Breast Revision and Correction in St. Louis MO

On occasion, even careful planning and excellent surgical technique can produce disappointing surgical results or unmet expectations following breast enhancement surgery procedures such as  breast lift or breast augmentation. Revision surgery may help women who are disappointed with their results immediately after breast surgery as well as those who have seen unwelcome changes in their outcome over time. 

Breast revision surgery addresses a broad range of problems and patient desires: implant rupture, capsular contracture, asymmetry, size change desires, etc. If you're not happy with the appearance of your breasts after a prior surgery, revision is an option. 

Female plastic surgeon, Dr. Angela Hulsey, will listen to your concerns, and develop an individualized plan to meet your goals while also being transparent about realistic expectations. 

Patients often see us for:

• Exchange of breast implant type/ larger size
• Removal of breast implants
• Correction of unsatisfactory results of previous breast surgery, whether it be lift or augmentation
• Exchange/ replacement of implants to correct capsular contracture or implant deflation/ rupture

The most common complications seen after breast augmentation include:

• Bottoming out:  Lengthened distance between the nipple and bottom of the breast due to skin stretching, resulting in the implant dropping lower than desired. 
• Fold Malposition:  The inframammary fold or lateral fold has moved, allowing implants to move inferiorly or laterally. 
• Symmastia:  Medial malposition presenting with implants too close together or even touching. 
• Wrinkling and Rippling:  Appearance of implant wrinkles, ripples, or irregular contours on the skin surface. 
• Capsular contracture and rupture of implants are also common.

The quality of the skin that envelops the breast tissue significantly influences the shape of the breasts. Even though breast skin contains special elastic fibers, there is natural and hereditary variation in the amount of elasticity and thickness of each person’s breast skin, which affects the overall appearance of the breasts. Thin breast tissue may not be adequate to mask wrinkling or rippling of a breast implant.

A rippled appearance also may be apparent when the pocket created to contain the breast implant is larger than the size of the implant. If the implant pocket is too large, a breast implant will not be able to maintain a stable position and volume can shift too much to the bottom of the implant. The breast implant should be able to maintain a stable position within the implant pocket to provide a natural and smooth appearance.

Following revisionary breast surgery, patients will need to rest and recover. Strenuous activities should be avoided during recovery, and some bruising and swelling is expected.

Patients can return to work after one to two weeks, as long as there are no demanding physical activities involved. The swelling and bruising should disappear completely after three weeks.