to go in for augmentation.

But every woman thinking about breast surgery would need to know for how much time the effects of the augmentation would last. This would seriously depend on the biological and hormonal setup of the woman. It would also depend on whether the woman plans to become a mother again. Becoming pregnant could trigger hormonal changes that could interfere with the sizes and shapes of the breasts. Age also could make the implants lose their content. But such issues could be fixed with corrective surgeries. A healthy woman would need to have three to four corrective surgeries in her lifetime. So, any woman planning to go in for augmentation must also bear in mind that she would need to go in for the corrective surgeries also.