Not every cosmetic procedure is a success, especially when years go by and the body changes. There are a number of reasons why people might want to revise or even reverse earlier surgeries, including poor initial results, body changes that work against the original surgery’s intended purpose or just a change in point of view about one’s body. Our Atlantic Coast Aesthetics Question of the Week is concerned with exactly this problem. The patient from North Palm Beach tweeted, “What can I expect from breast implant removal surgery?” Dr. Pane wanted to address this question because people are often surprised at just how easy this type of surgery can be, as well as make the point that no cosmetic surgery results can be expected to last forever.

First, Dr. Pane stressed that breast implants are not a lifetime surgery.

Implants can be expected to last between 5-10 years before they need to be replaced 

Problems that develop with breast implants are associated with changes in the body. For example, pregnancy, weight gain and loss and other changes can affect how the implant functions over time.

Second thing to keep in mind is that breast implants

May perform better or not so well over time depending upon their composition, for instance, fat-transfer breast augmentation is one method that can help prevent this. 

Saline and to a lesser extent silicone can deflate and leak over time this becomes most noticeable when the patient attempts to compress the breast/s and they flatten instead of resuming their normal shape and contour.

Third, Dr. Pane observes that breast implants can

From a medical and mammary function standpoint, thinning of the surrounding breast tissue this is not a big deal. 

From an aesthetic point of view, however it may necessitate doing a breast lift at the same time as the implant removal procedure to help minimize sagging and other possible problems.

In the case of the patient, a breast lift is usually best done simultaneously with the implant removal. The main reason for this is simple because the surgeon is already inside the breast. Its far easier to do both procedures at one time and have one healing and recovery period than to remove the implants, allow time for that to heal and then make new incisions which start the healing clock all over again.