Recovering from breast augmentation generally involves two to three weeks of pain and stiffness. But now a new version of the operation that promises a 24-hour recovery is increasingly in demand.

Based on a gentle, more patient-oriented technique developed and published in 2002 by John Tebbetts, a plastic surgeon in Dallas, the surgery takes half an hour with general anesthesia.

It involves meticulous advance determination of implant size with a formula of five measurements (rather than the customary trial and error during surgery); near bloodless cutting by electric cautery (because bleeding is the biggest cause of pain); and no traumatic ripping of tissues or touching of the ribs with implements.

It works best with an under-breast incision and equally well with saline or silicone implants placed under or over the muscle.

Ninety-five percent of patients can shower and brush their hair the same day; perform regular activities the next day; and drive in one to four days, according to Steven Teitelbaum, a plastic surgeon in Santa Monica who is one of several doctors teaching the method at surgical meetings.

In comparison, he says, the traditional augmentation procedure — in which the surgeon tears through breast tissue with a finger to make a pocket for the implant — is “barbaric.” [via]