One of the more surprisingly aspects of breast augmentation surgery is hearing for the first time that breast implants are not permanent. They will not last forever – in fact, ALL breast implants break eventually. When an implant breaks, depending on the type of breast implant in question – whether silicone gel or saline gel, the woman may or may not be aware that a rupture has occurred. For saline implants, the breast shape will change almost at once as the saline leaks out, but for silicone, leaks move very slowly and are slow to impact the shape or size of the breast, making it very hard to detect. This problem was addressed in another related to the cost of MRI’s as related to breast augmentation.
Knowing that at some point all breast implants break, what does this mean insofar as what to do next?
When an implant has been idenfitied as breaking, the most common response is to have a second cosmetic surgery in order to have it replaced. Of course, first the existing implant must be removed. Surgery to replace breast implants is known as “explantation surgery.” It is rarely covered by health insurance companies, even if the lack of the surgery poses a health risk for the woman. The cost of explantation surgery is one more factor that should be considered when looking at breast augmentation costs.
As with any surgery, careful consideration should be placed into choosing the best surgeon for the job. This means that the surgeon removing the implant needs to be skilled at removal. This is in contrast to a surgeon who is mainly skilled at inserting implants versus removing them.
It’s also important to clarify if the removal is going to involve the implant itself or the implant plus the collagen fibers built around the implant, also referred to as scar tissue. This is an important point to note because in the case of silicone implants, the leaked silicone often can become trapped in the scar tissue. This is not bad in and of itself, as it keeps the leak contained, but sometimes it doesn’t fully contain the link and it spreads to other areas of the body, presenting a serious health risk. This is why it’s better to remove the implant and scar tissue entire. Surgeons calls this “en bloc”. Again, this means a more complicated and detailed procedure, which is going to translate to higher costs which then gets pushed upon the patient.
The cost of removing an implant ranges from $5,000 to $10,000. If there are complications or additional details to settle, the price will go up.
Next we’ll look at breast augmentation and replacement surgery costs.
