If you’re thinking about breast augmentation surgery, know that it’s a safe procedure. The most common risks associated with the procedure include infection, bleeding and blood clots.
Risks vary depending on your age and medical history as well as whether or not you’re pregnant at the time of your surgery. Talk to your surgeon about any concerns or questions so they can help guide you through the process safely and comfortably!
In this guide, we review When Do Breast Augmentation Stitches Dissolve, symptoms of torn internal stitches breast augmentation, ripped stitches after breast augmentation, and signs of breast implant problems.
When Do Breast Augmentation Stitches Dissolve
Breast augmentation is a cosmetic procedure that involves the use of breast implants to increase breast size. There are two different types of breast implants, saline and silicone. Both can be used in combination with breast augmentation surgery. Surgical procedures for augmentation include:
- Submuscular placement (the implant is placed under the muscle) or subglandular placement (the implant is placed over the muscle).
- Choose between closed-suction drainage or open-suction drainage during surgery—closed suction drains fluid and blood from your body without needing stitches, whereas open suction requires stitches to close wounds after surgery
After breast augmentation, sutures are placed in the skin to hold the wound closed.
After breast augmentation, sutures are placed in the skin to hold the wound closed. Sutures can be used for several different purposes:
- To hold the breast implant in place during healing
- To close the incision after surgery
- To close any pockets where fat or tissue was removed
There are two types of stitches used after breast augmentation surgery.
There are two types of stitches used after breast augmentation surgery. The first is an absorbable suture, which dissolves in the body, and the second is a non-absorbable suture that remains in place until it’s removed by the doctor.
- Absorbable Sutures: These dissolve on their own and are not removed by you or your surgeon.
- Non-Absorbable Sutures: These will be removed at your follow-up appointment with your plastic surgeon, typically four to six weeks after surgery.
The first type is absorbable suture that dissolves in the skin.
If you’ve had a breast augmentation, you may have heard about dissolvable sutures. This type of suture is used in many surgeries and dissolves in the skin. There are two main types of absorbable sutures: nylon and polypropylene. Nylon is made from a natural material called cellulose that comes from trees, which means it’s biodegradable–or able to be broken down by living things such as plants or animals (in this case, your body). Polypropylene was invented by DuPont Corporation scientists in 1938; it’s also made from petroleum products like oil and gas, so it’s also biodegradable but not quite as fast-acting as nylon.
Both types dissolve into water molecules over time after being exposed to air at room temperature; however, they differ significantly in how long they take before they’re completely gone: nylon takes 36 weeks while polypropylene takes 18 weeks!
The second type of sutures used after breast augmentation surgery are skin tapes, or steri-strips.
The second type of sutures used after breast augmentation surgery are skin tapes, or steri-strips. These adhesive strips are placed on the incision line and help hold it closed during healing. Steri-strips are removed after 10 days or when they no longer stick to the skin (usually about 7 days).
Steri-strips can be painful when removed because they pull at your skin tissue as you peel them off. If you experience pain from suture removal, ask your doctor if there’s anything that can be done to make this process easier for you–for example, taking an ibuprofen before having your stitches taken out may reduce discomfort from having them removed by a nurse or physician assistant at home.
Steri-strips have been known to leave behind small scars where they were attached; however, these marks should fade over time if left alone without further intervention such as laser treatments or other cosmetic procedures designed specifically for scar reduction
Typically, the majority of dissolvable sutures dissolve by 1 month after surgery.
Dissolvable sutures typically dissolve within 1 month after surgery. Some dissolvable sutures can take up to 6 months to dissolve. If you have breast augmentation stitches that are still present after 2 months, please contact your surgeon immediately so they can remove them and examine the incisions for signs of infection or other complications.
If you have any questions about when do breast augmentation stitches dissolve, please ask us! We’re happy to help!
symptoms of torn internal stitches breast augmentation
Breast augmentation is the most common surgery in the United States but like any surgery, no matter how routine, cosmetic or not, there is always the potential for risks and complications. The likelihood is very rare, however, breast augmentation is no exception.
If you are considering breast augmentation or any surgical procedure for that matter, it is highly likely that you have some concerns about the potential complications that could occur when you go under the knife.
It is important to recognize that while the FDA has approved both silicone gel and saline breast implants as safe for implantation, there are, nonetheless, specific risks that come with breast augmentation surgery. We encourage patients to consider the risks carefully, but also to understand that any reputable plastic surgeon will take every precaution to minimize them with the patient’s safety and care as the utmost importance.
