Revision Breast Augmentation
Conveniently located to serve the areas of Corpus Christi and South Texas
In revision breast augmentation Dr. Hervé Gentile’s goal is to restore your breast appearance and contour.
If you have developed a complication such as deflation or a silicone leak or you are dissatisfied with your augmentation then Dr. Gentile will evaluate your complaints and recommend your options to address your problem. There is no such thing as a simple breast augmentation and breast augmentation revision surgery is definitely more complex than your first one. Breast implants are similar to all the man-made implantable medical device like artificial knee joints and therefore some of you will require revision procedures.
Common Reasons For Revision Breast Augmentation
- You desire to have larger implants or you are not happy with how they look or feel
- Your saline breast implants have deflated or an MRI shows your silicone implants have leaked
- Your implants have dropped down (bottomed out). They are low on your chest and your nipples are located high
- You have developed a capsular contraction by forming a thick scar around the implant. Your breast will feel hard and tight and if not addressed in time this will lead to a deformed breast
- You notice rippling which is visible when wearing your clothes. This can appear after weight loss or skin stretching overtime
- Your silicone implant or implants have ruptured
- Synmastia, a condition in which the implant pockets at the middle of your chest are connected resulting in a single-boob
- Your implants are displaced (ex. your implants are riding too high).
During your consultation it will be important for you to express all of your issues and concerns and be open about your expectations. Dr. Hervé Gentile will then examine you and have a frank discussion of the available options. Then Dr. Gentile will decide with you the best plan to address your problem.
Like all surgery, revision breast augmentation has its risks and therefore there is still a possible need for another future revision surgery.
The surgery may be as straightforward as removing and replacing a deflated saline implant or a little more complicated by switching pockets from a subglandular (above the muscle) to a submuscular (underneath the muscle) or viceversa. By far the most common procedures are just removing and replacing your saline or silicone implants. In the case of a capsular contraction the scarring will also need to be removed (capsulectomy) and if you have a ruptured silicone implant a more extensive procedure is required to clean up all the silicone. If you have rippling this can be address either with grafting your own fat to camouflage the ripples or thickening your skin by placing above the implant a synthetic scaffold (Seri) or Alloderm, a human dermal tissue. The latter are often used for complex revision surgeries.
The length of surgery ranges from 1 to 3 or more hours and is done under general anesthesia in our accredited in-office surgery center.
Generally your recovery will be similar to your first procedure and you can return to work in 4 – 7 days depending on the extent of your surgery. Initially you can expect some swelling, hardness, bruising and some pain which can be controlled with pain medications. This will resolve gradually over the ensuing weeks and you are restricted from any heavy lifting or strenuous activities for several weeks.
