Is It Time To Remove Your Breast Implants: An Expert's Opinion

Over the past 25 years of my private practice of Plastic Surgery in Scottsdale, AZ, I have inserted and removed thousands of breast implants in patients of all ages and body shapes creating beautiful and natural looking results. My patients are thrilled with their new soft, natural looking breasts that perfectly balance out their proportions.

However, over the past 3 years I have witnessed a significant increase in the number of women requesting to have their breast implants removed. Some of the patients are my previous patients while others come from other surgeons. What has changed over the last few years to drive this emerging trend? Here are the reasons I hear directly from patients.

1. Possibility of Breast Implant Illness (BII)

Some patients present with a myriad of symptoms ranging from GI distress, joint pains, skin rashes, fatigue, headaches and brain fog. Their primary care doctors cannot find a cause for these symptoms so their attention turns toward their breast implants.

The possibility of an illness caused by breast implants is nothing new and has been around for decades. This topic has been studied extensively in the plastic surgery literature with no real documented, peer reviewed study confirming its existence. However, BII is still being studied extensively and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons has created a task force to continue to study this issue, which tells me that we still don’t have all the answers.

When a patient presents to my office requesting her breast implants be removed because of the possibility of BII, I like to make she has been carefully worked up by her primary care doctors to eliminate all other potential diagnoses before we take out the implants. Of the patients I have treated with possible BII, some have noticed an improvement in their symptoms, some have not.

2. Women No Longer Desire Larger Breasts

Many women are looking for a leaner, more athletic figure and the implants that they liked years ago, no longer fit into their current, more athletic lifestyle. Many celebrities, such as Chrissy Tiegen, are having their implants removed to improve their proportions and create a leaner physique.

3. Complications with Breast Implants

Some patients experience complications with their implants such as capsular contracture, or rupture, resulting in asymmetry, shape distortion and pain. By removing their implants, they no longer need to worry about future complications that could recur if they were to simply exchange their implants for new ones.

If you are experiencing any of the above issues or simply want your implants removed for any reason, call my office today for a complimentary consultation. Plenty of patients travel to our Scottsdale, AZ office to ensure they have an experienced plastic surgeon to help with their breast implant removal.