Breast Revision Surgery
in New York City & Manhattan

Yes implants can be reduced in size

Yes they can but most need to be replaced at least once in a lifetime.

Yes implants can be removed without replacing them

Yes a capsular contracture can get worse

Yes, breast implants can change in shape over time.

A capsular contracture will not go away on its own.

Yes breast implants can last 30 years

Yes you can have breast implants removed.

Yes you can often feel a ruptured implant

Insurance does not cover breast revision surgery.

Often patients can go back to light duty within a few days of surgery.

Insurance does not cover breast revision surgery.

The fee will depend upon the extent of the revision surgery.

Usually one has to exchange to a new implant and remove the capsule. Sometimes the pocket for the implant needs to be changed.

Implants should only be replaced if there is a problem.

Depending upon what needs to be done, I will often tell patients to wait at least 6 months for a revision.

Breast revision can be as simple as a scar revision, to more complex procedures as correcting an implant displacement, removing a capsule and/or performing a breast lift.

No it is not dangerous to remove breast implants.

In my practice the average range is somewhere between 300-450 cc implants.

One alternative to breast implants is fat grafting.

Early signs of capsular contracture include tightness, implant shape change, hardness, and pain.

Rippling is usually caused by the ability to see the natural folds of the breast implant through soft tissue coverage. It is more common in thin patients with thin soft tissue coverage over the implants. Therefore, rippling occurs more when implants are placed in a subglandular pocket than a submuscular pocket. Because a submuscular implant is not completely submuscular, most implants are palpable along the lower pole along the inframammary fold. Since rippling happens when the soft tissue envelope is thin, there are several potential solutions to the problem. If the implants are in a subglandular pocket, changing the pocket position under the muscle will usually cover them better. If the rippling is in the lower pole and the implants are in a submuscular pocket, then sometimes an acellular dermal matrix (ADM) like Strattice may add more coverage to eliminate the rippling. Some surgeons will also perform fat injection into the soft tissue over the implant to thicken the coverage. Additionally, if the implants used are saline filled, sometimes overfilling them may improve the rippling as well.

There are many different reasons why patients can have breast pain, and a capsular contracture is just one of the causes. If the cause is due to a capsular contracture, then performing a capsulectomy with implant exchange should improve the pain associated with the tight capsule.

The body forms a natural barrier around any type of implant placed in the body. Commonly, this is a soft layer that surrounds the implant and allows the implant to move around easily in the pocket. When the implant pocket becomes tight due to the capsule constricting, the implant can appear tight in the pocket or lose its more natural appearance. Sometimes pain is associated with the capsular contracture. One popular theory of capsular contracture is related to biofilms, which may lead to a subclinical infection and inflammation causing the contracture to develop.

There are several techniques to treat a capsular contracture but general principles include performing a capsulectomy, which is a removal of the capsule, and exchanging the implants. Studies suggest that adding an acellular dermal matrix (ADM) like Strattice may reduce a capsular contracture recurrence.

The two most common breast implant pocket positions are either submuscular or subglandular. There is a third pocket position that is considered subfascial. The subglandular pocket placement is a reasonable approach for women with a lot of soft tissue coverage over the implant. The advantage to subglandular placement is often less painful than a submuscular pocket placement. It also avoids animation deformities with pectoralis muscle flexion. However, studies suggest a higher risk of capsular contracture, symmastia, and rippling in this position. The advantage of a submuscular pocket is it provides more soft tissue coverage over the implants, less risk of rippling in the upper pole, and a lower rate of capsular contracture. Still, there is often more discomfort after surgery, and there is a higher risk of animation deformities with pectoralis muscle flexion. Both approaches have similar rates of implant palpability in the lower pole. A subfascial method, in my opinion, does not add any more soft tissue coverage than a subglandular approach, and has similar advantages and disadvantages as the subglandular approach.

Removing breast implants or explantation results vary. If the patient does not have any significant capsule, then removing the implants is straightforward. If there is a tight painful capsule, often the capsule is removed as well. The breast will respond to the implant removal differently in different patients. This depends upon the ratio of natural breast tissue volume to implant, the quality of the soft tissue, and the extent of the surgery. In other words, the final shape is difficult to predict.

An implant exchange can be performed to reduce the overall size of the implants. However, the new implant size will affect what may need to be done to the breast gland or skin envelope. For patients with good quality skin and smaller volume changes, an implant exchange may be all that is necessary. For larger differences in volume, a mastopexy may have to be performed. This can be as little as a circumareola lift, which uses an incision around the border of the areola. If the smaller implant results in significantly looser tissues, then the mastopexy technique required may need to be more extensive. This might require using a lollipop incision or even an inverted T incision to adjust for the larger volume differences.

Exchanging implants for larger ones usually can be done about six months after the original surgery. It is best to wait for the swelling to dissipate and for the healing to be completed. Whether or not the patient’s anatomy can tolerate a larger implant needs to be evaluated in person during exam.

A double bubble is a breast deformity that occurs for several reasons. The first is when the implant drops below the natural inframammary fold or a lower breast crease. This can occur if the pocket was over dissected or by a natural progression of the implant descending into the pocket through a weak inframammary fold. Another cause may be due to placing too large of an implant for the natural breast diameter. In this case, the breast did not expand over the implant and sat on top of it like the yolk sitting on top of the white of an egg.

A double bubble is exactly as the term states.The implant creates a ridge-like a bubble and the natural breast fold creates the second bubble or ridge. Correcting a double bubble usually requires fixing the implant pocket. If the implant descended below the breast fold, then recreating the breast fold with sutures (performing a capsulorrhaphy) may be sufficient. Some surgeons will add an acellular dermal matrix (ADM) such as Strattice to reinforce the repaired fold. If the implant was too big for the breast diameter, then either the breast gland needs to be scored to allow it to expand around the implant, or a smaller implant needs to be placed.

Bottoming out of an implant is similar to a double bubble in that the implant pocket has gotten larger and the implant has descended below the natural breast fold. If the gland has expanded over the descended implant, then one might not see a double bubble. To correct this problem, a capsulorrhaphy needs to be performed. The lower breast fold needs to be resuspended with sutures. Sometimes an acellular dermal matrix (ADM) like Strattice is used to reinforce the repair. Often a smaller implant is placed because the pocket itself is made smaller.

An implant that moves into an armpit suggests that the pocket is too large for the implants. A capsulorrhaphy can be performed to repair the pocket and treat the malpositioned implant. This is typically performed with sutures and sometimes an acellular dermal matrix (ADM) like Strattice is used to reinforce the repair.

Unusual breast implant shapes can occur for several reasons. First, a patient can have a capsular contracture, which can distort the shape of the implant. Furthermore, the pectoralis muscle that is released during a submuscular pocket creation can cause the implant shape to change with flexion. Another cause for an odd shaped implant can be due to an implant rupture.

Symmastia occurs when the sternal chest skin lifts up after breast augmentation and allows the implants to potentially move from one side of the chest to the other. This is more common when the implants are placed in a subglandular pocket and when the surgeon tries to produce more cleavage, resulting in an implant malposition.

Repairing a symmastia is like treating other forms of implant malposition. Commonly, a capsulorrhaphy has to be performed requiring suturing along the medial or sternal pocket. Some surgeons will add an acellular dermal matrix (ADM) such as Strattice to reinforce the repair. If the implants are subglandular, then changing to a submuscular pocket may be worthwhile.