Can Breast Implants Be Removed Safely?

There are instances wherein breast implants may cause some complications. Some women may experience health issues related to breast implants, such as pain, discomfort, or inflammation. Thus, for purposes of easing the pain and diminishing the long-term effects caused by breast implants, many women resort to explants or removal of breast implants.

In today’s episode, we’ll be answering one of the frequently asked questions during and outside consultations as regards breast implants – can they be removed safely?

What’s the difference between injuring the lung and injuring the chest cavity?

I often get asked by my patients if it’s safe to remove breast implants because apparently, they’ve been told by other surgeons that it’s unsafe to remove the capsule. Removing such, according to them, can cause further complications including injury to surrounding structures, especially the lung.
That’s why it’s necessary for us to debunk this misconception which is causing fear to many women. I’ve been to several summit meetings and spoke about this issue. To clarify, this procedure is entirely safe to do.

Personally, I stopped using drains a few years ago and just focused on explants with no drains and no other procedure to perform. I’ve only encountered one infection and that’s still a safe percentage. So far, I’ve done over a thousand successful explants.

Supposing that in five cases in those thousands of explants, an entrance into the chest cavity occurred – that's different from injuring the lung. You're merely creating an opening in the chest cavity underneath where the intercostal muscle is.

We’re making this opening because you can't really go through the actual rib. Instead, you have to go between the ribs. You then close it by evacuating the air and creating the seal or putting in a small catheter to get the air out through a one-way valve called the Heimlich valve.
Such a valve is usually used for chest drainage and prevents the return of gases or fluids in that space. And to avoid any mishaps or other effects, we have to conduct follow-ups for the patient including chest X-rays.

What are the risks and benefits of explants?

There are risks and benefits for breast implant removal and so, if you're thinking about having this kind of surgery, it's crucial to recognize these factors. Other surgeons would say that it’s risky to conduct breast implant removal as it would cause infection, bleeding, and other complications around the breast area.

However, I’ve done over 1,500 procedures without any problem and that’s saying something. That’s an attestation that it is a safe procedure. Many women experience health issues related to breast implants, such as pain, discomfort, or inflammation which is why we offer breast implant removal or explantation to relieve them from these symptoms.

In relation to this, we'll be launching a training program for surgeons doing breast implant removal procedures. We’re raising awareness that this is not something that you should be worried about. This is why it’s important to find a reputable surgeon with appropriate knowledge and one who uses safe techniques and instruments.

It was easy for me to transition to doing explants since I’m a reconstructive plastic surgeon for the majority of my career. I predominantly did cancer reconstruction where I was exposed to all these tissues and areas. And so, this isn’t something that’s unusual for me.
In our previous episodes, we talked about inflammation and other symptoms caused by breast implants. We also talked about how helpful the Holistic Accelerated Recovery Program (HARP) is in optimizing the healing process.

It all boils down to identifying as many root causes of inflammation as possible and diminishing those around the time of surgery, as well as balancing out hormones and improving your diet.
Once we identify and decrease the causes of inflammation, everything’s going to be better. The types and durations of anesthesia also contribute to this since there are some people who don't do well with general anesthesia.

I never take these procedures lightly because I want to make sure that everything's taken care of properly so that at the end of the timeframe of recovery, we won’t have any issues.
We also have to make the patients understand that we need to optimize their liver and kidney function as well as their hormones. It is also important to have a modified balanced diet and maintain a healthy lifestyle. We always prepare our patients for the procedures to set them up for success.

What are the next steps if you’re unhappy with the aesthetics of your breast implants?

There are instances wherein women are unhappy with the outcome of their breast implants. By augmenting the breast, you're masking asymmetry. So when we do an explant, we're identifying these areas that were treated initially for that purpose.

I personally prefer and lean on fat transfer to help with that problem although, you can always do different skin lifts. If you have enough breast tissue, you can modify that with a vertical lift which gives you the lollipop scar because that allows you to reshape the bottom of the breast.
There are many factors to take into consideration when doing all these procedures and so it’s really important to have a clear discussion with the patient.

As we’ve always emphasized, it's important to find a provider who recognizes breast implant illness as a real entity and has a plan to support you both before, during, and after surgery.

If you want to consult with us, you may reach out to us. We conduct a Holistic Accelerated Recovery Program which has been very beneficial and effective for our patients.

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