Curious about removing breast implants? Dr. Robert Shenker talks us through the process of removing implants; learn what to expect, what the procedure is like, and how to choose a surgical solution that’s right for you.
Breast implant removal: How does it work?
“My implants have been in for years and years and I want them out. Now what?”
This question is one that has been coming up more and more often for me and my team at The Cosmetic Surgery Clinic in Waterloo. Patients want breast implants removed for a wide variety of reasons.
The top reasons that patients want breast implants removed:
Most of the time, patients tell us that they’ve had their implants for many years and they were wonderful, but it’s just time to get rid of them.
- Time to downsize: Some patients tell us that their implants feel too big at a later stage in their life, and they’re ready to go back down to a smaller size.
- Weight or body changes: In other situations a patient’s body has changed; either with weight gain, or weight loss or due to the effects of menopause.
- Proactive removal for health reasons: sometimes a patient chooses to have their implants removed while they are young and healthy so that they don’t have to deal with any possible problems as they get older and their health begins to change.
- Textured implants: Over recent years, new information surrounding potential problems associated with textured surface implants has also given reason to have textured implants removed.
- Ruptures or technical issues: Sometimes it is discovered that one or both of the breast implants can be ruptured, which is a situation that requires implant removal.
Dr. Robert Shenker and Dr. Stephanie Ma at the Cosmetic Surgery Clinic in Waterloo, ontario
So how do we remove breast implants, and what happens after the implants are removed?
Simply removing breast implants from the space they occupy behind the breast tissue and possibly even the breast tissue and pectoralis major muscle of the chest is easy. Most of the time, the old incision that was used to place the implants can be reopened and the implants can be removed. That’s where the easy part ends and some of the challenges begin.
A decision has to be made about removing the breast implant capsule, which is a layer of scar tissue that surrounds every breast implant. Sometimes the capsule needs to be removed, and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes all of it is removed and sometimes only a part of it. That decision is best made between me and the patient at the time of our consultation. Sometimes the plan can change intra-operatively (during surgery) depending on what I find at the time of surgery. Usually though, I make every attempt to get the entire breast implant capsule out.
“How will I look after my breast implants are removed?”
Patients always ask how they’re going to look after their implants are removed. The answer to that question is that it all depends on a variety of factors. What is the age of the patient? How youthful is the remaining skin and breast tissue? Is it thin and stretched out? Are there stretch marks? Or is the skin thick and full of elastic fibers that will allow it to “rebound” after the implant is removed. How long were the implants in? How big (actually, how heavy) were the implants? What has happened to the breast tissue with time, body weight changes and menopause?
Mother nature can be the best surgical accomplice when it comes to implant removal.
Sometimes, if a patient just wants their implants out and does not mind having a smaller chest, then the implants are removed, Mother Nature is allowed to work her magic over a few short weeks and months, and nothing else needs to be done. The skin rebounds to some approximation of what it was prior to the breast implants going in, the droopiness is not too bad, and the lack of breast volume doesn’t bother the patient. In that scenario, no further work needs to be done.
Sometimes this operation is all about changing sizes. Usually, it’s straightforward to remove one implant and put in a smaller or larger one.
Mastopexy or breast lifts can help tighten or lift the breasts after implant removal
However, most patients seek a different outcome. Most of the time, if implants have been in for a while, there is some stretching out of the breast skin as well as thinning of the breast tissue itself, which can also occur with menopause. In those scenarios, what happens most of the time is that the breast implant is removed, there is some tightening of the breast skin envelope, called a mastopexy or breast lift, and sometimes we even address the change in volume.
Breast augmentation can be part of an implant removal to reshape the breast.
Let’s say a patient has their implants removed but they still want some breast volume. In those scenarios, the most common technique is to take some fat from somewhere else on the body, usually the tummy or the love handles or the thighs and place that fat strategically in the breast. Where exactly do we place it, you may ask? Well, the most useful spot to place the fat is in the upper part of the breast and in the cleavage area.
Sometimes, I will use some fat to bolster the volume of the entire breast. Let’s say I take out a breast implant that is 300 cc’s in volume, I might replace that with 75 CC’s or 100 cc’s or even more of fat to get the desired outcome. That operation has been extremely successful for us for many years.
Ready to get your breasts implants removed?
If you are ready to have your breast implants removed, come and see us at our Waterloo clinic. We will sort out the best plan for you with a team of caring, skilled professionals. Patients from Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Toronto, and surrounding areas drive to Waterloo for breast surgery and implant removal at The Cosmetic Surgery Clinic.
Book your surgical consultation today!
Call us at (519) 746-1132 or email us with our contact form.
