Changing Breast Implants
The odds are that at some point, if you have breast implants, you will change them. Sometimes the change is simply to make the breasts larger by replacing the current implant with a larger implant. Or it may be to switch from an older saline implant to one of the newer MemoryGel silicone implants. Perhaps you have an implant that has leaked or developed a capsular contracture. Whatever the reason, the good news is that there is virtually no discomfort and minimal recovery time associated with replacing one implant for another.
During pregnancy, the body slowly changes over nine months to accommodate a growing baby; however, with a breast augmentation, the body accommodates the new implant—in a space that previously didn’t exist—in less than an hour. This rapid change is why the primary breast surgery can be painful. When replacing an implant, the space (implant pocket) is already there, and for this reason the recovery is typically much easier and there is little if any pain associated with the procedure.
If you are unhappy with your breast implants, experiencing complications, or are interested in changing the size and/or type of your current implants, we encourage you to contact Weston Plastic Surgery to schedule a one-on-one consultation with plastic surgeon Robert Rothfield, MD, FACS. Dr. Rothfield has decades of experience performing cosmetic breast surgeries and maintains a special focus on helping women achieve beautiful, natural-looking results with breast augmentation revision procedures.
Editor’s note: The original version of this post was published on July 19, 2010.