Unfortunately, complications do happen and while they are a rare occurrence, at Austin-Weston, The Center for Cosmetic Surgery, our plastic surgeons see it as a personal responsibility to patients not to sugarcoat or downplay the possibilities.
So, let’s consider the most common complications in a measured way. Just as patients take precautions to avoid complications after breast surgery, the doctor will take precautions too. With thousands of successful surgeries under our belt, we’ve learned what works and what does not, which has led us to emphasize certain aspects of a patient’s post-operative care to minimize risk.
1. Bleeding
Immediately after surgery, the biggest risk is excess bleeding. Therefore, on the first day after surgery, we see you back in the office to check you for any evidence of blood in the implant pocket. If we find that there is bleeding, we take you back to one of our operating rooms, treat you, and you’re good to go – typically in about 20 minutes.
It’s one of the great things about having our state-of-the-art facility, fully equipped with operating rooms and a full-time surgical staff on hand. You aren’t inconvenienced by having to travel to a hospital or coordinating schedules around the operating room. Our patients are our primary focus.
2. Incision Issues
Infection can occur with any surgery, whether cosmetic or medically necessary. Most infections resulting from surgery appear within a few days to weeks after the operation. However, there is a possibility of infection to occur any time after surgery. In addition, breast and nipple piercing procedures may increase the possibility of infection. Infections and tissue with an implant present are harder to treat infections and tissue without an implant. And infinite if an infection does not respond to antibiotics implant may have to be remitted and another implant maybe place after the faction is resolved and cleared up.
At your one-week post-op appointment, your doctor will clean the incision (using special tape to help minimize scarring) and check to make sure you are healing properly. Most breast augmentation stitches are internal and will dissolve on their own. It goes without saying, that it’s critical you go to all your post-op appointments!
3. High Implants
In addition to bleeding and wound healing issues, in rare cases, implants can sit up too high after surgery. This is often an indication of an early capsular contracture. So, during your one-month check-up, if your surgeon notices that the implants aren’t coming down, he will prescribe oral medication that softens the early scar and typically allows the implant to settle down into place.
4. Capsular Contracture
At the three-month mark, the risk of capsular contracture and implant malposition can occur. Don’t let the complicated medical terms scare you off just yet; these concepts behind these complications are easily explained.
Any time any implant is placed in the body, the body heals itself by building a wall of tissue around that implant. This is just as true for hip implants as it is for breast implants. In most cases, this “capsule” or scar tissue is thin and not noticeable. But in some cases, bacteria grow on the implant and as your body attempts to fight off the infection, a hardening of the capsule can occur. In most cases, this complication is usually preceded by discomfort, and if your surgeon catches it in this stage, medications can treat it. So, if you experience any unexplained breast tenderness months after surgery, the best plan is to call and talk to your doctor. Again, if we catch the process early before the breast hardens, it can likely be treated with antibiotics.
5. Implant Malposition
Much like capsular contracture (mentioned above), implant malposition can occur and become detectable at three-months post-op. Although our hope is always for the breast and the implant to “read” as a single unit, occasionally an implant can drop below the breast or move toward the armpit. The way resolution for surgically fixing this will depend on the exact circumstances and will vary per patient, but our surgeons will go over your treatment options carefully. The good news is that these complications happen so rarely in our practice that we cover any surgical costs you might have otherwise incurred.
6. Implant Rupture
The usual cause of an implant rupture is when the implant folds over and ends up rubbing up against itself, causing a hole or tear in the shell of the implant that allows silicone gel filler material to leak from the shell.
Two types of implant ruptures can occur:
When it comes to implant rupture, it’s important to recognize that there is a lot of misinformation floating around online. You are not likely to rupture an implant during a car accident or mammogram. Reputable surgeons will tell you that we don’t even have good statistics on the rate of silicone implant rupture because often when it happens, the silicone stays in the pocket and requires no further intervention. We call these “silent” ruptures.
We do know, however, that saline implants rupture at a 0.5% rate per year.
The FDA encourages women to have MRI examinations every 2-5 years to detect the possibility of a silent rupture and ensure breast implants are fully intact. Your surgeon can avoid the risk of rupture by selecting an implant specific to each patient’s anatomy. To make this easier, implant manufacturers today make many different sizes and shapes making it easier to custom-fit to your body.
