FACT ABOUT THE BREAST...
Breast & Breast Enlargements
Breast Augmentation, mammaplasty, is a cosmetic procedure that uses
implants to enlarge and shape the breasts. Breast augmentation will make
your breasts bigger, it will not improve nipple asymmetry, nor move the
breasts together nor lift droopy breasts. If you have droopy breasts, you
might consider a breast lift or mastopexy. Breast Augmentation is a
procedure that can help patients that had babies, that want to look
fuller, or for patients that after breast reconstruction want to look
natural again.
The surgery takes anywhere from 35 minutes to 5 hours. The Plastic Surgeon
will discuss with you the placement of the implant, and where to locate
the incision. These two points are of extreme importance, you as well as
your doctor can agree on the pros and cons of the different choices, and
which would be the right one for your particular case. Breast Augmentation
is the most popular of breast surgery procedures.
The term breast refers to the upper ventral region of an animal’s torso,
particularly that of mammals, including human beings. The breasts of a
female primate’s body contain the mammary glands, which secrete milk used
to feed infants. This article deals with the human breast; for other
animals, see udder and mammary gland.
Breasts are more visible on adult women, but male humans also have breasts
which, although usually less prominent, are structurally identical
(homologous) to the female, as they develop embryologically from the same
tissues.
Myths About Breasts
1. A Woman's self confidence is based on the size of her breasts. (a myth)
2. Women are unconcerned about the size of their breasts. (a myth)
3. Sports bras are not really needed. (a myth)
4. Large breasts indicate the woman is likely to be more interested in
sex. (a myth)
5. Women with small breasts are unable to breastfeed successfully. (a
myth)
6. All women enjoy having their breast fondled. (a myth)
7. Women always have two breasts of the same size. (a myth)
8. Hair on the area around the nipple indicates that the woman is
abnormal. (a myth)
9. Women with bigger breasts are more fertile. (a myth)
10. Breastfeeding leads to sagging breasts. (a myth)
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgical procedures of the breast include those for both cosmetic
and reconstructive surgery indications. Some women choose these procedures
as a result of the high value placed on symmetry of the human form, and
because they identify their femininity and sense of self with their
breasts.
After mastectomy (the surgical removal of a breast, usually to treat
breast cancer) some women undergo breast reconstruction, either with
breast implants or autologous tissue transfer, using fat and tissues from
the abdomen (TRAM flap) or back (latissiumus muscle flap).
Breast reduction surgery is a common procedure which involves removing
excess breast tissue, fat, and skin with repositioning of the nipple-areolar
complex (NAC). Cosmetic procedures include breast lifts (mastopexy),
breast augmentation with implants, and procedures that combine both
elements. Implants containing either silicone gel or saline are available
for augmentation and reconstructive surgeries. Surgery can repair inverted
nipples by releasing ductal tissues which are tethering. Breast lift with
or without reduction can be part of upper body lift after massive weight
loss body contouring.
Any surgery of the breast carries with it the potential for interfering
with future breastfeeding, causing alterations in nipple sensation, and
difficulty in interpreting mammography (xrays of the breast). A number of
studies have demonstrated a similar ability to breastfeed when breast
reduction patients are compared to control groups where the surgery was
performed using a modern pedicle surgical technique. Plastic surgery
organizations have generally discouraged elective cosmetic breast
augmentation surgery for teenage girls as the volume of their breast
tissue may continue to grow significantly as they mature and because of
concerns about understanding long-term risks and benefits of the
procedure. Breast surgery in teens for reduction of significantly enlarged
breasts or surgery to correct hypoplasia and severe asymmetry is
considered on a case by case basis by most surgeons.
A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF BREATS
Breasts! The overly sexualized feature that make too big a part of a
girl's physical identity. A lot of changes occur in a woman's breasts
during her lifetime and it is only natural that she understands half the
facts about this precious feature. Read the interesting facts about the
enhancing feature of women.
