Episode 17: What is Breast Explant Surgery?

Breast explant surgery or breast implant removal is a surgical procedure commonly done for various reasons such as implant issues, breast reconstruction, implant rupture, dissatisfaction with the appearance of the implants, or other cosmetic purposes.

In breast explant surgery, the implants alone may be removed or the surrounding scar tissue may also be included. In some circumstances, a breast lift may be done with the explant procedure to enhance the look of the breasts.

In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss what breast explant surgery is and why people want to undergo such surgery.

What is breast explant surgery?

When we’re talking about breast explant surgery, we’re referring to the removal of breast implants and any scar tissue formed around the implants. Nowadays, many plastic surgeons do explants for various reasons.

My approach to explant surgery is to everything out in its entirety, which is why many people seek me out for that very reason. Typically, my clients are those who had a placement of a device either for cancer reconstruction or other cosmetic purposes and are experiencing symptoms associated with breast implant illness.

The most common symptoms experienced by my patients are anxiety, depression, brain fog, dry eyes, headache, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, nerve pain down their arms or legs, joint pain, and other gastrointestinal issues.

Oftentimes, patients find me through what I offer in terms of holistic rejuvenation with fat transfer. In fact, I’ve been doing fat transfer since the 2000s for cancer reconstruction and other cosmetic purposes. I'm very comfortable with doing these operations and I have already refined my process, having done over 1,500 fat transfers.

Why do I prefer fat transfer?

When it comes to breast lifts, we have different kinds of techniques such as vertical, crescent, peri-areolar, and anchor breast lifts. The patients may have a preferred kind but it actually depends on the necessity.

If the patient had a peri-areolar placement, then we try to use that scar and remove the implant intact through it. The average length of a surgery is about two and a half hours. If we add a lifting procedure, it's a little over three hours.

If I'm doing a combination procedure of fat removal to be used for fat transfer, it usually takes between four to five hours. The main reason as to why I like to use fat is because it's your own tissue. It has actually been used as a filler for over 100 years.

Besides providing or enhancing the breast volume, it also helps offset some visual changes that the patient's not happy with. This is why as much as I can, I try to help patients learn about fat transfers and make them understand from my perspective.