Your breasts will naturally look deflated once the implants are removed. Within 2 to 3 weeks, your breasts will eventually regain some of their volume. Many patients opt for a Breast Lift or Fat Transfer to Breast to reposition or inflate their breasts.
Healing can take up to one year before the final results are visible. The practice of medicine and surgery is not an exact science. With this particular surgery, the results are not always cosmetic because the breast tissue is thin as a result of having implants for an extended period of time.
It's normal to experience soreness, tenderness, and sensitivity as you recover from your breast implant removal surgery for around six weeks.
Many of the patients experience expansion (sometimes called “fluffing”) of their breast tissue in the weeks after the implants are removed. If you have breast asymmetry, that can be improved with a lift at the time of implant removal, but it probably won't be completely correctable.
A study of 100 patients concluded that 89% of patients who had capsulectomy and implant removal had symptom improvement within 3 months of surgery. These symptoms included cognitive problems, fatigue, burning pain in the breast and chest wall, dry eyes, anxiety, and joint pain.
Not everyone using the implant or other forms of hormonal contraception will have the same experience, and in some cases, the body may need more time for hormones to balance after stopping birth control. Most patients will resume a normal menstrual cycle within a few weeks of implant removal.
It may take 6 to 8 weeks, on average, to heal after explant surgery. However, you can return to light work about a week after the removal. Intense physical activity like gym or sports can be resumed 6 weeks after. Some people may experience soreness and tenderness for 6 weeks.
Your breasts may appear deflated, droopy, or misshapen after implant removal. This is because the surrounding breast skin and tissue stretch to adapt to the breast implants. When the implants are removed, the skin and tissue do not always shrink to the natural breast shape.
The forces produced by tissue expanders and implants between the pectoral muscle and the rib cage, can cause rib cage deformation – this means that there may be an indentation (concavity) left where the implant was removed. This is usually purely a cosmetic issue that may improve with time.
Considering the size of even the smallest breast implant, the skin retracts remarkably well after surgery. For about a week, your breasts will look a little sorry for themselves, but they'll eventually recover well.
If you need breast implant removal surgery and are hoping to get a Medicare rebate, it is important to keep in mind that: Medicare will not cover the explant surgery done for cosmetic reasons. Medicare will only cover breast implant removal surgery when it is deemed medically necessary by your doctor.
How Painful Is Breast Implant Removal? Breast implant removal is typically performed while you are fully asleep under general anesthesia, so you should not feel a thing during the actual surgery. During recovery, however, it is normal to feel some soreness and discomfort for about a week.
The first is the amount of natural breast tissue and the second is the size of the implant. "If the natural base of the breast is small, and the implants are very much larger, then they will tend to look fake.
While you might be expecting smooth, round breasts, it's not uncommon for your implants to appear square or elongated at first. Before you panic, know that this is often a normal part of the recovery process.
The Quick Facts about Breast Explant
Often, the scar tissue that forms after the placement of an implant is soft and does not need to be removed, but it may harden, causing pain and discomfort.
Once implants are removed, the volume of the breasts reduces significantly. This can cause several aesthetic implications: Breasts may appear deflated with a “sagging” appearance. Skin is loose and prone to extensive wrinkling.
Typically, there will be some loose skin (the larger the implant, the more stretched, loose skin), loss of fullness in the upper part of the breast, and usually, some sagging where the remaining breast tissue sits too low on the chest.
How long does it take for breasts to fluff after explant? This varies from patient to patient. It may happen within 6-9 months while some patients may experience it within a a few months.
During your recovery, your activity level will be significantly reduced. This decrease in movement can lead to fluid retention, increasing your swelling and bloating symptoms. Without being able to engage in the physical activity you usually would, you may even recognise a small weight gain. This is completely normal!
It's common to have a lighter period while using Implanon, and for many women, their periods go away completely. But it is uncommon for a woman to go for two months without a period after her implant is removed. Women can get pregnant very soon after having an implant removed.
Since the implant releases a small, continuous stream of progestin into the body over the course of the three years, once removed, your body immediately goes back to it's original fertility range and periods return to normal.
Know the Long-Term Risks of Breast Implants
The FDA has identified an association between breast implants and the development of breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Breast implant illness (BII) is a collection of symptoms that occur in people with breast implants. There isn't an official medical diagnosis for BII. Symptoms may include fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, dry eyes and many other health concerns. Healthcare providers diagnose BII by ruling out other health conditions.
Breasts will most often feel soft and supple after breast augmentation. Unless you have significant capsular contracture, your breast implants will likely feel just natural to you. Most patients report that the sense of actually having implants tends to vanish after a few months, and they become just part of you.