The bottom line is that the risk of implant rupture has been greatly reduced – even over the past decade. The key to reducing the risk of implant rupture is contacting your doctor immediately if you experience anything unusual.
7. Breastfeeding after Breast Augmentation
Women very rarely experience breastfeeding complications after a breast augmentation procedure. The most common cause here is nipple numbness. When the nipple is numb, suckling, which normally sends the signal to have the milk drop down, may not be enough to stimulate milk flow.
On average, there’s roughly a 90% chance you will be able to breastfeed after surgery, on the assumption that you were able to breastfeed before the surgery.
Typically, the breast implant is inserted under the muscle (it can be placed above the muscle as well) but doing so should not affect the direct relationship between the breast glands and the nipple. A perioral incision (around the colored portion surrounding the nipple) has a higher chance of difficulty breastfeeding.
However, we have also seen even women experiencing nipple numbness, who are completely able to breastfeed. Because breast implant surgery does not interrupt the ducts or glands that carry breast milk, breastfeeding is perfectly possible in the clear majority of cases.
How to Minimize Breast Augmentation Risks
While all medical procedures involve some level of risk, a breast augmentation no exception, there are several things you can do to reduce your risk of complications before and after surgery. But there are several steps you can take to increase your odds of having a successful procedure:
Select a plastic surgeon.
One of the most important ways to reduce risk is to select a plastic surgeon to ensure that your doctors have extensive surgical training, has passed rigorous testing and is current on all the latest surgical techniques and advancements of patient safety. It’s best to choose a doctor with both general surgical training and experience specifically with plastic surgery.
The skilled surgeons at Austin-Weston have performed thousands of breast augmentation procedures, with more than 75 years of combined experience, and voted “top doctors” and “best of” Northern Virginia and Washington DC.
Do your due diligence and research beforehand.
Become an educated consumer by researching your plastic surgeon, the surgical facility, and the procedure itself. Know what to expect from the beginning of your cosmetic surgery journey, to ensure you are fully prepared and comfortable with your decision.
Never hesitate to ask questions along the way.
Arrive at your consultation with a list of questions for your surgeon. Our surgeons and expert staff are more than happy to answer all questions to your satisfaction and encourage patients to schedule as many consultation appointments needed until you are completely comfortable with your decision to commit to surgery. Download our consultation checklist for a list of suggested questions and suggestions to discuss at your consultation to ensure you are as thorough as possible.
Patient Safety is a Team Effort
When you’re considering surgery, no matter how routine, it’s always smart to understand the risks involved. At Austin-Weston, The Center for Cosmetic Surgery, we encourage all patients to be their own best health advocates. Our surgeons are here to answer any questions and to ensure that your procedure goes as smoothly as possible.
It’s important to remember that high standards of superior care, safety, and successful results are the product of the patient, the surgeon, and staff working in tandem to ensure you have the best experience possible.
Austin-Weston, The Center for Cosmetic Surgery has been in practice for almost 40 years during which we’ve performed a record number of breast augmentation surgeries, transforming the lives of our patients and giving them the confidence they deserve.
If you live in Northern Virginia or Washington DC and considering cosmetic surgery, contact us when you’re ready to schedule a complimentary consultation at (703) 854-9841 or submit a form online to request an appointment.
ripped stitches after breast augmentation
Breast augmentation surgery is typically а same-day procedure, and you can choose to have your breast implants inserted via incisions in one of three locations: underarms, areolas, or the folds under your breasts.
While the ultimate choice is up to you, Dr. Alderman’s experience has led her to prefer the breast fold incision location:
“My preferred incision is in the fold of the breast because a) long-term outcomes show better results and b) the incision blends with the natural fold of your breast. I also believe it is important to use an insertion sleeve, such as the Keller funnel, when placing the implant so that I can make a smaller incision and have less trauma to both the skin around the incision and the implant during insertion. Optimizing scar outcomes is one of my primary goals, therefore, my patients are placed in a rigorous scar care regimen for a minimum of 6 months after surgery.” – Dr. Alderman
Dr. Alderman will walk you through all these choices, so you feel fully confident in your decision. With this type of cosmetic surgery, you will have your procedure completed in the morning, spend а few hours in recovery, and then get discharged to go home and rest.
