You probably don’t still love the same hairstyle or clothing that you loved ten years ago… Why should your physical preferences be any different? As we learn and grow, our tastes change, and this can sometimes reshape our views on cosmetic enhancements. It therefore probably won’t surprise you to learn that some women eventually choose to have their breast implants removed.
Whether you’re considering breast augmentation or breast implant removal, it’s a good idea to review the reasons why women decide to undergo explant surgery. Understanding how breast implants might impact your lifestyle can help you make the right choices.
The Top 4 Reasons Why Women have Their Implants Removed
1. Changing activity levels.
Breast implants weigh about the same amount as natural breast tissue. This means that for every 1000 cc of implant fluid, you’re adding two pounds to your frame. Though you probably won’t notice this additional weight when you’re walking or sitting down, it can feel cumbersome during high-impact activities. With the increasing popularity of cardio workouts, many women are choosing to have their implants removed in favor of creating a lean, toned physique.
2. A desire to keep up with the latest trends.
Large breasts used to be all the rage, but today, their place has been usurped by full, curvaceous buttocks. In keeping with this trend, we’ve seen an increased demand for Brazilian Butt Lift surgery and a decreased desire for large breast implants. That’s not to suggest that breast augmentation isn’t still popular—it is—women are just more likely to pursue a C cup than a DD cup. Likewise, some women who had large implants placed in the past are choosing to either downsize or have their implants removed altogether.
3. Physical illness or discomfort.
Some women report that their implants begin to feel sore or hard years after their initial operation; they may also experience a broad range of health issues that resolve after their implants are removed. Scientists are not sure why breast implant illness occurs, but it’s possible that the patient’s immune system plays a role. Sometimes, when foreign objects are placed in the body, the immune system reacts to them adversely (as if they are an “invader”). This is why patients who have organ transplants and medical implants are at risk of having their bodies reject them.
In patients with breast implants, this immune response can create generalized inflammation, cognitive problems, flu-like symptoms, gastrointestinal distress, dizziness, infection, etc. During breast implant removal surgery, Dr. Mussat carefully removes the entire implant without rupturing it. She also removes the capsule of scar tissue around the implant. This approach ensures that no contaminants from the implant enter the patient’s body during the explant procedure.
4. The wish to return to a more natural look.
In the past, many slender women opted to have mid-sized or even large implants inserted. Because slim women don’t usually have enough natural breast tissue to cover large implants, doing this sometimes resulted in an overly round, artificial look. Today, these women frequently ask to have their large implants removed and replaced with smaller implants that better suit their frame.
Breast Implant Removal: Understanding Your Options
If your implants are causing you discomfort, Dr. Mussat can help you heal. Her approach of combining breast implant removal with breast lift surgery can address both medical and aesthetic concerns. Patients often leave her office with perkier, more even breasts (as compared to their pre-implant breasts) owing to her expertise in performing breast lifts. If you’d like to learn more about how she performs explant surgery, feel free to contact us to arrange a consultation.
Breast revision surgery is the removal and replacement of original saline or silicone implants. Patients often have this procedure performed for two reasons: to correct any complications from previous surgery or to change the size or type of implants from the first breast implant procedure. What is the ultimate goal of breast revision? To give a person the youthful appearance that they desire.
There are actually a number of reasons a person could need or benefit from a breast revision. The first is any kind of leak. The saline implants could have deflated, or your silicone implant could have a leak. The second reason involves a change in size or a different type of implant. If you are not satisfied with your implants, then this procedure can easily solve that unhappiness and hopefully send you home with something better than before. Scar tissue is also an unfortunate factor as to why breast revision might be necessary. It can tighten around the implants, constricting them tightly. It is also a possibility that your implants have shifted. Some people also opt for a revision if they have extreme weight loss or any kind of change in their skin.
Am I a Good Candidate for Breast Revision?
The ideal patient for a breast revision needs to be in good physical health. This involves a healthy diet, exercise, emotionally healthy, and staying away from harmful substances. It is extremely important that a patient have realistic expectations when it comes to their procedure.
What Are the Pros and Cons of a Breast Revision?
Every person’s body will age – you cannot stay young forever and that is just fact. This is an obvious con to any procedure including breast revision. Gravity and aging will have an effect on your body regardless of what you do to it. But in the short term after your procedure, these factors won’t even be on your radar. You will have a youthful appearance. This procedure can also fix any problems that occurred with your first breast implant surgery.
What Happens During Breast Revision Surgery?
Plastic surgery is a unique business. Meaning it is completely individual. A person’s procedure is specifically designed for their needs. This procedure is planned out from conversations with your surgeon and according to your needs and wants. In this specific procedure, there are a number of reasons as to why someone is having a breast revision done.
