It May Be Time For a Breast Implant ‘Re-Do’

There are multiple reasons why a woman may opt for breast implant revision surgery; it could be medical or cosmetic. Most of time a woman wants to change the size or type of implant replacing the saline or silicone implant. She could be electing to have the operation to correct a problem resulting from a previous breast augmentation. As Dr. Mark Pinsky explains, breast revision is becoming a popular procedure for women who want to update their look.

by Dawn Tongish
and Mark Pinsky, MD

The Breast Is New Again

Time changes everything and that includes breast implants. Even if your breast augmentation was performed without any complications, there can be changes that happen. Sometimes a woman’s body isn’t the same and there is a need for a little ‘updating’, according to the experts. “One of the more common reasons that women seek out a breast implant revision is that their figure is different than it was 10-15 years ago,” says Dr. Mark Pinsky. Pinsky is a sought-after plastic surgeon for breast revision in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida where he practices. He cites it as one of his favorite procedures. “It gives me a lot of delight to do a revision because it makes the patient feel renewed and restored. Pinsky says women often swap implants because their taste changes throughout the years.

“What they wanted way back when is not what they want today, so we want to make them happy.” He says women may opt for larger or smaller implants, depending on their lifestyle. “Maybe they have an old implant, an old saline implant that needs to come out and silicone implants have gotten so advanced, with all kinds of shapes and sizes.”

New and Different

There can be medical reasons to seek out breast implant revision surgery. One condition involves breast implants that have dropped on the chest, making the implants look very low. “Sometimes a patient comes in because where the breasts used to be perky, now they aren’t so perky and they have dropped down over time.” Pinsky says sometimes the implants are swapped out and sometimes they aren’t. Weight gain through the years can also be another factor that impacts breast augmentation. “If the breasts have gotten too large with weight gain, perhaps the patient wants smaller implants.”

Pinsky says often the patient just has a different lifestyle and the breast size that was convenient or suitable isn’t anymore. “Sometimes patients are motivated to come to the office because they are now a sophisticated woman, instead of a young lady and the look that is desired is different.”

Need To Know: Breast Revision

There are times when a patient must have breast revision surgery due to a complication from a prior surgery. “It is sad when a woman comes into my office needing to have breast revision because of a complication,” says Pinsky. “I feel terrible for those patients because they have gone down a path and the dream didn’t happen, it turned out worse.” He says he always works to make sure the patient has an outcome that restores a youthful appearance. The goal is to correct the look and allow the patient to walk away feeling good about their new look. “I feel happy when that happens.” Patients should know that general anesthesia is usually required and recovery time can be prolonged. There may not be a return to work for 1-2 weeks and full recovery can take up to 3 weeks.

Experts agree, augmentation-mastopexy can be a difficult operation to perform, so it’s important for a patient to do their homework and find a qualified surgeon. “Look for a surgeon with a great deal of experience,” says Pinsky. “It is not for the casual surgeon. He calls it a ‘challenging’ surgery, but still one of the most rewarding because of the end result he sees for so many patients who leave with a renewed sense of self-confidence. “I really get to feel like Santa Claus just about every day.”