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Patient Details
This is a 58 year old woman, 5’5″ and 118 pounds who presented to me with complaints of contracted implants. She had them placed thirty years ago. She told me they became contracted about six years ago.
On exam, she had near rock hard implants. The breast shape was distorted, and her breasts were somewhat cool and painful to the touch. Her implants were above the muscle and they were the silicone variety.
She is seen here after I removed her ruptured silicone implants in the space above the breast and I placed new moderate profile smooth silicone implants that were 350cc in size below the muscle. At the time of these photos, she lost twenty pounds from an illness. Her breasts are soft and natural in both feel and appearance. I removed the capsule at the time of her procedure (her capsule is the normal scar tissue that forms around all implants). I moved her implants beneath the muscle because I feel they are less likely to contract in this position.
Lessons to take away:
- The contracture process can occur an anytime, but clearly is more common the longer you live with your implants. Pain and contracture are two symptoms of a possible rupture of your implants. If this occurs, it’s time to have them replaced. Getting tests like an MRI or CT scan is really not helpful because you have to have a procedure anyway, so save yourself from radiation exposure.
- She will pass the “hug test.” A full frontal hug before her revision would feel like she has rocks on her chest. Now it feels very normal.
- Implant capsules are not always removed. In her case, when it has been present for thirty years often times it is calcified. This can interfere with mammography which is the best reason to remove it.
- There is no reason to be running around with implants that are contracted. A breast revision – in expert hands – can provide you with soft, natural feeling breasts.
- Pictures only tell part of her story. If I were to video her before and after surgery breast exam, you would see that I couldn’t move her breasts before, but after surgery they are mobile and soft–like a natural breast.
