You wanted breast augmentation surgery to improve the appearance of your breasts, to look more attractive and to feel more confident. Yet months or even years after your surgery, your breasts aren’t looking like you think they should. Instead, you may have experienced shifts in the location of your implants or the location of your nipples or areolae, and that has changed the overall look of your breasts, impacting your results. These changes may have happened because of natural changes in your body or because of problems with your surgery. Another unwanted occurrence some women experience after a breast augmentation is capsular contracture, which can make your breasts feel hard, over-sensitive or even painful when touched.
If you have any of these unwanted symptoms, whatever their origin, you may be a good candidate for a breast augmentation revision surgery. During this procedure, your board-certified plastic surgeon can correct your implant placement, replace your implants, remove scar tissue and reposition your nipples and areolae to get you back to the look you wanted safely, so you can look good and feel good once again. Due to the complexities of breast augmentation revision surgery, the success of your procedure will largely depend on the training, skill and experience level of your board-certified plastic surgeon, and selecting the right doctor can strongly predict a good outcome.
What makes revision surgery more complicated than primary surgery?
During a primary breast augmentation, your board-certified plastic surgeon will place the breast implants you have selected during your consultation into the breast pocket through incision locations which have also been chosen before surgery. After they close the incisions, your operation is complete. However, during revision surgery, often much more work needs to be done, and that work can be very complex in nature.
For example, your surgeon might need to remove and replace your previous implants, excise scar tissue, perform a breast lift, reposition your nipples and areolae, and there may be unforeseen problems which must be corrected as well, for you to have a successful revision surgery. In fact, because of the added complications that revision surgeries have, some surgeons choose not to perform them at all.
Revisions Surgeries Include Much More Than Augmentation
Unfortunately, natural changes in a woman’s body and problem surgeries can leave women unhappy with their breast augmentation procedure and suffering from long-term issues which, without revision surgery, will not go away on their own. A breast augmentation revision surgery, however, can improve many of the issues women most commonly face.
Revision Surgery Can Correct Implant Malposition
For a variety of reasons, the position of your implants may change over time, leading to unwanted changes in the appearance of your breasts. Childbirth, weight loss or weight gain and the natural aging process can all lead to malposition of a woman’s implants over time, resulting in cosmetic imperfections, although these changes do not necessarily result in other issues for all women.
When problems do occur, one which women may experience is called “bottoming out,” where her implants may fall too low within the breast pocket. Alternately, she may now find that her implants sit too “wide” on her chest. Both of these issues can negatively impact the natural and attractive appearance a woman had hoped to achieve through a breast augmentation procedure.
Implant malposition can be treated in many ways depending on a woman’s needs and desired outcome. For example, by supplying the proper support within the breast pocket, a woman’s current implants can be correctly and attractively repositioned. If a woman desires to change the size of her implants — either smaller or larger — or replace her current implants with new ones, she also has these options during revision surgery.
Revision Surgery Can Correct Nipple or Areola Malposition
Factors like the ones mentioned above can also lead to malposition of the nipple or areola, where a woman’s nipple may appear too low or too high on her breast. This may make a woman unhappy with her breast appearance and could also pose practical problems, such as the inability to find bras or bathing suits which adequately cover her breasts. Depending on the individual issues a woman faces, these problems can be remedied in a variety of ways. However, in most cases, a woman can achieve her goal of having well-placed, attractive looking nipples and areolae again after having revision surgery.
Revision Surgery Can Correct Capsular Contracture
The body will naturally form scar tissue around an implant. However, in some women, this condition can present in a much more serious way that can negatively affect how a woman’s breast feel and also cause her pain. If a woman develops significant scar tissue, called capsular contracture, her breasts can feel hard and even painful when touched. Even if her breasts still look attractive, scar tissue can lead to unhappiness with her results and constant discomfort.
To meet a woman’s aesthetic goals and comfort in these cases, her board-certified plastic surgeon will need to remove the original implants and accompanying scar tissue, so that new implants can be carefully reintroduced, avoiding the recurrence of this issue. If a woman has other concerns, such as a desire to have a breast lift, these needs can also be addressed during her revision surgery.
The Importance of Selecting the Right Surgeon for Your Breast Augmentation Revision
When a woman has her initial breast augmentation surgery, she has many choices to make, along with the recommendation of her doctor, and the ability to plan her course of treatment and her final look. Unfortunately, revision breast augmentation procedures do not give women as many options before their surgery.
A woman can communicate her concerns and her desired outcome to her board-certified plastic surgeon during her consultation, but her surgeon must make the decisions to achieve those outcomes during the procedure itself. A surgeon cannot determine the required surgical path to take until they can see the issues within the breast pocket firsthand.
This makes selecting a qualified board-certified plastic surgeon experienced with revision surgeries imperative. You will want to choose a surgeon who can anticipate the various problems which they may encounter during your surgery, handle these issues (whether expected or unexpected) and perform a successful surgery so no further revision will be needed later.
Trust Dr. Lickstein With Your Breast Augmentation Revision Surgery
Dr. Lickstein has built his reputation on performing the most demanding and challenging breast surgeries successfully, and he takes pride in giving his patients satisfaction with their final look and life-long confidence. With his extensive qualifications and experience in microvascular procedures in particular, he’s able to ensure that his revision patients are able to get beautiful results, even in the most complex of cases.
Dr. Lickstein takes a consultative, patient-focused approach, believing that understanding his patients’ needs and goals is the key to giving them the outcome they want. At Lickstein Plastic Surgery, you will be able to enjoy an outstanding level of care in a world-class environment.
During your consultation with Dr. Lickstein, you can explore the many surgical options available to you to resolve your breast augmentation issues safely, eliminate pain or discomfort and achieve your ideal look.
Call Lickstein Plastic Surgery today at 561-571-4000 to schedule your in-person consultation with Dr. Lickstein.
