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Having performed more than 5,000 breast explant surgeries in the last few years, Dr. Polsen’s expertise is immeasurable and will give you the ease that you are in confidentally skilled hands.
One of the highest trending plastic surgery procedures in the Houston area is breast explant surgery. Generally speaking, breast explant surgery is a procedure in which a breast implant is removed, making this procedure’s appeal specific to those who have undergone a breast augmentation of some kind.
Breast explant surgery is capable of removing saline or silicone implants. The end results are breasts that appear to be a more natural size. Former breast augmentation patients elect to undergo this procedure for a wide variety of reasons, from overaged implants to decline in health.
Dr. Polsen, who performs breast explant procedures in the Houston area (including Clear Lake, TX), has a special connection to these patients, as he truly believes he can see an improvement in their health and general quality of life. The success stories are constantly motivating Dr. Polsen and his staff to service this growing community of patients. If you want to know more about whether a breast explant procedure can help you reach your goals and make you more comfortable in your own body, contact our offices to schedule a consultation with Dr. Polsen.
You can call (281) 538-6600 to speak directly with our offices.
Breast explant procedures are relatively popular at this point in time, so there’s some question about who may or may not be a good candidate. In general, candidates for breast explant surgery will wish to remove their breast implants and return to their previous breast size (with some variation in the final size).
Good candidates for breast explant surgery will:
- Currently have either a saline or silicone breast implant
- Not have undergone a fat graft breast augmentation
- Want to achieve a smaller overall breast size
- Have realistic expectations about what breast explant surgery can accomplish
- Be healthy enough for surgery
- Refrain from smoking tobacco products near the time of your procedure and recovery
In some cases, patients want implants removed because they were improperly inserted in the first place. Dr. Polsen has significant experience working with patients who have previously worked with other surgeons. In other cases, it’s the implant that is somehow defective or reached the end of its shelf life, warranting removal. Many patients simply elect to return to their original breast size at this point.
The other major reason that patients tend to be interested in breast explant surgery is because their aesthetic tastes have changed. They no longer feel that larger breasts represent them as an individual, and they wish to transition back down to a smaller breast size. While this choice is always an individual one, it is often tied into larger social influences regarding breast size. Simply put, a patient who feels their breast size no longer reflects who they are as an individual might consider a breast explant procedure for aesthetic purposes.
Ultimately, many patients may have very personal reasons for undergoing a breast explant procedure. And those personal reasons may be quite varied. To a large degree, there’s no wrong answer to the motivational question, although factors such as overall health will often need to be taken into consideration. If you’ve been thinking about undergoing a breast implant revision or breast explant procedure, contact Dr. Polsen today to discuss all of your options and the best way to achieve your desired transformation.
One common questions that patients have regarding breast explant procedures is regarding the differences between an explant and an implant removal procedure. There are, in fact, some similarities between the two procedures. Simply put, however, the difference between an explant procedure and an implant revision can be summed up like this: An explant procedure removes the breast implant, while a revision procedure can replace an implant.
When it comes to techniques, both procedures are remarkably similar. An, when viewed through a certain lens, it makes sense to think of breast explant surgery as a kind of subset of breast implant revision surgery.
- During breast implant revision surgery, the breast implants are removed; patients can elect to replace those implants with a different size, shape, or material. For example, some patients may elect to remove saline implants in favor of silicone implants. Or a patient may elect to change the size of the implants (this sometimes happens during the later life-cycle of the procedure, when patients decide larger implants no longer accurately reflect their character).
- During a breast explant procedure, the implant is simply removed. The breasts are returned to their original size. This is, of course, an option for patients who are undergoing an implant revision procedure; in some ways, it’s just that a “breast explant” tends to be much more clear about what the desired final results are.
In most cases, the patient will make the final determination as to whether an explant procedure or an implant revision procedure will go forward. It depends on the individual patient, the condition of the implants, and the patient’s desired final results. To discuss your implant revision or explant procedure, contact the offices of Dr. Polsen, near Houston, TX, to schedule a confidential consultation.
Most patients who are interested in a breast explant procedure have already undergone a breast augmentation. There are, however, some patients who might be looking into breast explant procedures because they are interested in breast augmentation and they want to know their long term options.
It’s worth pointing out that breast augmentation is still an incredibly popular and successful procedure (indeed, it was the single most popular plastic surgery procedure in the United States in 2018). Breast explant surgery does nothing to undercut the benefits, short term and long term, for breast augmentation patients.
Instead, breast explant surgery simply gives breast augmentation patients another long term option for the best possible results. In most cases, the patient will be in complete control of when the breast explant surgery happens (excluding health concerns or scheduling matters). As such, breast explant surgery gives those breast augmentation patients an option for a procedure down the road that will return their breasts to their original size.
It’s generally advised that patients who undergo a breast explant procedure plan to take at least 1-2 days off of work. The bulk of your recovery will take anywhere from two to four weeks, although everyone heals at a different rate. Dr. Polsen will provide all of his patients with individualized recovery instructions, so as to protect your results and maximize your comfort throughout the process. The vast majority of patients can return to most normal activities within the span of a month or so.
Results from breast explant surgery are especially important to emphasize. Many patients are worried about a significant amount of excess skin after the procedure, but that doesn’t happen for most people. The majority of patients will see their breast size rebound to roughly what it was before the procedure.
Some patients may experience somewhere around a 10% increase in weight or volume of the breasts, due to the development of skin when the implant was in place. But the vast majority of patients will not have to worry about a “deflated” look once the procedure is complete. Instead, the breasts will look very similar to their original appearance.
Dr. Polsen is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, which means that he has been certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. The ABPS is an organization intended to promote safe and ethical practices in plastic surgery, and has introduced a rigorous and voluntary certification program to ensure surgeons are practicing at the pinnacle of their abilities.
Choosing a board certified plastic surgeon, such as Dr. Polsen, means that you can be assured that your surgeon has a significant amount of experience and expertise. Board certification is not an easy status to achieve because it requires surgeons to show–both over time and in a testing environment–the highest levels of education, training, and experience.
Dr. Polsen was certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery in 2002. To find out more about Dr. Polsen and about board certification, contact our Houston offices to schedule a confidential consultation.