A girl's breasts start growing at the tender age of 10 and come to
complete growth by the age of 20. In that case there is no need for girls
to worry about their small breasts during the beginning stages. You can
also enhance your breasts through some natural therapies.
Girls with larger breasts often realize the fact that larger boobs do not
make a girl more feminine, sexier or "better". On the other hand larger
breasts often lead to back pain and poor posture. Not only that during
puberty breasts can develop rapidly causing discomfort, sensitivity and
even stretch marks. It is advisable to follow the natural therapies to
reduce your heavy breasts if you suffer from the heavier breasts.
Bras play an important role shaping the breasts and its health. It is
always apt to choose the right bra according to the girl's breasts
structure and the cup shape. According to recent studies, bras play a
definite role in causing breast cancer. A girl must be vigilant to wear a
ports bra while doing strenuous exercises.
Women always have a nagging reminding about breast cancer as soon as they
think the word "breasts." Breast cancer is very rare in teenage girls.
However it is better to get used to checking your breasts for lumps and
irregularities as soon as you start having your period.
There is common myth that women with larger breasts are more fertile.
Breasts have the major biological purpose in feeding babies. Many women
neglect this factor due to many reasons. Breast-feeding never lead to
sagging breasts. However, the fact cannot be denied that a woman's breast
changes after pregnancy. Many women get larger but less perky breasts
after pregnancy. In opposition to the popular belief, women with smaller
breasts can also breastfeed successfully.
Women are always concerned about the size and shape of their breasts.
However they do not have two breasts of the same size. In contrary to the
popular belief, a woman's self confidence is not based on the size of her
breasts. The ultimate factor is that all breasts whatever be the size or
shape is beautiful and amzing to the opposite sex.
Anatomy
The breasts are modified sudoriferous (sweat) glands, producing milk in
women, and in some rare cases, men.[2] Each breast has one nipple
surrounded by the areola. The areola is colored from pink to dark brown
and has several sebaceous glands. In women, the larger mammary glands
within the breast produce the milk. They are distributed throughout the
breast, with two-thirds of the tissue found within 30 mm of the base of
the nipple.[3] These are drained to the nipple by between 4 and 18
lactiferous ducts, where each duct has its own opening. The network formed
by these ducts is complex, like the tangled roots of a tree. It is not
always arranged radially, and branches close to the nipple. The ducts near
the nipple do not act as milk reservoirs; Ramsay et al. have shown that
conventionally described lactiferous sinuses do not, in fact, exist.
The remainder of the breast is composed of connective tissue (collagen and
elastin), adipose tissue (fat), and Cooper's ligaments. The ratio of
glands to adipose tissues rises from 1:1 in nonlactating women to 2:1 in
lactating women.
The breasts sit over the pectoralis major muscle and usually extend from
the level of the 2nd rib to the level of the 6th rib anteriorly. The
superior lateral quadrant of the breast extends diagonally upwards towards
the axillae and is known as the tail of Spence. A thin layer of mammary
tissue extends from the clavicle above to the seventh or eighth ribs below
and from the midline to the edge of the latissimus dorsi posteriorly.
The arterial blood supply to the breasts is derived from the internal
thoracic artery (formerly called the internal mammary artery), lateral
thoracic artery, thoracoacromial artery, and posterior intercostal
arteries. The venous drainage of the breast is mainly to the axillary
vein, but there is some drainage to the internal thoracic vein and the
intercostal veins. Both sexes have a large concentration of blood vessels
and nerves in their nipples. The nipples of both women and men can become
erect in response to sexual stimuli, and also to cold.
The breast is innervated by the anterior and lateral cutaneous branches of
the fourth through sixth intercostal nerves. The nipple is supplied by the
T4 dermatome.
Lymphatic drainage
About 75% of lymph from the breast travels to the ipsilateral axillary
lymph nodes. The rest travels to parasternal nodes, to the other breast,
or abdominal lymph nodes. The axillary nodes include the pectoral,
subscapular, and humeral groups of lymph nodes. These drain to the central
axillary lymph nodes, then to the apical axillary lymph nodes. The
lymphatic drainage of the breasts is particularly relevant to oncology,
since breast cancer is a common cancer and cancer cells can break away
from a tumour and spread to other parts of the body through the lymph
system by metastasis.
