Breast Reconstruction Via The Abdominal Flap Method: Special Concerns Addressed

There are a couple of different techniques which a cosmetic surgeon (such as Sam W Huddleston IV, MD) uses to reconstruct your breasts after you have had a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. The one that draws the most interest and attention is the abdominal flap technique. Women like the idea of their newly constructed breasts feeling as natural as possible because there is nothing fake about them. However, there are some concerns about how the surgery works, how well the new breasts function, scar tissue, and potential problems with the new breasts expanding rapidly with weight gain. Everything you want to know is right here.

The Surgery: from Start to Finish

Your cosmetic surgeon cuts around your areolas (if you still have them) and moves them out of the way of the remaining breast tissue that you have. Next, he or she will cut crescent-shaped to half moon-shaped flaps out of your abdominal fat and flesh, leaving your abdominal muscles intact. The flaps are moved upwards underneath your skin to the incisions the surgeon made earlier around your breasts and areolas.  Then he or she positions the flaps such that they resemble breast tissue and sews them into place, trimming them when needed to create perfectly proportioned breasts on both sides. Your abdomen is sewn up and the surgery is complete.

How Your New Breasts Work

Obviously, the abdominal tissue will never create milk, and you may not be able to nurse any children, but the nerves in these areas are quite sensitive. You will find that after the swelling has gone down and the breasts have healed, they are as soft and as supple as your original breasts were. You can feel stimulation and arousal because the nerves in the new tissue are transplanted and connect with the old breast tissue. Except for a small bit of scar tissue on the undersides of the reconstructed breasts, no one will ever know they are not completely comprised of breast tissue.

Scar Tissue Concerns

Some people will not notice any scarring at all. Other people may be prone to keloids, scar tissue that grows thick and may be discolored. Your cosmetic surgeon can tell if you will have keloid scars or scars that are barely there simply by your skin type, ethnicity, age, and how the other scars you have presently appear. The scars on your abdomen will be more noticeable, but unless your intimate partners lift your breasts up and look underneath them, the reconstruction scars are well-hidden from view.

Giant Breasts with Weight Gain

Abdominal fat multiplies and expands rapidly with weight gain. What this means for you, if you choose the abdominal flap breast reconstruction, is that every time you put on ten or more pounds, a lot of it may end up in your new breasts because they were once stomach fat. While that may be disconcerting for some, other women embrace the idea that they could get bigger breasts just by eating too much and not undergoing more plastic surgery. If you would rather keep your new breasts their present size, just a proper diet and exercise is all you need to worry about.

Other Benefits Connected to the Flap Technique

You will never have to worry about implants exploding or leaking toxic chemicals into your body. You will never have to worry about your body rejecting the implants because there are none (unless you request them as part of your reconstruction). Your breasts will never feel fake, hard or uncomfortable. You lose a couple pounds of stomach fat while gaining a few pounds of breast (who would not want that?). All in all, there are more positives to this type of reconstruction than there are negatives.


Share