The breast augmentation is one of the most common cosmetic surgeries around the world. Like any surgical intervention, its performance involves certain risks and requires dedication for optimal postoperative recovery. To ensure a safe procedure, it is essential to trust properly trained professionals. But it is equally important for the patient to prepare physically and mentally to go through the entire Mammaplasty process. In this article, we review what you should know about breast augmentation before doing it.

What is breast augmentation?

Augmentation Mammaplasty consists of a surgery carried out with the purpose of increasing the size of the breasts. To do this, implants are incorporated under the breast tissue or the chest muscles. These implants are covered by a flexible silicone outer covering and may contain a saline solution or a silicone gel.

This procedure must be performed by a plastic surgeon, after previous consultations for orientation and planning with the patient.

MOST USED MATERIALS FOR CHEST IMPLANTS

Among the most used materials for this type of operation are silicone prostheses and serum prostheses that have different characteristics:

Silicone prosthesis: They are the most used. Silicone prosthesis is composed of three layers of polyurethane and its filling can be of two types:

Cohesive gel: it is characterized by a greater bond between the molecules of the gel, which gives it greater density. In the unlikely event of a prosthesis rupture, the gel, being more consistent, does not migrate to other parts of the body.

Soft gel: The shape of this type of prosthesis changes depending on the movements and pressure that are made on the breast. In the event that the prosthesis breaks, the gel will come out of the capsule, spreading through the breast tissue. So it is not entirely recommended.

Serum prosthesis: The content of this type of prosthesis is compatible with the body, so in case of breakage of the material or leakage of the capsule, it could be reabsorbed by the body itself. Despite this, we also find some disadvantages such as the loss of volume of the breast over time or the undulation of the upper part of it.

What is augmentation Mammaplasty for?

This surgery is usually related to aesthetic purposes and it is important not to stigmatize its purposes and benefits. Most of the women who opt for Mammaplasty do so because they feel unhappy with their appearance. Some for having naturally small breast, others to correct differences in size or to reverse a reduction after pregnancy.

However, Mammaplasty can also be part of a breast reconstruction process, which is necessary after going through certain diseases (breast cancer, for example). In any case, breast augmentation allows many women to strengthen their self-esteem and confidence. And this translates into a positive impact not only on a physical level, but fundamentally on an emotional and social level.

What are the risks of breast augmentation surgery?

All surgery involves a degree of risk and, therefore, it is essential to have the support of trained professionals. But augmentation Mammaplasty can also lead to certain complications after surgery, such as:

Sensitivity changes in the breasts, especially in the nipples.
Pain in the breasts, mainly during the postoperative period.
Infections (postoperative care is essential to prevent them).
Development of systemic symptoms described in the so-called breast implant disease.
Distortion of the shape of the implant mainly associated with a contraction produced by the healing of the tissue.
Loss or patella of the implant.

We know that breast augmentation surgery has its risks and complications, however, they are temporary and scarce, and so we should not fear undergoing the operation. Being an optional surgical treatment, we have the last word in our hand.

If you want an assessment of our plastic surgeon, Dr. Lane Smith, make an appointment! The first assessment consultation is free.

With a dose of determination and innovation, we can reform Social Security.

The recent Post and Courier editorial “Social Security insecurity” makes some important points—that Congress must reform Social Security soon to ensure its long-term solvency, and yet the current Congress is so polarized it is unlikely to make the compromises necessary to achieve such reform.

But the dire description of the solvency problem—that the retirement fund will be empty by 2037 and the disability fund kaput by 2017—may suggest to some that the system is beyond repair. It’s right to raise the alarm for urgent action by Congress, but we should be careful not to suggest that we are incapable of solving the problem.

Many are under the impression that if the Social Security trust funds were exhausted all benefits would suddenly stop, but this is a misconception. Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system whereby today’s benefits are paid with today’s Social Security taxes.

For many years, Social Security built up a large trust fund by taking in more in taxes than it paid out in benefits in order to have enough to pay for the baby boomers to retire. As a result, the Social Security taxes collected today are no longer enough to pay all of the benefits, requiring Social Security to draw on the retirement trust fund.

If Congress did nothing to reform the system, Social Security taxes would still be enough to pay 77 percent of scheduled benefits in 2037 when the trust fund is expected to be exhausted.

If Congress decided to fund the Social Security deficit through tax increases on current workers and employers with no reduction of benefits, it would have to increase the Social Security tax by 2.22 percent under the current contribution formula. For the average worker who in 2011 earned $43,518, that would mean an annual tax increase of $483 for the wage earner and the same amount for the employer.

This is not to say that hitting American workers and their employers with a 2.22 percent tax increase is OK—because it’s not.

The point is that bringing Social Security back into long-term actuarial balance is not an impossible task, particularly if action is taken soon and if both tax increases and benefit cuts are part of the equation. Even if tax increases are required, there are numerous options for increasing revenue without imposing higher payroll taxes on middle class and low income workers who are already struggling to make ends meet.

The biggest obstacle to achieving long-term solvency of the Social Security system may be our inability to look beyond tax-rate increases or benefit cuts as the only possible solutions. We should recognize that the recovery of both our economy and the wages of the middle class could drastically change the calculus of Social Security reform.

Social Security is funded by taxes on wages earned by ordinary American workers — not on stock dividends and capital gains, which are the primary sources of income for our wealthiest citizens. Our highest wage earners pay no Social Security taxes on earnings over $110,100.

As currently designed, the burden of Social Security taxes falls squarely on the shoulders of the middle class whose real wages have declined over recent decades and who are now suffering from high unemployment.

If our economy recovers, the unemployed return to work, and middle class wages begin to rise as they did after World War II, Social Security could generate enough revenue to significantly reduce the projected deficits.

Growing our economy and restoring the prosperity of the middle class may have a bigger impact on Social Security solvency than enacting benefit cuts and tax rate increases—neither of which Americans want or should endure unless absolutely necessary.

We should continue to sound the alarm for Social Security reform. But we should also make it clear that reform is neither an impossible nor an improbable task.

Rather than give in to resignation, we instead should rely on those quintessential American traits—determination and innovation—to meet the challenges ahead.

Robertson H. Wendt Jr., is a board certified attorney who specializes in Social Security disability law in Charleston, SC. Find out more about him at www.robertsonwendt.com.

* Attorney advertising notice: This article is designed for general information only. The information presented on this website should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.

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