Breast Augmentation - Complications

When a breast implant is inserted, a scar capsule forms around it as part of the natural healing process. In two out of every one hundred patients the capsule may tighten and compress the implant, causing the breast to feel firmer than normal. Capsular contracture can occur to varying degrees. If it is severe, it can cause discomfort or changes in the breast's appearance. In such cases, more surgery may be needed to modify or remove the scar tissue, or perhaps remove or replace the implant with the patients own fat, something our surgeons in Germany pioneered. Capsular contraction is less likely to occur if the patient massages her breast for ten minutes twice a day for two month after removing the stitches. 

An infection should it occur usually manifest itself within the next three weeks after implantation. This complication occurs in one out of one hundred patients. Should it happen, it would necessitate the removal of the implant and the use of antibiotics. Re-implantation can be done three months later once we are sure that the infection has cleared. The end result is usually as good as there was never an infection. However the interim period is hard on the disappointed patient. Choosing a surgical hospital such as our Emirates Hospitals - a hospital that admits no patients except for clean elective surgery - goes a long way towards minimizing the occurrence of infections. 

A small asymmetry in breast shape is not uncommon. Patients should realize that 90% of women have nonsymmetrical breasts. Breast implants are not lifetime devices and cannot be expected to last forever. If a saline filled implant breaks, its contents are harmlessly absorbed by the body within hours. On the other hand, silicone implants are guaranteed to stay intact for ten years. My advice, if you do not want to take any chances, is to go for a silicone implant which gives the most natural feeling but to replace the implants every ten to fifteen years as the capsule gets weaker after that period and could possibly allow silicone to leak into the surrounding areas creating hard to remove internal scar tissue.