Breast augmentation during menstruation. Would the milk ducts be more prone to getting damaged?

Thank you abrizzle for your question.  Whenever you make a periareolar incision your breast feeding risks do go up, but not significantly.  I typically recommend the inframammary incision for multiple reasons. Scarring tends to be better, nipple sensation loss tends to be less and breast feeding complications are less.  I would recommend addressing any of your concerns with your plastic surgeon.  Best of luck to you. 

There is always some damage to milk ducts during a periareolar breast augmentation because to get to the space under the breast and muscle you have to go through the breast, which means cutting some ducts.  Usually this does not injure enough of them to interfere with breast feeding.  Being on your period should not make any difference in this regard as the extent of the dissection is unchanged.
One reason for not doing a breast augmentation through a periareolar incision is bacterial colonization of the implant with staph species.  This is well known, that the periareolar approach through breast tissue has a higher incidence of capsular contracture. This is thought to be associated with bacteria that are on and in the breast. An inframammary approach using a Keller funnel results in less transfer of staph to the pocket and implant, something I always discuss with my patients when considering various surgical approaches.

Dear abrizzle,I tend to prefer the periareolar incision because its the most well hidden. There is a natural border between the areola and the rest of the breast skin the hides the incision extremely well. You have to be completely naked to see it vs other incisions like transaxillary and inframammary are visible in clothing such as sleeveless shirts and bikini tops when extending your arms up. I've also noticed increased rates of bottoming out with inframmary incisions that is not reported. Transaxillary implants are always wide in appearance because the surgeon is not able to dissect medially enough to provide better cleavage. Ultimately, I can perform any of the incisions but I recommend the periareolar. There is no difference in sensation because the nerves that control nipple sensation come in laterally from the back and injury to them occurs when surgeons dissect to far laterally which is why transaxillary incisions have the highest nipple sensation disruption. There is no difference in breast feeding ability. One study did show a slight increase in capsular contracture with use of periareolar but that study was small and did not incorporate modern techniques such as below muscle placement, keller funnel usage and triple antibiotic irrigation.Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery