Before and after bilateral breast implant removal and redo mastopexy in a 47-year-old woman with chronically contracted and painful breast implants. Because they were saline-filled implants, she elected to have them deflated first to “test-drive” how she would feel without the extra 275 cc of volume in her breasts.
Two months after removal of the saline, she planned her surgery under local anesthesia – she was very excited to not have to go to sleep and have a general anesthetic. The scars under her breasts in the inframammary fold were reopened and used to remove the empty implant shells.
Since another implant was not being inserted, the capsule on the inside of the breast pocket was simply left alone. Capsulectomy is not needed unless an implant exchange is happening, and the pocket needs to be modified on the inside. The scar tissue softens and lessens naturally with time.
The incision under the breast was closed in multiple layers with dissolving stitches. Skin was removed around the nipple and areola and in the lower pole of the breast to redo her old lollipop scar and create a lift of the breasts. After surgery, she worked from home for two weeks and resumed full exercise at one month.
Follow-up photos are shown a year and half after surgery, with mature scars and a natural looking result. Interestingly, her nipple sensation returned soon after explantation – years after her breasts being numb, likely related to the capsular contracture.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
