While we do sometimes hear of reasonably good Breast Augmentation results from overseas, we are more often asked by patients to correct various mishaps, complications and poor outcomes that have resulted from a cheap overseas surgery deal.

Currently, there is an increasing multitude of companies offering cheap overseas package deals for Breast Augmentation.  Although they may get you the results you want, many of these cheap packages come with lesser quality standards of pre-operative preparation, surgical expertise or post-operative care.  Should you have a complication, who are you going to turn to in a foreign country?  Moreover, your complication could be a life-threatening one leaving you wondering why you didn’t just get a well-performed procedure done in Australia in the first place.

While on face value they appear very attractive on cost and the (unrealistic) marketing suggestions of having a holiday at the same time, Dr Mayson advises any potential purchaser of such package deals to seriously consider the following very important issues.

• Choosing Your Surgeon:  By going for a cheap Breast Augmentation package deal, you are immediately putting yourself at a disadvantage by choosing your surgeon on price alone rather than on their reputation for consistently good results.
• Your Surgeon’s Credentials:  You have no way of checking the overseas credentials of your nominated surgeon or their training, experience, and reputation for good results in Breast Augmentation.   Moreover, you won’t know about their complication rates or how they propose to deal with a complication should you have one after you return to Australia.  Dr Mayson has had patients unhappy with their overseas result tell him that on returning to Australia their overseas surgeon either didn’t wish to speak with them at all or ‘shrugged off’ their complaint as trivial or temporary.  Companies selling cheap Breast Augmentation packages reportedly work on a commission basis.  If so, they may not be as unbiased or as selective in choosing your surgeon as you would hope.  And if they chose for you a surgeon not highly-experienced in Breast Augmentation it could be a recipe for either a poor outcome or a disastrous complication!
• Patient Suitability:  Proper assessment of a patient’s suitability for Breast Augmentation is a pre-requisite for a good result and such an assessment can only be done at a thorough consultation by the surgeon.  In Australia, a proper assessment would include a complete history, a physical examination, detailed chest measurements, pre-operative blood tests and when indicated a Mammogram & Breast Ultrasound.  Based on patient feedbacks, it would appear that rarely are all the foregoing pre-operative preparations part of cheap overseas package deals.
• Implant Selection:  Dr Mayson believes that patients should be given ample time to select their preferred implant type, make, shape and size by trying on and comparing all implant options in a ‘crop-top’.  Simply having a doctor dictate to you what implant HE/SHE thinks would look best for you is NOT the BEST way to choose an implant.  Even more importantly, are you going to be given a high quality make of implant that is TGA or FDA-approved?
• Treatment of Complications:  Should you have an unexpected complication after Breast Augmentation in Australia, at least you have ready access to your surgeon.  If you have a complication from overseas surgery and are now back in Australia what do you do?  Flying back overseas may not be financially possible or medically advisable.  Even if it were, would you trust that surgeon to be able to correct it satisfactorily?  We regularly see women with poor results from overseas Breast Augmentations that end up costing much more to correct than an original well-performed Breast Augmentation would have cost in Australia!

By Dr George Mayson

Our reply has always been that the total cost of a Breast Augmentation depends on many components all of which can vary. These include the actual technique of the surgery required, the length of the procedure, make and type of implants, the anaesthetist’s fees and the hospital fees. Any or all of these can vary and so influence the total cost.

Accordingly, it is impossible to give anyone on the telephone or in an email a cost before Dr Mayson has seen them. However, once Dr Mayson has seen the patient in consultation, he will give a fully itemised quotation in writing.

Sadly, some patients appear quick to select their Breast Augmentation Surgeon on cost alone. While we understand that cost is an important consideration for everyone, choosing the cheapest option may regrettably prove later to have not been the wisest approach.

By Angela Velonas, Clinic Manager

Dr Mayson, on the other hand, believes that an attractive breast size is one that is in proportion to a woman’s height, chest dimensions and overall figure whatever that implant size actually is.

Although Dr Mayson will insert whichever size implant a woman wishes (provided of course it doesn’t make her look ridiculously out of proportion), he does urge all his patients to choose an implant size and shape that makes them look great and NOT fake!

Implant shape can also play a role as to whether or not a Breast Augmentation looks natural. Unless there has been volume loss in the upper breasts through breast-feeding, large, round, higher profile implants can impart an excessive and unnatural fullness to the upper breasts. When viewed from the side, these breasts would display an unnatural convex profile instead of a pleasing straight-line fall from the collar-bone to the nipple.

In contrast, a correctly chosen ‘tear-drop’ shape and size can still give you as much forward projection as a round while avoiding the excessive, fake-looking upper breast fullness that large round implants can sometimes cause. Moreover, ‘tear-drop’ implants in the Polyurethane Foam-Covered Silicone Gel Implant range (“Furry Brazilians”) do not have the risk of ‘turning’ like other makes of ‘tear-drop’ implants.

By Dr George Mayson

The main benefit of this approach is that the breast appearance is not marred by any scar on, under, or near the breast.  Instead, the incision is placed in an inconspicuous skin crease within the hair-bearing area of the armpit.

It is in fact the best option for those who prefer no ‘tell-tale’ evidence of surgery.  It is also particularly good for those with brown or Asian skin because of their tendency to form pigmented scars, or for those with a tendency to keloid scarring.

By Dr George Mayson

This is why…

It has been reported that the commonest reason for revision surgery after Breast Augmentation is Capsular Contracture – a condition that occurs when the fibrous capsule normally present around the implant shrinks and compresses on the implant.  This causes the breast to feel firmer and may distort its shape as well.

The Allergan Core Study completed in 2010 reported a Capsular Contracture rate of 19.1% after 10 years in both Smooth and Textured (Rough) Silicone implants.  In contrast, many overseas studies have reported dramatically lower Capsular Contracture rates of around 1% with Polyurethane Foam-Covered Gel implants.

These implants are manufactured in Brazil and have a ‘suede-like’ feel to them due to a 1mm outer covering of Polyurethane Foam over the implant surface – hence their name “Furry Brazilians”.  They are still a SILICONE implant – it’s only the 1mm outer covering over the implant surface that is Polyurethane Foam. Yet it’s this thin layer of foam on the outside of the implant that delivers very significant advantages over traditional smooth and rough-surface implants.

The second important advantage of “Furry Brazilians” is that they have a “velcro-like” adherence to the pocket walls.  Accordingly, the implants are not expected to move out of position, or rotate in the case of ‘tear drop’ shapes, like other implant types can.

Unfortunately, not all Breast Augmentation surgeons are currently offering patients the choice of these Polyurethane Foam-Covered implants because they do require a special technique of insertion with which not all surgeons are familiar.

By Dr George Mayson