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    Breast Implant Rupture

    Dr Motykie sees women from all over the world with many different styles, types and brands of breast implants.  He is therefore familiar with each implants problems including rupture rates and types of filler material. Although not a common occurrence, breast implant deflation can occur spontaneously or following trauma to the breast. When a rupture does occur, the cause may be due to several different factors but often times the cause is simply unknown.  Although the rupture of implant is not an emergency, it is important to have a replacement surgery in the nearest possible future in order to reduce the amount of pocket collapse and possible formation of internal scar tissue (capsular contracture).

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    If you have a saline breast implant and it ruptures, you will notice that one side is smaller than the other (almost like a flat tire). This process generally happens quickly and it is generally noticeable within the same day as the rupture of the implant. The saline poses no danger to your body since it is simply salt water solution. Although the rupture of silicone breast implants has a somewhat checkered past, the new generation silicone implants are designed to maintain their shape even with a rupture. These implants contain a cohesive gel which is more a “solid” than the old “liquid” silicone gel implants of the past. If a modern silicone implant develops a leak it is called a “silent” leak because it is common not to have any signs or symptoms that the implant is leaking. The only way to prove a silicone implant is leaking is to have an MRI scan of the suspected breast or an exploration breast surgery. The leaking silicone has not been shown to have any detrimental effects on your body after extensive studies over many years. In the event of a rupture or deflation, the breast implant is removed and replaced with a new one. However, the breast implants available today have very strong and durable shells which have made their rupture rates very low in comparison to older breast implants. For this reason, these new breast implants generally come with a life-time warranty form the manufacturing company compared to the warranty of older implants which tended to be only 10 years in length.  If one implant ruptures and the other implant is many years old, I generally recommend replacement of the other implant at the same time as the deflated implant. A rupture event is also an opportunity to change the type, size or style of your current breast implants.

    To find out more about breast surgery please contact us at 310-246-2355

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