Episode 30: Does Breast Implant Illness Cause Weight Gain?

One of the most common observations that I have from my breast implant patients, particularly those experiencing breast implant illness, is that they experience a gradual or rapid weight gain after some time. While breast implants themselves do not directly cause weight gain, there can be various factors that lead to this connection.

Today, we’re going to shed light on the frequent concern of many people before or after having breast implant surgery as regards whether or not breast implant illness causes weight gain.

Chronic inflammation and weight gain

Breast implants are just a single component of breast implant illness. To gain a comprehensive understanding of BII, it is crucial to adopt a holistic approach, recognizing that it comprises a constellation of symptoms akin to chronic inflammation.

We have to take note, however, that there’s already an acute inflammation during the operation considering that we have to make an incision and separate tissues to proceed with the operation. Consequently, we monitor the healing process after the operation. Undoubtedly, there may be redness, swelling, or pain as this is a stress response of the body to the injury.

Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, is when there is an excessive and persistent level of inflammation throughout various systems within the body. This constant inflammation can disrupt the normal signaling processes in the body, causing a state where the body struggles to turn off the inflammatory response. Since the signals of the body are overworked, they don’t turn off anymore causing confusion to the provider as there may be several issues connected to breast implant illness.

As compared to acute inflammation, the body’s stress responses in the form of redness, swelling, pain, or others are more constant. For example, because the signals have never turned off, we get chronic swelling. Because of the chronic inflammation, the patient gradually gains weight which may speed up due to exposure to other factors or some life experience that may trigger weight gain.

While chronic inflammation may not be the only cause of weight gain, it increases the likelihood of a patient gaining weight, especially when combined with other factors such as dietary choices, lifestyle changes, or stressors that trigger overeating or decreased physical activity. That’s why it’s vital for us to address chronic inflammation and weight gain together as they are crucial aspects in breast implant illness.

What do we do to help our patients?

As much as we can, we take a more holistic approach that highly takes into consideration the health of our patients to ensure better results. That is why our program includes testing for genetics, hormones, food sensitivity, gut microbiome, and toxicity. These tests, alongside supplementation and detoxification, greatly help in lowering inflammation.