Shape and support
Breasts vary in both size and shape, and their external appearance is not
predictive of their internal anatomy or lactation potential. The shape of
a woman’s breasts is in large part dependent on their support, which
primarily comes from the Cooper's ligaments, and the underlying chest on
which they rest. The breast is attached at its base to the chest wall by
the deep fascia over the pectoral muscles. On its upper surface it is
given some support by the covering skin where it continues on to the upper
chest wall. It is this support which determines the shape of the breasts.
In a small fraction of women, the frontal milk sinuses (ampulla) in the
breasts are not flush with the surrounding breast tissue, which causes the
sinus area to visibly bulge outward.
In discussing the support of breasts, it is helpful to draw a distinction
between breasts which rest on the chest below, and those which do not.
High, rounded breasts protrude almost horizontally from the chest wall.
All breasts are like this in early stages of development, and such a shape
is common in younger women and girls. This protruding or “high” breast is
anchored to the chest at its base, and the weight is distributed evenly
over the area of the base of the approximately dome- or cone-shaped
breasts.
In the “low” breast, a proportion of the breasts’ weight is actually
supported by the chest against which the lower breast surface comes to
rest, as well as the deep anchorage at the base. The weight is thus
distributed over a larger area, which has the effect of reducing the
strain. In both males and females, the thoracic cavity slopes
progressively outwards from the thoracic inlet (at the top of the
breastbone) above to the lowest ribs which mark its lower boundary,
allowing it to support the breasts.
The inframammary fold (or line, or crease) is an anatomic structure
created by adherence between elements in the skin and underlying
connective tissue[5] and represents the inferior extent of breast anatomy.
Some teenagers may develop breasts whose skin comes into contact with the
chest below the fold at an early age, and some women may never develop
such breasts; both situations are perfectly normal. The relationship of
the nipple position to the fold is described as ptosis, a term also
applied to other body parts and which refers in general to drooping or
sagging. Due to breast weight and relaxation of support structures, the
nipple-areola complex and breast tissue may eventually hang below the
fold, and in some cases the breasts may extend as far as, or even beyond,
the navel. The length from the nipple to the sternal notch (central, upper
border) in the youthful breast averages 21 cm and is a common
anthropometric figure used to assess both breast symmetry and ptosis.
Lengthening of both this measurement and the distance between the nipple
and the fold are both characteristic of advancing grades of ptosis.
The end of the breast, which includes the nipple, may either be flat (a
180 degree angle) or angled (angles lower than 180 degrees). Breast ends
are rarely angled sharper than 60 degrees. Angling of the end of the
breast is caused in part by the ligaments that suspend it, such that the
breast ends often have a more obtuse angle when a woman is lying on her
back. Breasts exist in a range of ratios between length and base diameter,
usually ranging from ½ to 1.
Development
The development of a girl's breasts during puberty is triggered by sex
hormones, chiefly estrogen. This hormone has been demonstrated to cause
the development of woman-like, enlarged breasts in men, a condition called
gynecomastia, and is sometimes used deliberately for this effect in
transwomen who receive hormone replacement therapy.
In most cases, the breasts fold down over the chest wall during Tanner
stage development, as shown in this diagram.[6] It is typical for a
woman’s breasts to be unequal in size particularly while the breasts are
developing. Statistically it is slightly more common for the left breast
to be the larger.[7] In rare cases, the breasts may be significantly
different in size, or one breast may fail to develop entirely.
A large number of medical conditions are known to cause abnormal
development of the breasts during puberty. Virginal breast hypertrophy is
a condition which involves excessive growth of the breasts, and in some
cases the continued growth beyond the usual pubescent age. Breast
hypoplasia is a condition where one or both breasts fail to develop.
