Arlington Heights, Illinois (IL), Chicago, Illinois (IL) Breast Augmentation with breast implants by
Otto J. Placik, M.D.
Dr. Otto Placik Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

Otto J. Placik, M.D. Plastic Surgeon in Arlington Heights, Illinois

Otto J. Placik, M.D. a Chicago-based board-certified plastic surgeon, specializes in breast enlargement (breast augmentation) surgery as well as breast lift, breast reconstruction and breast reduction surgery. Whether you are interested in improving form or function, whether recontouring or restoring, we would like you to know as much as you can about Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Placik believes in not only giving patients the best in medical care, but also in achieving a sensitive understanding of their cosmetic surgery goals. An informed patient is always the most satisfied. When you have realistic expectations, you can realize the greatest amount of fulfillment from the improvements accomplished.

Every member of our medical and support team wants to help you gather the information you need to make the best possible decision. This web page will introduce you to Dr. Placik and the cosmetic surgery and reconstructive surgery services he offers.

Dr. Placik believes in not only giving patients the best in medical care, but also in achieving a sensitive understanding of their aesthetic goals. Every member of our medical and support team wants to help you gather the information you need to make the best possible decision.

Chicago, Illinois
The size and contour of the female breast can be effectively increased through breast enlargement, or breast augmentation, surgery. Aesthetic breast augmentation (mammaplasty) typically is performed to enlarge small, underdeveloped breasts or breasts that have decreased in size after childbearing. If you would like to see before and after photos of patients that have received breast enlargement surgery, click here. For patients with marked sagging of the breasts, Dr. Placik may recommend a breast surgery procedure to reshape and lift the breasts in addition to breast augmentation.

Breast augmentation (mammaplasty) is performed under a general, intravenous, or local anesthetic depending upon the surgical technique and your anesthesia preference. This will be decided by you and Dr. Placik.

A small incision about two inches in length is made either in the fold beneath the breast, around the lower half of the areola (dark skin around the nipple), or in the underarm area. Next, Dr. Placik creates a pocket either directly under the breast tissue or underneath the chest wall muscle, depending on the surgeon's technique and the patient's anatomy. Then a breast implant or prosthesis is inserted into this pocket. As your body heals, it forms a membrane of scar tissue around the device to hold it in place. Several sutures are necessary to close the incisions. The procedure may take from one to two hours.

Questions about the technique and the type of breast implant to be used, as well as any concerns about the safety and present status of breast implants will be thoroughly discussed during consultation with Dr. Placik.

Following breast enlargement surgery, a dressing and elastic bandage is applied for about one week. You can be up and about within a day, but strenuous activity and heavy lifting should be avoided for approximately four to six weeks. Your breasts may be discolored or swollen after the operation. Bruising will disappear within a few weeks and swelling after a few months. You also may experience some degree of firmness in the breasts for a few weeks following breast enlargement surgery. This, too, should diminish with time. Additional surgery may be required to soften breasts that become too firm due to excessively tight scar formation, a process called capsular contracture.