Breast Procedures: Breast Autoaugmentation

Despite continual reassurances about the safety of certain breast implants - especially silicone, which has been used for over 30 years - "scare stories" mean that women often feel uncertain about any type of implant. For many, however, this dilemma has come to an end. According to British cosmetic surgeon Laurence Kirwan, it is now possible to use existing breast tissue to provide the "lift" and fuller contours that many women seek.

Well known as a pioneer of new surgical procedures, Laurence Kirwan has further developed the recent techniques of two of his peers – Giovanni Botti in Italy and Ruth Maria Graf in Brazil – so that women with adequate breast tissue can now have breast surgery without an implant.

Women whose breasts have drooped - after breast-feeding, weight loss or through the normal ageing process - usually need a breast lift to eliminate excess skin, plus an implant to provide volume. However, when there is sufficient tissue, Kirwan combines the internationally-renowned procedures of Botti and Graf with some of his own techniques, to create a natural augmentation.

Botti’s technique uses the lower part of the breast as an "auto implant", combining it with a tightening of the skin that results in a scar around the areola and a vertical scar in a lollipop configuration. Graf’s procedure is similar, but involves an s-shaped scar with the lower part of the "s" in the outer half of the crease beneath the breast. Kirwan’s development reduces the scarring. He uses the concept of keeping the lower part of the breast as an "auto implant" and combines a lollipop closure with a natural-looking "purse-string" gathering of the skin around the areola.

Kirwan calls his surgery Auto-Augmentation. To provide fullness where it is needed - above the nipple - he moves the gland from the lower part of the breast to the upper area. The gland is kept attached at its lower end to preserve the blood supply. Once the skin is tightened, the finished contours look exactly like a breast with an implant.

Kirwan calculates that this new procedure will benefit at least 10% of the women he sees annually at his Harley Street consulting rooms, and perhaps as many as 20% of all women in the UK who are contemplating breast surgery.

As with most breast surgery, recovery from Auto-Augmentation necessitates undertaking only light chores in the first week and limited activities for another two weeks, with a return to normal lifestyle after four weeks.

Scientific paper submitted to Canadian Journal of Plastic Surgery, January 2006.