Though recovering from breast implant surgery and caring for your incisions is relatively straightforward, there are some things you should be aware of to make your healing process as easy as possible.
Minimize Breast Implant Scars with Proper Preparation Before Surgery
As critical as the recovery process is, there are some steps you can take to minimize scars from your breast augmentation incisions even before your procedure.
An experienced surgeon with meticulous technique will ensure your incisions are well-placed, as small as possible, and heal cleanly.
Make sure you understand where your breast augmentation incisions will be. This way, you won’t be surprised by having stitches or drains in a place you did not expect. Dr. Alderman will help you prepare for your surgery by explaining what to do in the days and weeks leading up to your procedure, as well as afterward. You can reduce your healing time and the appearance of your scars by carefully following all instructions before and after surgery.
In the weeks leading up to surgery, you should also:
The Do’s and Don’ts of Caring for Your Incisions after Augmentation Surgery
Your recovery period is a crucial time during which your body heals, and your new breast implants settle into their proper position and shape. During your recovery, you will need to maintain the cleanliness of your incisions.
Infections are very rare. However, avoiding an infection will be your primary goal. Be aware of signs of infection, which include а fever, redness around the incision or drainage. If any of these symptoms appear, call our office immediately.
Your incision should be kept dry for 3-4 days. After that, Dr. Alderman will let you take a shower. However, you are not allowed to submerge in water for a total of 4 weeks from surgery. You may ice the sides of your breasts, but it is not recommended to ice your incisions.
Drainage tubes are used for primary breast augmentation but may be needed for a revisional surgery. If you have drainage tubes, be careful not to pull or dislodge them. Wear loose clothing to ensure nothing is rubbing or pushing against them as you move around. Dr. Alderman will usually remove the tubes at your first follow-up visit, which is usually a week after the surgery.
Avoid activities that cause you to raise your arms above your head. These include washing your hair and reaching for items on high shelves. Тhе physical act of raising your arms will put undue stress on the sutures. If stitches are dislodged, you may experience reopening of the treatment site. If you notice any loose stitches, don’t try to remove them yourself.
Your healing process should be smooth sailing in the weeks after treatment, provided you carefully follow all your post-operative care instructions. Contact our office if you have any questions about caring for your incisions. Breast augmentation is the focus of our Atlanta practice, and Dr. Alderman and our team are committed to helping you through every stage of your process.
signs of breast implant problems
Breast augmentation remains one of the most common and popular plastic surgery procedures performed in the U.S., and it has a low risk of complications – the most common being breast pain, changes in nipple and breast sensation, scar tissue formation, and rupture and deflation.
However, a small number of women experience a compilation of symptoms that has come to be known as breast implant illness, or BII. Though we are still learning about BII, and it is not a formal diagnosis, several new studies are investigating potential causes for the symptoms, which are wide-ranging and very real.
More than 100 symptoms have been associated with BII. Some of the most common include:
Breast implant illness has become more widely known in the last couple decades as patients have increasingly shared their stories on social media. In April 2022, retired race car driver Danica Patrick posted on Instagram about her struggles with BII and her decision to have her breast implants removed.
While it can be comforting to find a community of people with similar symptoms as you, unfortunately, sometimes these channels help spread misinformation or unnecessary fear.
Many patients with BII symptoms can find relief without having to remove their breast implants. In some cases, the cause of symptoms is an underlying condition that affects the immune system or hormone production.
If you develop unexplained symptoms that you suspect may stem from your breast implants, talk with a board certified plastic surgeon. We will listen to you and try to determine what the cause of your symptoms are and connect you with specialists if need be.
Determining the cause of your symptoms
Symptoms can occur with any type of breast implants and can start immediately after implantation or years later.
Because so many BII symptoms are associated with other conditions, it’s important to rule out causes unrelated to the breast implants. For example, many similar symptoms are associated with autoimmune conditions such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, and Lyme disease. Hypothyroidism, menopause, and fibromyalgia also can cause symptoms similar to those of BII.
Our goals in diagnosis are to determine the cause of your symptoms and to make a plan to resolve those issues at the source. In some women, the implants themselves prove to be the issue, such as if the implant or tissues surrounding it stiffen, or if the implant ruptures. For many more, an underlying condition is the culprit.