Sizing Change
A common reason, as mentioned above, is changing the actual implant size. This procedure will involve your surgeon using previous incision sights, so as to not cause unnecessary scarring, to remove and insert the new implants.
Implant Malfunctions
If your implants have hardened, your surgeon can remove those implants and give you new implants. Your surgeon can use the original incision sights to either remove or move the implants back into place, depending on the incision that was originally used. Another common issue with implants is malposition. This involves implants that are too close together or too far apart. The surgeon can use a tactic involving scar tissue and the original incision sights to correct the positions making the breasts look more natural.
Removal of the Implants
Breast revision is used very commonly to remove implants. There are various reasons for the removal of implants, such as changing opinions of one’s body or health reasons. Each reason is specific to the individual.
How Can I Get the Results That I Want?
The key to a successful procedure is communication with your surgeon. It is also important that you truly know what you want when it comes to your procedure. This will give your surgeon a better understanding of what exactly they need to do to give you the results that you desire. The conversations between you and your surgeon will include many different topics that include the type of implants, location, size, and what type of anesthesia is needed for your specific procedure.
How Can I Prepare for This Procedure?
During your visits and consultations with your surgeon, you will be given a list of procedures to follow in regards to preparing for the procedure itself. The list includes: avoiding anti-inflammatory drugs, drugs that increase bleeding, abstain from smoking and alcohol, hydration, post-surgery care, stocking up on healthy foods, avoiding hot showers for a couple of weeks following your procedure, and give yourself time to rest and heal after your procedure.
If you’d like to learn more about breast revision you can schedule a private consultation. During your initial meeting, Dr, Mussat will provide you with all the information you need about the procedure and answer any questions you may have.
For many women, having breast augmentation surgery is a dream come true. Whether you’re seeking to have irregularities in your breast shape corrected, want to restore lost breast volume, or you’re simply tired of feeling self-conscious about having small breasts, this procedure can be life-changing. Alas, breast augmentation also carries some negative connotations, largely left over from years past when celebrities getting over-sized implants was common. Naturally, then, not every woman wants to share the fact that she’s had breast implants with the world.
If you can relate to this desire for privacy, or you’re simply curious about when the best time to recover from plastic surgery is, then you’ll be interested to know that wintertime offers some unique recovery advantages.
4 Reasons to Schedule Breast Augmentation During the Winter
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Free time is plentiful for most of us.
After the rush of the holiday season ends, most people just want to rest and relax. As such, you’ll probably find that you have fewer work commitments and social obligations in January and February. Business slows down, and if you live in a cold climate, chances are good that most of your friends and relatives simply want to stay inside until spring. It’s also common for people to take some vacation time right after the holidays, so no one will wonder why you suddenly need to book two weeks off of work. All of these factors set up the ideal conditions for plastic surgery recovery.
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You can get away with wearing additional layers.
You’ll want to “cover up” after having breast augmentation surgery, for a few reasons. One, most women want to hide their surgical incisions while they’re still healing. (These scars will take a few months to completely fade, too, so midwinter is a great time to book breast augmentation. By the time it’s warm enough to even think about wearing a bikini, your scars will barely be noticeable.) Two, you’ll probably experience some swelling for a few weeks after breast surgery—and this can have the effect of making one’s breasts look too large. Thick sweaters are a great way to mask this swelling. Three, many breast augmentation patients find that their implants look much more “natural” once they have had a few months to settle. This is because gravity will pull the implant down slightly while your natural breast tissue heals, mitigating the overt roundness and highness of freshly-placed implants.
Finally, keeping incisions covered while they are healing is an essential step toward minimizing scarring. If incisions are exposed to sunlight while they are still pink, they can become damaged by the sun. This sometimes causes the development of dark scar tissue that does not fully fade away. By having breast augmentation surgery in the winter, you virtually guarantee that your incisions will stay protected by sweaters and jackets. Just remember to avoid the tanning bed, too; any form of ultra violet radiation has the potential to darken scar tissue.
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You can use the holidays to help you finance your surgery.
If you feel comfortable talking about your wish to have breast augmentation surgery with your friends and family members, then you may be able to enlist their aid in financing your surgery. You can ask people to contribute money to help cover your surgical costs in place of purchasing you Christmas gifts, for example. You can also ask for plastic surgery gift cards if you’re lucky enough to have very generous friends or family members.
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Your recovery will be more comfortable.
While most women don’t experience a great deal of pain after having breast implants inserted, even a little bit of pain can become very irritating if you’re physically uncomfortable. Many women have reported that the heat bothers them more while they’re healing from plastic surgery. Sweat, too, can cause healing incisions to itch more severely. Likewise, the additional layers of clothing needed to protect still-healing incisions can become suffocatingly hot in the summer. You’ll therefore probably find that your recovery is more comfortable during the cooler months.
