Breast Augmentation Guide

A proposal for breast augmentation can arrive as one page with one plan on it. Before you weigh that plan, it helps to know what the term covers. MedlinePlus defines breast augmentation as a procedure to enlarge or change the shape of the breasts.

MedlinePlus adds that augmentation is done by placing implants behind breast tissue or under the muscle fascia, or chest muscle. It describes an implant as a sac filled with either sterile salt water (saline) or a material called silicone. This guide covers augmentation with implants or fat transfer, so check whether a quote that names only one approach has considered the other.

What the three pages ahead check

Each page below answers a separate question. Read them in the order that matches the doubt you carry out of your consultation.

• Breast Augmentation Safety asks which risks published guidance lists, and what a second source adds to that list.
• Breast Augmentation Procedure Steps asks how the procedure is described step by step, and whether two sources describe it the same way.
• Breast Augmentation Cost asks what a cost figure includes. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons also publishes a breast augmentation cost page to hold any figure against.

For one named risk, the same society publishes a summary of BIA-ALCL. Its name stands for breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Read it in full before you decide how much weight a quote gives to risk.

The cross-check before you leave

One source is rarely enough, so pick a second. The Wikipedia article on breast augmentation is a general reference you can read beside the MedlinePlus definition above. Treat it as a starting point, and follow its citations back to the original publisher before you rely on a statement.

Then run one check. Take the single claim in your quote that matters most to your decision, and find it in a second, independent source.