As you might imagine, there are many surgical procedures that might go under the umbrella of breast augmentation revision, for any given woman. Besides the great variability among individuals, there are many different scenarios that might exist as a result of the prior surgery.
There are also a number of options to sort through in planning the revision procedure. In some sense it may be difficult to generalize into representative cases, predict “average” prices and specific scar placement. That said, we can walk through some of the factors that make up breast augmentation revision and the possible differences in surgical complexity, price, pain and scars.
Price
What Does Breast Augmentation Revision Actually Cost?
It’s going to be more costly than your primary breast implant procedure. First of all, depending upon how long ago your first surgery took place, pricing will have gone up over time. Naturally, the technology that goes into breast augmentation revision has also progressed considerably—even in the last few years.
As time marches on, luckily, it often brings many more positive things than negatives. As we’ve touched on in other posts, there are many costs involved in any plastic or breast surgery, whether primary, secondary, revision, corrective, reconstructive, major or minor.
The highest cost of breast implant revision, one that you must avoid, is regret. To avoid the too-high costs of breast surgery, don’t rush your decision to have surgery (unless it’s a health issue) and don’t rush your choice of the right surgeon for you.
There’s only one way to get realistic and accurate specifics about your case and costs: talk to us in our Bergen County offices. We can examine you and evaluate your situation in detail at your consultation and then explain the pricing/costs.
There is no fee involved for consultation at Cohen/Winters. But for now, let’s look first at the complexity involved in breast implant revision surgery.
Complexity
Your Breast Implants: What’s Gone Wrong? or What Needs Improvement?
Here are some of the common, complex surgical issues, aesthetic concerns and health problems that we diagnose and correct during breast augmentation revision in our NJ practice:
- Rotated implant (post-operative movement/displacement).
- Uneven breasts/implants (in size or alignment).
- Misshapen breasts or nipples, or poor nipple placement.
- Capsular contracture (causes scar tissue-deformed, often painful, breasts).
- Excessive scarring where skin was previously sutured; or too large or badly placed incisions.
- Leaking of, or allergy to, implants or health problems that may involve leaked contents of old implants (leaking is not always observable to the naked eye with old silicone implants).
- A deflated implant (happens to old saline implants and is noticeable/obvious).
- Overly large implants that now feel too big, too heavy or perhaps just don’t fit your style these days.
- Too-small implants, which might occur if you have had significant weight loss or pregnancies after your initial breast augmentation; or maybe you’ve changed your mind about ideal size.
- Too-round implants, which women have described as “2 balls sitting on my ribcage,” may mean the wrong shape of implant was chosen or contracture has occurred, implants may be too high profile or placed too high on the chest.
- Collapsed pockets causing pain (may make implants sit lower and nipples appear higher so that they just look “wrong”).
- Poor positioning: Your prior surgeon may have placed your breast implants too high or too close together (or both) resulting in an unnatural or unattractive appearance in low cut shirts.
- No cleavage: A positioning problem where implants are placed too far apart.
- Loose skin below the breast, which may look like the skin is hanging off of (or over top of) the implant, with nipple sometimes pointing downward.
- Symnastia, where your implants have melded into one, connecting in the middle.
Pain
Will Breast Surgery Hurt Worse the Second Time Around?
You typically will not experience any more pain after we have performed your breast augmentation reduction, compared to your first surgery. (If you are lucky enough to have forgotten the pain of your first implant surgery, a comparison will be difficult, however.)
Top NJ breast surgeons are very focused on minimizing pain. Cohen/Winters uses the most highly regarded anesthesiologists to ensure your safety and avoid pain, during and immediately after surgery.
In our practice, we also use the latest surgical equipment and patient monitoring to minimize surgical pain. In addition, over the years, I have developed advanced techniques for gently handling breast tissue while removing and replacing breast implants and lifting or reshaping your breasts. We always work to minimize any nerve irritation and tissue trauma.
How We Minimize Pain in Breast Implant Replacement Surgery
All of our precise surgical techniques and patient safeguards help us to minimize post-surgical pain and speed healing. There are, of course, some cases where scar tissue had grown excessively or other issues require more-than-average tissue removal in your breast augmentation revision.