Diagnosis starts with a conversation about what triggers your symptoms and the extent to which they interfere with your quality of life. From there, we may refer you to a specialist in areas such as:
If the specialists find an underlying condition, unrelated to your breast implants, treatment for that condition should relieve or eliminate your symptoms. If no underlying conditions are found, we’ll discuss potential next steps, such as removing your implants.
Deciding whether to remove your breast implants
Choosing to remove your breast implants is just as big a decision as it was to get them, and yet more women made that decision in 2021 than in previous years. According to statistics from The Aesthetic Society, 148,000 women had implants removed and replaced (up 32% from 2020), and 71,000 had their implants removed and not replaced (up 47%), though it’s unclear what role if any BII played in the increase.
If you’re unhappy with the size or shape of your implants, or if you’ve developed a complication such as capsular contracture – the formation of hard, stiff scar tissue around the implant – the decision to remove them may reduce your symptoms.
But if you are satisfied with your appearance and your symptoms are systemic, rather than directly associated with the breasts, the decision can be more difficult. Even if BII symptoms resolve after implant removal, adjusting to changes in your appearance can be challenging.
Your plastic surgeon will discuss all options with you to help you make the best decision.
Clearing up common myths related to BII
There are many websites and social media groups dedicated to breast implant illness. And it’s not unusual for patients to tell us they read or saw something that worries them in one of these communities. We’d like to address a couple of the more common concerns.
Sagging skin after implant removal: There are a lot of people who post photos of themselves after having their implants removed. These photos are usually of women who had very large – 400cc or 500cc – implants removed, leaving excessive, sagging skin behind. Images like these can cause unnecessary anxiety.
Transferring fat to the breast from elsewhere in the body can help restore some volume after implant removal. Though your breasts likely will not be as full as they were with implants, this process can provide a pleasing appearance and a less dramatic transition.
“Only one right” way to remove implants: There are several methods to safely remove breast implants:
However, many social communities say that only specific procedures – notably en-bloc capsulectomy – will eliminate BII symptoms. This is untrue, and there are situations in which that procedure could cause more problems. For example, if the capsule is stuck to the chest wall, taking it all out could cause a pneumothorax, or air to leak into the space between the lungs and chest wall. In this case, we can take out most of the capsule and cauterize the patch that’s against the ribcage.
Additionally, removing the capsule and implant together (en-block) may require a longer incision, especially for women who have only had an augmentation and not a breast lift plus augmentation.
Current research and action related to BII
Research is under way to determine the degree to which certain symptoms are directly caused by breast implants and what effect, if any, removal has on those symptoms.
A study published in December 2021 found that the type of breast implant removal performed did not affect the reduction of breast implant illness symptoms.
Part two of this study investigated concerns, expressed on some BII websites, that the presence of heavy metals in silicone and saline breast implant capsules are a primary cause of systemic symptoms and health problems. More than 20 heavy metals were studied and some participants with BII symptoms had statistically higher levels of arsenic and zinc in their breast implant capsules compared with participants who didn’t exhibit BII symptoms. But the measured levels were all below what is considered acceptable exposure levels by regulatory agencies.
Also, the research confirmed that fewer heavy metals were detected in breast implant capsules than in breast tissue from patients who never had implants. Among participants with BII symptoms, there was a higher number of current or former smokers using tobacco and marijuana and a greater number of women with gluten allergies, suggesting that environmental exposure and personal choices related to cigarette smoking, marijuana use, tattoo pigments, and dietary sources may be the source of a BII patient’s exposure to heavy metals.
Based on this research, heavy metal toxicity should not sway a patient’s decision to remove her breast implants.
Finally, it’s important to note that a BII task force has been established within The Aesthetic Society to conduct research and follow new breast implant patients for more than 10 years in hopes of establishing more definitive data and finding more answers for patients and providers.
We understand it can be extremely frustrating to feel unwell without a specific diagnosis – especially after you’ve been through one or more major breast surgeries. Our breast plastic surgery and specialist teams work together, dedicated to providing you with evidence-based care that will get you to the ultimate goal of feeling better.
If you experience symptoms or complications that you suspect may be related to breast implants, call 214-645-8300 or request an appointment online.
A breakthrough in breast reconstruction at UTSW
When Renee Mallonee found out she was BRCA2 positive and her lifetime risk of breast cancer was high, she took the news very seriously. After 15 years of screenings and tests every six months, in 2020 she turned to UT Southwestern and became the first patient in the United States to receive a single port robotic nipple-sparing mastectomy.