In Cameroon, some girls are subjected to breast ironing to stunt breast
growth in order to make them less sexually attractive in the belief that
this makes them less likely to become a victim of rape.
Changes
As breasts are mostly composed of adipose tissue, their size can change
over time. This occurs for a number of reasons, most obviously when a girl
grows during puberty and when a woman becomes pregnant. The breast size
may also change if she gains (or loses) weight for any other reason. Any
rapid increase in size of the breasts can result in the appearance of
stretchmarks.
It is typical for a number of other changes to occur during pregnancy: in
addition to becoming larger, the breasts generally become firmer, mainly
due to hypertrophy of the mammary gland in response to the hormone
prolactin. The size of the nipples may increase noticeably and their
pigmentation may become darker. These changes may continue during
breastfeeding. The breasts generally revert to approximately their
previous size after pregnancy, although there may be some increased
sagging and stretchmarks.
The size of a woman’s breasts usually fluctuates during the menstrual
cycle, particularly with premenstrual water retention. An increase in
breast size is a common side effect of use of the combined oral
contraceptive pill.
The breasts naturally sag through aging, as the ligaments become
elongated.
Breastfeeding
The primary function of mammary glands is to nurture young by producing
breast milk. The production of milk is called lactation. (While the
mammary glands that produce milk are present in the male, they normally
remain undeveloped.) The orb-like shape of breasts may help limit heat
loss, as a fairly high temperature is required for the production of milk.
Alternatively, one theory states that the shape of the human breast
evolved in order to prevent infants from suffocating while feeding. Since
human infants do not have a protruding jaw like human evolutionary
ancestors and other primates, the infant’s nose might be blocked by a flat
female chest while feeding. According to this theory, as the human jaw
receded, the breasts became larger to compensate.
Milk production unrelated to pregnancy can also occur. This galactorrhea
may be an adverse effect of some medicinal drugs (such as some
antipsychotic medication), extreme physical stress or endocrine disorders.
If it occurs in men it is called male lactation. Newborn babies are often
capable of lactation because they receive the hormones prolactin and
oxytocin via the mother's bloodstream, filtered through the placenta. This
neonatal liquid is known colloquially as witch's milk.
Sexual role
Breasts play an important part in human sexual behavior. They are one of
most visible or obvious female secondary sex characteristics, and play an
important role in sexual attraction of partners, and pleasure of the
individual. Among primates, human breast are proportionately larger
throughout adult females' lives and may have evolved as a visual signal of
sexual maturity and fertility. On sexual arousal breast size increases,
venous patterns across the breasts become more visible, and nipples
harden. Breasts are sensitive to touch as they have many nerve endings,
and it is common practice to press or massage breasts with hands during
sexual intercourse. Oral stimulation of nipples and breasts is also
common. Some women can achieve breast orgasms. In the ancient Indian work
the Kama Sutra, marking breasts with nails and biting with teeth are
explained as erotic.
Other suggested functions
Zoologists point out that no female mammal other than the human has
breasts of comparable size, relative to the rest of the body, when not
lactating and that humans are the only primate that has permanently
swollen breasts. This suggests that the external form of the breasts is
connected to factors other than lactation alone.
One theory is based around the fact that, unlike nearly all other
primates, human females do not display clear, physical signs of ovulation.
This could have plausibly resulted in human males evolving to respond to
more subtle signs of ovulation. During ovulation, the increased estrogen
present in the female body results in a slight swelling of the breasts,
which then males could have evolved to find attractive. In response, there
would be evolutionary pressures that would favor females with more swollen
breasts who would, in a manner of speaking, appear to males to be the most
likely to be ovulating.