Not everyone makes an ideal winter plastic surgery candidate. If you enjoy winter sports or prefer to travel to a warmer climate every year, then you may find scheduling breast augmentation during the winter months is inconvenient. If, on the other hand, your favorite thing to do is “hibernate” until March, you might as well spend all of that downtime working on your physique. Having a shapelier body to look forward to will be just another reason to eagerly anticipate the arrival of spring.
Unfortunate though it is, all good things must come to an end. While some women enjoy their breast implants for a lifetime, most women will eventually either need or want a revision on their initial augmentation. In addition to issues like breakage or leakage, the natural effects of time (sagging due to age or pregnancy) may make implant replacement necessary. As such, if you’re considering breast augmentation, you should also plan to have at least one additional surgery, i.e., either an implant exchange or a removal.
Removal or Exchange: Which Option Is Right for Me?
Breast implant removal is generally preferred by women who have decided that having larger breasts is no longer right for them. Increased activity levels, changing tastes, or medical considerations may make removal the most logical choice for some women. There are, however, a few things you need to know before you go down this route.
Because implants stretch the skin somewhat, you will almost certainly have loose skin left over once your implants are removed. In younger women who have had small implants, the breasts will sometimes firm up naturally and no further surgery will be needed. In the vast majority of cases, however, implant removal must be accompanied by a breast lift. A breast lift will restore your breasts to a perky, round shape, as if you had never had implants at all. There is, however, a small risk of additional scarring that’s not present with implant exchange. You’ll therefore need to decide whether or not this risk is outweighed by the possible benefits of implant removal.
Implant exchange, on the other hand, is usually selected by women who are happy with their implants overall. These women may want new implants to correct leakage or placement issues, or they might want to upgrade to a larger size. Either way, implant replacement can typically be completed in a single surgery, making it no more complicated or inconvenient than initial augmentation. The only additional step taken during revision surgery is pocket adjustments: Your surgeon might inject a soft tissue support like Strattice or GalaFLEX into the pockets where your implants are inserted.
If you’re not sure whether implant removal or implant exchange is the better choice for you, feel free to come see us for a consultation. We can help you weigh up the benefits and risks of each option based on your overall health and lifestyle. To learn more about your options, contact the office of Dr. Mussat for a consultation with the surgeon herself.
Your 20s are a great time for a breast augmentation procedure. This procedure will place implants into your breast for enhancement and firmness. It is the most popular cosmetic surgical procedures in Chicago and the entire country. I wrote this post to share with young ladies in their 20s what they need to know when considering this surgical procedure.
Breast Implant Replacement in the Future
Saline and silicone breast implants can last several years, but they will likely need replacing at least once in your lifetime. In the past, plastic surgeons recommended replacing implants every ten years, but implants have come a long way. Now it is recommended to replace implants only as needed. Replacement can be for leakage due to rupture, upgrade to a more advanced model, or adjust the size or shape.
Choices for Breast Implants
If you are under 22, silicone implants are not available for you. That is not to say you cannot achieve optimal results. Both saline and silicone implants are beneficial and can successfully transform your breasts to your desired outcome.
The FDA has approved saline filled breast implants for women over the age of 18 while approving silicone filled implants for women over the age of 22. Consultation with a qualified plastic surgeon will help you to determine which type is best suited for you and if waiting for silicone might be the best option.
You Can Probably Still Breastfeed
Is breastfeeding still possible with breast implants? The answer is yes in many cases. During the consultation, let us know if this is a priority to determine the best incision to ensure success.
Pregnancy Can Cause Breast Changes
Getting pregnant after breast augmentation can cause changes to your breasts. These changes are common and may have occurred regardless of having the procedure or not. Many times a breast lift can restore any negative effects from childbearing.
Medical History a Factor
If you are a smoker, it is always in your best interest to quit, but more so if you are contemplating surgery. If you smoke, that can cause undue complications during and after surgery. I recommend you quit before considering any surgery, including breast augmentation.
We will discuss medical history during your consultation including any medications and supplements you may be taking. A big advantage to having the procedure in your 20s is the likelihood of being in good physical condition.
Importance of Realistic Expectations
An important factor in preparing for breast augmentation surgery is to set realistic goals. Factors including body type and anatomical limitations will determine what we can and cannot achieve with your procedure. Many young ladies incorrectly assume they can have the breasts of a celebrity or someone they know.
It is critical to set realistic expectations for your procedure. As a surgeon, I want my patients to be 100% satisfied with every procedure I perform. During the consultation, I explain every aspect of the surgery and how to realize optimal results. We take the time to size your breasts and allow you to visualize what would be the best implant for your anatomy. This information will set the stage for a successful procedure.
If you’re ready for more information, call Dr. Florence Mussat at (312) 751–9000 to schedule your breast augmentation consultation.
