Overview
There are two main ways to make a new breast
One way is to use an implant
The other way is to borrow skin, fat or muscle from another part of your body to make a new breast
Implants:
Sometimes we can put a silicone implant in straight away. We usually put the implant under the muscle in your chest to protect it. Sometimes we use a skin substitute to provide extra coverage for the implant.
For some patients, we are unable to put a large silicone implant straight away, for instance, if they had radiation. Instead, we use a type of implant called an expander. An expander is like a deflated balloon. We are able to gradually inject fluid into the expander and it slowly stretches the skin, until we are happy with the size of the breast.
Flaps:
Skin, muscle and fat with a known blood supply is called a flap. Knowing the blood supply allows us to move a flap from one part of the body to another
We can take flaps from the back or bell to make a new breast