Some zoologists (notably Desmond Morris) believe that the shape of female
breasts evolved as a frontal counterpart to that of the buttocks, the
reason being that whilst other primates mate in the rear-entry position,
humans, because of their upright posture, are more likely to successfully
copulate by mating face to face, the so-called missionary position. A
secondary sexual characteristic on a woman’s chest would have encouraged
this in more primitive incarnations of the human race, and a face on
encounter may have helped found a relationship between partners beyond
merely a sexual one.[13]
Cultural status
Historically, breasts have been regarded as fertility symbols, because
they are the source of life-giving milk. Certain prehistoric female
statuettes—so-called Venus figurines—often emphasised the breasts, as in
the example of the Venus of Willendorf. In historic times, goddesses such
as Ishtar were shown with many breasts, alluding to their role as
protectors of childbirth and mothering. The legendary tribe of Amazons
bared their breasts, and in some accounts removed one breast to allow
better combat and archery.
Some religions afford the breast a special status, either in formal
teachings or in symbolism. Islam forbids public exposure of the female
breasts.[14] In Christian iconography, some works of art depict women with
their breasts in their hands or on a platter, signifying that they died as
a martyr by having their breasts severed; one example of this is Saint
Agatha of Sicily. In Silappatikaram, Kannagi tears off her left breast and
flings it on Madurai, cursing it, causing a devastating fire.
In practice
Breasts are secondary sex characteristics and sexually sensitive. Bare
female breasts can elicit heightened sexual desires from men and women.
Cultures that associate the breast primarily with sex (as opposed to with
breastfeeding) tend to designate bare breasts as indecent, and they are
not commonly displayed in public, in contrast to male chests. Other
cultures view female toplessness as acceptable, and in some countries
women have never been forbidden to bare their chests; in some African
cultures, for example, the thigh is highly sexualised and never exposed in
public, but the breast is not taboo. Opinion on the exposure of breasts
often depends on the place and context, and in some Western societies
exposure of breasts on a beach may be acceptable, although in town
centres, for example, it is usually considered indecent. In some areas the
prohibition against the display of a woman’s breasts only restricts
exposure of the nipples.
A woman wearing traditional clothing in Southern Ethiopia. Many societies
have no cultural proscriptions on women going bare-breasted.
A woman wearing traditional clothing in Southern Ethiopia. Many societies
have no cultural proscriptions on women going bare-breasted.
Women in some areas and cultures are approaching the issue of breast
exposure as one of sexual equality, since men (and pre-pubescent children)
may bare their chests, but women and teenage girls are forbidden. In the
United States, the topfree equality movement seeks to redress this
imbalance. This movement won a decision in 1992 in the New York State
Court of Appeals—“People v. Santorelli”, where the court ruled that the
state’s indecent exposure laws do not ban women from being barebreasted. A
similar movement succeeded in most parts of Canada in the 1990s. In
Australia and much of Europe it is acceptable for women and teenage girls
to sunbathe topless on some public beaches and swimming pools, but these
are generally the only public areas where exposing breasts is acceptable.
When breastfeeding a baby in public, legal and social rules regarding
indecent exposure and dress codes, as well as inhibitions of the woman,
tend to be relaxed. Numerous laws around the world have made public
breastfeeding legal and disallow companies from prohibiting it in the
workplace. Yet the public reaction at the sight of breastfeeding can make
the situation uncomfortable for those involved.
Clothing
Since the breasts are flexible, their shape may be affected by clothing,
and foundation garments in particular. A brassiere (bra) may be worn to
give additional support and to alter the shape of the breasts. There is
some debate over whether such support is desirable. A long term clinical
study showed that women with large breasts can suffer shoulder pain as a
result of bra straps, [15] although a well fitting bra should support most
of the breasts’ weight with proper sized cups and back band rather than on
the shoulders.
The content and materials provided in this
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intended to supplement or comprise a medical diagnosis or other
professional opinion, or to be used in lieu of a consultation with a
physician or competent health care professional for medical diagnosis
and/or treatment. All content and materials including research papers,
case studies and testimonials summarizing patients' responses to care are
intended for educational purposes only and do not imply a guarantee of
benefit. Individual results may vary, depending upon several factors
including age of the patient, severity of the condition, severity of the
spinal injury, and duration of time the condition has been present.
Resources:
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