In my practice, clients come from all walks of life but they all want the same thing…a natural and proportionate look. Many of these women have had children and find that their breast volume was dramatically reduced following pregnancy or breast feeding. And while some are simply looking to restore the shape that they once had, others have always dreamed of larger, shapelier breasts and now feel empowered to achieve this.

Whatever the motivation, breast augmentation has changed dramatically over the last few years largely due to improvements in the breast implant itself. In particular, silicone gel implants are now more durable and more lifelike than in previous years. I am personally seeing more and more women educated about and coming in asking for the new cohesive implants. Some have seen their friend’s results and were impressed with the very natural look and feel while others are simply looking for a more natural alternative to saline-filled breast implants. In the past few years, more and more of my clients are gravitating towards this choice to the extent that cohesive gel implants have become my predominant choice for breast augmentation. And I continually receive positive feedback from my clients regarding these implants; many often comment that they cannot even feel them because of their ability to blend in with their own natural breast tissue.

The shift to silicone gel breast augmentation is simply a reflection of a trend towards more natural results in Plastic Surgery overall. While many clients want to look better, they still want to look like themselves and want options that allow them to do just that. Young moms are realizing that pregnancy is a new beginning on several fronts and that the body changes incurred can be addressed with a minimal downtime procedure yielding very natural results.

-Gregory A. Buford, MD FACS

• Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
• Fellowship Trained Cosmetic Surgeon
• Founder & Medical Director, BEAUTY by BUFORD

I chose BEAUTY by BUFORD and elected to work with Dr. Buford after researching surgeons in the Denver area and found that this surgery center was growing in popularity and had a great reputation.

I was very pleased with the overall experience of both before and after surgery. Everyone on staff is very friendly and knowledgeable and the office is very efficient and organized. Each of the staff that I worked with insured that all of my questions were answered and that I understood and was comfortable with the decisions that I had made. I was given all of my post surgery instructions and was told what to expect, prior to the operation. Recovery time was very fast after surgery and I am very happy with the results. I would absolutely do the surgery again and will probably look into that a few years down the road. I have already told my friends about BEAUTY by BUFORD and my experience there and they are planning to schedule soon.

-Actual Patient Testimonial (Breast Augmentation)

To address the first concern, most patients are concerned about side-effects related to narcotic pain medications.  They simply don’t have the time nor the patience to be senseless, nauseated, and lose their appetite simply to achieve effect pain control.  Thankfully, times have changed.  Today’s Plastic Surgeon is armed with more options including non-narcotic pain relievers, localized nerve blocks, and topical devices aimed at reducing their post-operative discomfort.  In my practice, all patients begin on a loading dose of Celebrex, a non-narcotic pain reliever, the night before surgery.  Following their surgery, they continue with a lower dose of this medication and supplement with a narcotic pain reliever as needed.  In addition, to help reduce the need for any pain medication following surgery, I not only inject their breasts with numbing medication during the procedure, I also wash out the implant pocket with antibiotic solution and additional numbing medicine. Most importantly, I also perform an Intercostal Nerve Block immediately before the procedure which I feel is extremely effective in reducing immediate post-operative discomfort.  As a result, a majority of my patients are able to greatly decrease their reliance on narcotics and transition to non-narcotic pain medications within 24-48 hours following surgery and continually remark to both myself and my staff that their recovery was much easier than anticipated.

As far as activity restrictions, I recommend that they not lift anything heavier than 6-8 pounds (including their children) for one week after surgery and that they hold off on any aggressive physical activities for the first few weeks during their recovery.  They are encouraged to return to light exercise one week after surgery as long as it doesn’t involve the use of their shoulders or chest muscles.  From here, they can usually return to aerobic activities, running, Yoga, and Pilates within 4-6 weeks.

A majority of my patients return to work as early as 3 days after their surgery as long as their profession does not require extension lifting or use of their chest muscles.  As compared to years past, Breast Augmentation is now a more finely tuned procedure in both what we do during and after the actual procedure.  The result is a more comfortable and more rapid recovery and an overall very happy patient population.