Birmingham Breast Augmentation: American breast implant data shows more then 300K surgeries in 2009. Picking a quality surgeon.

According to recent data from the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), breast implant surgery was the top cosmetic surgery performed in 2009 with close to 312,000 procedures done. Despite it's popularity, the seriousness of these operations should not be minimized. If you're choosing breast augmentation make sure your surgeon is board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) and member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). These are the benchmarks to ensure your surgeon is fully trained and qualified to perform this type of procedure.

There are many fringe organizations (a charitable description) and providers who claim they are as qualified or (shockingly) even more qualified to do breast augmentation surgery then a plastic surgeon. It's both a lie and a disservice to patients to suggest as much, but desperate times lead to desperate measures for providers trying to reinvent themselves as a nebulously described group of "cosmetic surgeons".

Quite frankly, if someone operating on your breast is not fluent or trained in techniques to do complex reconstruction or revision of the tissue they are going to leave a trail of mutilated patients trying to do operations involving breast implants as the skills and judgement for breast augmentation are learned and polished on these more complex cases. In my practice, we do hundreds of complex breast procedures annually ranging from breast augmentation to nipple sparing mastectomies for cancer. Each of these operations is individualized and brings to bear the combination of advanced surgical training and experience. To suggest that someone like the aforementioned "cosmetic surgeon", who thinks they have found a short-cut through long and difficult training, is qualified to do your surgery is wishful thinking.

The best results with cosmetic and other surgery types are when the operation is performed right the first time, while revision and redo surgery is fraught with much more unpredictable results. You owe it to yourself to research the most qualified providers for your care which will be a board certified plastic surgeon.

Rob