Yesterday I discussed how breast implants, like any device, can fail at some point and require replacement. This however isn’t the most common reason for needing a redo – you are! Or to be more accurate, changes in your body mean that the implant and you just don’t go together anymore.
In the late 80’s I owned a comb and had a 28” inside leg and waist, but if I tried to get into my Ramones-style skinny leg jeans now, it just wouldn’t work. Why? Because what suits you at one point in your life may not years later. Most people get that and change their fashion and style sense accordingly. The breast implants that you chose ten years ago for the body you had ten years ago may no longer be a great match. It is likely that your weight will have changed (probably upwards), that you’ve had kids or that you just have a different perspective on whether you actually want breast implants or not. There is nothing wrong with the product; it has faithfully remained the same shape and size, it’s just that its environment has changed.
Weight changes, both up and down have a profound effect on breast shape, both in terms of absolute volume but also the amount of droop that occurs over time. When you come and see me for an assessment, I take about 60 measurements of your breasts, relating to shape, sensation and firmness. By doing this after your surgery and having analysed the results in 100’s of women, I can to a certain degree predict what will happen to your breast shape over time. By putting on weight, the implant will become relatively smaller, as more of your breast shape is derived from your own breast tissue, so if you naturally have droopy breasts, this will increase as your weight goes up.
Similarly, if you were pretty flat chested before your implants (which gave you a great looking cleavage by enhancing what you had) then loosing weight will take away from that look, often manifesting as a loss of fill in the upper part of your breast. Women come back to see me and complain that their breasts have dropped, but the measurements show that in fact they have simply lost their own breast tissue which was contributing to their breast shape to start with. So, the point is, that I can only match the implant to the person at any one point in their life. I’m not responsible if your body composition changes.
One of the commonest reasons for changing implants is that the match between implant and patient soft tissue at the time of surgery is no longer a good one. Reassessing that relationship and choosing a new implant is a relatively easy and effective solution to restore balance.
Tomorrow I am going to talk about the effect of having children which also changes your breast shape and often dramatically so.
Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.