Skin expansion is a special method used in plastic surgery, aiming to create excess skin which can be used in any type of reconstructive surgery anywhere on the human body.
In this procedure an expander is placed under the skin close to the problematic area. An expander is a balloon with an outside shell of silicone that is gradually filled with normal saline causing skin expansion. That newly expanded excess skin will be used to reconstruct the nearby region.
Skin expansion is used very often in breast reconstruction after a mastectomy procedure. The same principles are applied to reconstruct skin lesions, birth marks, extended traumas or postsurgical complications. Rarely an expander may be used in aesthetic plastic surgery procedure.
When the plastic surgeon will decide to use the technique of skin expansion will explain in details all the stages that are necessary, the benefits of the process, the procedure that is required and the presumptive outcomes. In some cases the final outcome may be unpredictable and the procedures are designed according to the body’s reaction to skin expansion. The plastic surgeon though will continue to analyze every stage and answer every question raised during the therapeutic process.
