Breast Implant Revision: Is it Right for You?

Millions of American women have undergone breast augmentation over the last 40 years. Perhaps your breast implants are aging or maybe you’re having some problems.  Dr. Caroline Glicksman, a board certified plastic surgeon from New Jersey, explains how to know if you’re a good candidate for breast implant revision.

By: Caroline Glicksman, MD
and Susan Kamyab
ThePlasticSurgeryChannel.com

Breast Implant Revision Surgery

The most common reasons why women undergo a breast implant revision surgery are for size change, capsular contracture (a tightening of the pocket that naturally forms around a breast implant), malposition, visibility, and palpability (feeling the implant). Saline implants will deflate over time and although older generation breast implants had much higher rupture rates, even the newest implants will eventually fail and need replacement.

Women who are most likely to have the best outcome after a revision are those who were never over-sized in the first place; correcting mistakes is a lot more difficult.  “Many women have simply led a normal life; pregnancies, breast feeding, weight gains and losses all affect  women’s  breasts,” Dr. Glicksman says, “Those patients do really well with revision surgery because we just need to make some small modifications and select a device that now fits their 35 or 40 year old body, as compared to their 25 year old body.”

Avoid Creating another Problem

“Patients who have multiple problems, such as malposition and capsular contracture, or ruptured gel implants will require a more extensive revision, and should be realistic about their expectations,” says Glicksman. For example, many patients who might have needed a lift initially, request an even larger implant after a few years to give them more upper fullness. “The problem is, the bigger the implant, the more it weighs, leading them to undergo revision after revision. You don’t want to fix one problem and end up with another one.  So we really have to sit down and analyze each patient individually,” says Dr. Glicksman.

Do your Homework

Dr. Glicksman advises women considering a revision breast augmentation to find a surgeon who is comfortable with using all of the different implants that are currently available.  “A patient may really want to try a different device or want a different look, potentially something that corrects a problem or may last longer.” There is no one perfect implant for every problem, but there are many new implant options available. Finally, Dr. Glicksman notes, “some women may choose to remove their implants altogether; the choice is their’s.”