Breast implants are often replaced due to wear and tear but there is no set schedule. The determining factor is how active you are.

When it’s time to replace a breast implant, patients often go to a breast revision specialist. That’s a plastic surgeon who specializes in the complications sometimes encountered by breast enhancement patients.

Those complications can include:

• Capsular contracture - Scar tissue forms around the implant, making the breast feel hard. According to one study, there’s a 16 percent chance of developing it within seven years of having breast implant surgery.
• Bleeding - One of the many good reasons your cosmetic surgeon wants to see you the morning after your procedure. Given competent hands, bleeding quickly reveals itself and is easily controlled.
• Infections - Plastic surgeons give breast enlargement patients antibiotics before surgery to stop infections. Why? If an infection develops, the implant often must be removed until the body heals.
• Patient change of mind - After healing, many women decide they should have gone bigger and ask for a second procedure with larger implants.
• Implant rupture - A saline implant leak causes that breast to deflate, mandating replacement. Silicone leaks are harder to detect. (More about breast implant ruptures in our previous post.)
• Wrinkling - Usually takes place in thin women who have saline implants placed above the chest muscle; the wrinkling is seen and felt through the skin. The implants are usually replaced.
• Bottoming out - A rare occurrence, the breast implants fall from their pocket into the lower part of the breast, forcing the nipples to point up. Larger implants are more prone to falling down inside the breast.



• “Uniboob” - An extremely rare occurrence, two implants roll together over the breast bone, or sternum. A very difficult surgical procedure is required; it’s a combination of breast surgery procedures, including a breast lift.

Moreover, board-certified plastic surgeons will have seen all these conditions, know what to do to prevent them and how to make the necessary repairs.

Going with the cheapest breast augmentation can be the most expensive decision you ever made!

But they do last many human years; Nonetheless, patients often ask what signs they should look for in case of failure.

The obvious symptoms depend on if the implant is:

• Silicone
• Saline

Saline implants are the most numerous although silicone is closing the gap due to a patient preference for a softer feel and look.

Silicone implants weren’t available from 1992 to 2006, so the vast majority of breast implants currently are saline.

All implants are well designed with an extremely strong and long-lasting shell. Neither of the fluids will make you sick if leakage does happen.

But movement does cause wear which brings its traveling companion tear. You may have heard of wear and tear in relation to cars but the same situation exists with breast implants.

As time goes on, wear and tear and the movement of the implants inside your body may cause a saline implant to tear and leak.

Those in the know – plastic surgeons – say the possibility of a rupture exists anywhere from day one to year 10. In reality, however, the vast majority of implants last at least a decade. Some last twice as long.

If a saline leak happens, the breast loses its fullness and appears deflated or dented quickly. You will definitely notice and bring it to the attention of your plastic surgeon who can recommend the best course of action.

However, silicone is much thicker and stays within the pocket the surgeon created inside your chest to hold the implant. So the affected breast will retain most of its shape.

A silicone leak is harder to detect and more expensive to replace. That’s probably why many silicone implants come with a warranty which can help with the costs of a replacement or revision breast surgery.

If you have silicone implants, the FDA recommends having an MRI – which is 95 percent accurate – three years after surgery and then after every two years.

But the picture is muddied a bit by the chances of capsular contracture, a common complication. Saline has about a 15 percent chance.

But with silicone, it is only five percent.

Like choices everywhere, it’s six of one or a half dozen of another!

But among the possible risks that rear its troublesome head from time to time, a small percentage of these breast enhancement patients will report back to their surgeons, fearing that the implant is leaking or has broken.

All breast augmentation patients should be told about a possible replacement some time during their lifetimes during the first consult with the plastic surgeon, along with any other risks involved in undergoing a breast augmentation procedure.

One major manufacturer of implants published several studies revealing the deflation rates of saline implants. Approximately 3% of implants will deflate 5 years after undergoing the breast enhancement procedure. Overall, saline implants are estimated to have a lifespan of 10 to 12 years. Nonetheless, there is no expiration date or when a breast implant must be removed or exchanged.

For saline-filled breast implants, a leakage would not pose a health risk because this type of implant is filled with salt water, which is easily absorbed by the body.

According to the ASAPS, there is no one good medical test to show if a saline breast implant is leaking.

But signs that may indicate leaking include”

• a change in breast shape
• the breast deflating, much like air being released from a balloon.
• pain and/or tenderness

In some instances a silent rupture can occur and there are no signs at all.

For silicone implants, an MRI may be required. Each patient is unique; some women do not respond to silicone at all, while yet others do.

The technique for removing old or leaking breast implants is a surgical specialty known as explantation.

Your surgeon should be board-certified in plastic surgery and able to show you many before and after pictures of explantation.

Fortunately, some of the newer breast implants come with a warranty which may help with the cost of replacement.