Differences in pain level are also dependent upon the technique used in your prior surgery and prior implant placement in relation to muscle. You must expect some pain – that is always well controlled with our prescribed medications and post-surgical care.
Patients typically comment that they feel minimal pain (and quite a bit of discomfort) during healing. If you feel excessive pain or experience unpleasant symptoms during your healing and recovery period, the surgeons at Cohen/Winters are always available to help you, 24/7.
Scars
Internal Scar Tissue: A Challenge in Breast Augmentation Revision Surgery
One of the biggest conundrums faced by plastic and reconstructive breast surgeons is: building a surgical plan around scar tissue that has hardened around older breast implants. Scar tissue formation can distort the shape of your breasts, and it is what makes capsular contracture so disfiguring and painful for women with older or improperly placed implants. Scar tissue not only makes planning surgery complex, it also can cause issues on-the-fly during surgery.
The good news is that the best breast surgeons – true specialists in breast reconstruction and revisions – are experienced in making quick decisions for optimal surgical outcomes. A look at before and after photos, our spotless surgical record with the state of NJ and excellent patient feedback demonstrate our skill and sound surgical judgment.
Your Old Incision Scars: We Will Work to Improve Them
So far we’ve been referring to scar tissue that’s inside the body around your old breast implants. But the scars you see in the mirror every day, the scars from your prior surgical wound, are a common dissatisfaction that women with breast implants face.
Sometimes ugly, thick, discolored and excessive breast implant scars are due to poor healing for genetic reasons or from lifestyle choices like smoking. In some cases stress can interfere with healing unpredictably as well. (That’s why you must not go into surgery until you’re confident in the surgeon and the surgical plan. Low stress speeds healing!)
The good news is, your scarring can be improved (less noticeable) the second time around after healing is complete. When we perform breast revisions, we plan how we might re-use old incisions or remove the old scars altogether.
At Cohen/Winters, our patients typically have less scarring after our revision and corrective breast surgery. Surgical technique and details like evenly distributed (and minimized) pressure on incisions when placing breast implants and placing them properly above or below the chest muscles, greatly affects your scar outcome. If we can minimize your old scarring, and avoid excessive new ones, we will always do so.
Look for Experience, Skill and Dedication
How Top Surgeons Achieve Success in Breast Augmentation Revision
Advance planning, done by top surgeons for your unique breast revision surgery is partly responsible for our excellent satisfaction rate. It is actually common for the human body to throw curves at a surgeon when he or she is performing a delicate surgical procedure.
Even the best plans may need adjustment to achieve your goal and a good outcome. Don’t be unduly concerned because part of the reason you will choose a top breast surgeon is this: we have the experience and well-honed surgical judgment to handle surprises. Our experience and skill helps us avoid surprises too. That careful planning stage helps us keep your breast augmentation revision on track for success.
We advise you to avoid any surgeon who does not clearly explain to you how your breast implant goals will be achieved. You don’t want to trust a surgeon who has no advance plan, or feels it is not your business how your breast revision is accomplished. You’ll get an excellent sense of honesty and trustworthiness after meeting and talking with an expert breast implant revision surgeon; helping you choose wisely.
Get Personalized, Expert Answers
We’ll Help You: Avoid the Greatest Costs of Breast Augmentation Revision
The highest price you can ever pay for surgery is regret and disappointment. You can avoid that high price with careful research and choice of an expert surgeon. Dr. Winters and I, as top NJ breast surgeons, are dedicated to minimizing the overall cost of your procedure. That includes minimizing your risk of a less-than-stellar result, through precise attention to detail, surgical expertise, years of experience and patient-focused practice.
At Cohen/Winters, we are completely dedicated to achieving the best result for each woman who crosses our threshold. In fact, when you’re ready to consult with us as a prospective patient, we are happy to help you with valuable, professional and specific information on your unique surgical plan and candidacy. We offer a consultation and assessment (free of charge) as part of our mission to practice restorative medicine through plastic and reconstructive surgery.
