Minneapolis Plastic Surgery FAQs

We use both saline and silicone breast implants, however, most of our patients request silicone implants. As surgeons, we also prefer patients choose silicone implants. We believe the results look and feel more natural compared to saline implants.

Dr. Gervais and Dr. Tholen prefer placing breast implants below the muscle. We believe that the results are better and the long-term risk and complications are lower. There are several situations where placing the breast implant above the muscle may be a preferred approach. These situations will be discussed with you at the time of your consultation.

We prefer the infra-mammary crease incision (making an incision on the crease of the breast fold where the rib cage and the breast meet). The other incisions, including the areolar (where the surgeon makes a small incision along the edge of the areola (the dark skin around the nipple) to insert a breast implant) and axillary incisions (a technique where breast implants are inserted through an incision made in the crease of the armpit) are used in rare cases. However, we feel that the infra-mammary crease gives the most consistent results and lower complication rates.

Breast augmentation surgery typically takes approximately one hour under a general anesthetic.

Most women describe the pain as 3-4 using a 1-10 scale. Here at Minneapolis Plastic Surgery, we inject a long-acting local anesthetic (called Exparel) directly into the muscle and around the breast tissue. This provides local pain relief for up to 3 to 4 days. Most of our patients only use their narcotic pain pills for one to two days immediately after the surgery.

Most women are back to work after 2 to 3 days if they have a non-physical job. However, a workplace absence may take up to two weeks if the patient’s job is more physical.

We have our patients begin light exercise at around two weeks. They then slowly increase the level of activity from lower body to upper body over the next several weeks. We describe this as a “slow and low” approach.

You will still be able to undergo routine mammograms following a breast augmentation procedure. We advise that you inform the radiology technician that you do have breast implants. They will take appropriate measures to enable a thorough exam. You will also still be able to perform your monthly breast self exams following your procedure.

All we ask is that you keep the small incision in the infra-mammary crease clean and dry. We will remove the dressing on the small incision in approximately 5 to 7 days.

A breast augmentation with silicone implants is roughly $8,000 to $9,000, depending on the cohesivity of the implant used. Saline implants are approximately $7,000. We do not charge more or less based on the size of the implant.