Breast revision surgery

There are many women who suffer from breast-related issues after a breast operation. The initial breast operation may be a breast augmentation, breast lift, breast reduction or breast reconstruction.

Each of these operations can be performed by a numerous of surgical techniques. As in any other profession, some techniques give good results and some techniques do not improve the initial situation, make it worse, or did not maintain a stable result over time.  You may have found the initial result very satisfying, but the aesthetics of your breasts changed over time and now, you don’t like the look of your breasts at all. If you are in this kind of situation, some of these signs and symptoms may look familiar (depending on the initial type of surgery):

• Your breast implants fall below your breast, like they have fallen down below the infra-mammary fold. This gives a “double bubble” appearance. Often, the nipples point upwards as well.

• Your breast tissue sagged down, but the implants have remained in position. The implants now are more visible and palpable, as the breast tissue is not covering them anymore. We call this a “waterfall deformity”.

• You have breast implants, but your breasts do not feel supple anymore. Your implants feel harder and sometimes even hurt. This may be due to “capsular contracture”.

• Your breast implants move when you lift something or push something. This is called “breast implant animation” and is caused by breast implants that have been placed under the chest muscle.

• You experience a more uneven aspect of the cleavage and upper pole and the implants become more visible. This may be a “rippling effect”.

• You previously had a breast lift, but it seems as if the breast has sagged down again: the nipples point downwards, the tissue hangs low and the cleavage is empty.

• You had a breast reconstruction on one side, but never achieved full symmetry between both breasts.

• You do not like the aspect of your reconstructed breast.

• During a medical imaging (ultrasound or MRI), the doctor describes a ruptured implant.

• You are unhappy with your breast implants and want to remove them.

• You have had a previous breast reduction or breast lift, but they lost their initial perky and youthful appearance.

These are the most common problems women face after undergoing some kind of breast surgery. It is very important to realise that every breast is unique and how a breast evolves is very different between patients.  That is why I apply a very patient-tailored approach for this type of surgery. I use all my experience in both aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery to restore the form and shape of a beautiful, natural-looking breast. Depending on the initial surgery you had and the way your breasts look now, I will use different techniques and materials. This may include:

• Changing the implants in case of rupture, capsular contraction, or implant displacement

• Changing the plane where the implants were placed in case of an animation deformity, waterfall deformity or implant rippling

• Removing excess skin to improve breast shape and projection

• Repositioning the nipple-areolar complex to restore the harmony, proportions, and symmetry of your breasts

• Using your own fat to perform fat injections (lipofilling) to improve your cleavage and create a better cover of the implants

• Using tissue flaps of your breasts to improve the breast shape, projection, and proportions

On top of these surgical techniques, there are a lot of little surgical tricks that can be used to create more harmonious breasts that remain stable on the long term. These are again very patient-dependent and I sometimes decide to use certain techniques during surgery, depending on the situation.

During the consultation, I will explain to you the procedure in more detail, with pictures and photographs, as well as which scars to expect and the post-operative care that will be needed. You can expect a down time of 2 weeks, with light dressings.