Statistics show most women are extremely happy with their breast augmentation. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), 98% of women say the surgery met or exceeded their expectations. However, there are times when the outcome may not be what you expected, or the implants have just aged and need to be replaced. What should you do? We suggest locating a board certified plastic surgeon with extensive breast revision surgery experience. This surgeon should have a great eye and have extensive knowledge of the anatomy.
By Shaun Parson, MD
and Beverly Brooks
The Plastic Surgery Channel
When is revisional surgery needed?
Revisional surgery is often used to correct problems with a previous procedure. Unsatisfactory breast surgery may include problems such as rippling, capsular contracture, or simply the replacement of older implants. Complications from a previous implant procedure can sometimes cause physical discomfort and pain, something that can be corrected through revisional surgery.
As part of the normal aging process, women may notice changes in their breasts over time. Skin laxity, changes from pregnancy and breastfeeding, and even failure of the implant over many years. Dr. Shaun Parson of Scottsdale sees patients struggling with the changes that have happened since they first got a breast augmentation, and uses a variety of tools to fix the issues. “Implants have a lifespan and eventually need to be removed or replaced,” says Parson. “A lot of the time, during your initial breast augmentation consult, surgeons won’t tell you this, but it’s true.” Even if your breast implant surgery was perfectly planned and beautifully executed, changes can happen over time that need correction.
Recovery time
For a lot of women facing the need to have their breasts revised, their initial augmentation happened many years ago; times have changed. Technology and research have improved almost all areas of surgery, including changes that make breast surgery recovery time very easy. Depending on the degree of revision required, most patients could be in for surgery on Friday and be back to work by Monday, good as new. With the advent of newer, better implants, the longevity of the products exceed those of implants from 10-20 years ago. This means that should revision be necessary again, this time it won’t be a problem for considerably longer than it was with the initial augmentation.
Patients uneasy about having to go back in for surgery see the results from the correction and return to being happy about the decision they’ve made. “It’s always fixable,” says Parson. “We want to be sure the woman does not have false expectations, but you can always improve on things.”