Although patients are advised to replace their breast implants after 10 to 20 years, there are a number of circumstances under which this may be necessary sooner.

A breast implant revision can be beneficial if your breast augmentation does not produce the natural-looking results you were hoping for, if you experience implant-related issues, or if you have noticed that your natural breast skin is aging and sagging.

Here are seven typical indications that you require revision surgery.

There is pain or discomfort coming from your breast implants.
A breast implant revision may be necessary if the implants are painful or uncomfortable. These conditions include capsular contracture, damaged lymph nodes, a developing seroma, pinched nerves, and improper implant placement. Pain may indicate a ruptured or leaking silicone implant if you have one.

Some patients find implants uncomfortable enough to interfere with their daily lives even when there is no serious problem causing pain. This is especially true if the implant used was too large or improperly placed.

Persistent discomfort or irritability, regardless of the cause, is not a typical side effect of breast augmentation surgery. Patients should make an appointment with their surgeon if they are experiencing either.

Your ruptured breast implant
Implant rupture may result from aging and weakening of the implant shell or abrupt or intense physical pressure (such as that experienced in a car accident).

A saline implant rupture results in a nearly immediate deflation of the affected breast, making diagnosis simple. Similar to IV saline solution, the implant’s saline solution is readily absorbed by the body.

In contrast, because the viscous silicone gel inside silicone implants leaks out gradually, ruptures cannot be detected without an ultrasound or an MRI.

Although a ruptured breast implant is not a medical emergency that poses a risk to life, it is still important to have the implant removed to avoid infection or the formation of excessive internal scar tissue.

Your breast implant has reached its limit.
The breast implant may gradually “bottom out,” or gradually sink below the breast crease, if the skin and tissue are unable to support it. Large or heavy implants are more likely to experience this condition, but post-operative pregnancies or aging-related skin sagging can also result in an implant bottoming out.

Breast drooping is a common occurrence. However, bottomed-out implants cause nipples to move upward as the implants fall lower, in contrast to naturally aging breasts where nipples naturally fall with the breast tissue. Patients frequently have the ability to feel and see the outline of an implant that has bottomed out.

The breast implant you have is rotating or moving.
Over time, breast implants frequently assume a slightly different position. Implants rarely relocate dramatically to a different spot on the chest wall. Implant displacement refers to the different ways an implant can move.

When the implant pocket is too big, it may cause lateral displacement of the implants, which is when the implants move too far away from the chest’s midline. A rare complication known as symmastia, or implants merging in the middle of the chest, is brought on by excessive tissue removal close to the breastbone, which leads to the separation of the muscle between the breasts.

Implant rotation can also be caused by an excessively large implant pocket. Patients might not be able to detect a rotation of a round implant, but a rotation of a teardrop implant results in an unnatural, top-heavy appearance of the breast.

The form of your breast implant has changed.
If an implant ruptures, moves, rotates, bottoms out, or becomes otherwise displaced, the implant’s shape may change.

Implant shape changes typically affect only one breast, or one breast asymmetrically. Even if both implants undergo shape change, the change may not be simultaneous. Although there is no medical risk associated with this asymmetry, it can still cause patients a great deal of emotional distress and make it very challenging to find bras and clothing that fits properly.

Capsular contracture is being brought on by your breast implant.
After any type of medical or cosmetic surgery implant has been inserted, the development of scar tissue is a typical aspect of the healing process. This process is typically advantageous because the scar tissue capsule supports the implant and prevents it from slipping.

However, occasionally the body misinterprets the implant as a potentially harmful foreign object and overproduces scar tissue to isolate it. The overproduction of dense, hard tissue around the breast implant, also known as capsular contracture, can harm the success of the augmentation procedure.

Capsular contracture is categorized into four grades, from mild to severe. Grade one is asymptomatic and has no impact on the implant’s performance. Only minor cosmetic symptoms accompany grade two capsular contracture, leaving the breasts normal in size but firmer to the touch.

Grades three and four capsular contracture results in hard, crooked, and excessively rounded breasts that feel and look unnatural. Breast discomfort is another common symptom of grade four contracture. Patients who have grade three or four capsular contracture typically need to have their breast implants changed.

You dislike the size of your breasts.
While the majority of patients are pleased with their breast augmentation results, some patients discover they wish they had chosen an implant size that was larger or smaller.

Most medical professionals advise waiting about a year after your initial surgery before changing the size of your implants if you want to. This waiting period will not only give your body time to heal completely, but it will also give your implants time to find their final position before you make this important choice.