There are many women, all over the world, who have undergone breast augmentation surgery. However, breast prostheses or implants are not for life. In fact, current implants have an estimated lifespan of 15 to 20 years. Once this time has passed, professionals recommend replacement or removal or explantation.
Implantation or replacement?
In most cases, patients prefer to replace the implant with another one that is the same size or larger. Precisely, the current trend is to place larger implants than 15 years ago. When replacing the implant, an intervention is performed which, in turn, is used to improve the shape, achieving a more favorable aesthetic result of the breast.
In other cases, on the other hand, the patient requests to change the implant for a smaller size or its removal. Patients who request this procedure are generally between 50 and 55 years of age or older. If the patient so requests, a correction of the shape of the breast can be made after removal or explantation of the implant, since after removal the breast may appear flattened and descended. This correction is performed through breast lift surgery, also known as mastopexy.
About three months after the removal of the implant or mastopexy, the specialist doctor can suggest to the patient a technique to increase the volume of the breast without resorting to a prosthesis. This technique is lipofilling or breast augmentation with the patient’s own fat.
How to know the condition of the breast implants?
Women over 40 who have undergone breast augmentation surgery may have doubts about the condition of their breast implants. For this reason, specialists recommend periodic controls through ultrasound and mammography. In this way, the patient will be able to know and control the state of the implants and, at the same time, will be controlling the state of the breast in terms of early diagnosis of breast cancer.
Patients under 40 years of age, with no family history of breast cancer, can control the breast implant by means of ultrasound. In the event that the ultrasound shows any alteration, an MRI can be used.
What to do if the breast implant is ruptured
If the breast implant is broken, it is mandatory to replace it. Although it is not an emergency, it is important not to delay its removal, because it can lead to problems.
Recovery of second interventions on breasts
When a reoperation is performed on breasts that have already been operated on previously, the recovery is less uncomfortable than in the initial surgery. Thus, the degree of satisfaction achieved after this second operation is usually high.