Removing Silicone Breast Injections and Get Implants After?

This can be a very difficult problem sometimes requiring a mastectomy and followed by a breast reconstruction. It really depends upon the amount of injury and the quantitiy of injected material.  MRI may be helpful to first analyze what is in yoru breast.

I have dealt with silicone injected breasts on many occasions and currently have four patients that I have seen recently that went through various forms of excisions/mastectomies. The effects of silicone injections often do not show up for years so your situation is bound to get worse rather than better. Unfortunately, when the silicone is soft, one cannot often tell where it is. However, when they form hard lumps, it is obvious but more damaging to the normal tissue. It is possible and... more

Silicone nodularity after silicone breast injections is described in the literature.  Most of these nodules should be assessed to rule out tumors or granuloma.  There are several ways to remove the individual nodules, but this requires the expertise of a surgeon who is familiar with these techniques. 

Anyone reading this, please do not have silicone injected into your breasts. This is very different than having silicone implants, which are very safe. Injections are very difficult to remove and it actually is considered a reconstructive procedure requiring extensive surgery and possible deformity to correct, if possible. At this point, I agree that you should see a reconstructive breast surgeon. Good luck.

This is a VERY difficult problem to treat. Injected silicone typically produces granulomas (hard lumps) throughout the breast many years later (5-30). When a patient presents with this problem, it is very commonly treated by surgical removal of the silicone, along with any breast tissue or skin that is stuck to the silicone. At the end of the procedure, it would resemble something between a lumpectomy (removal of a small lump for biopsy) or a mastectomy (removal of the entire breast). That... more

What you need is entirely dependent on the person who did the injections and how that person did them. There are essentially two methods of doing silicone injections. One is to inject under the breast, on top of the muscle, attempting to lift the breast and leave the silicone in one mass very much like a retroglandular breast implant, just without the shell surrounding the gel. The other is to just inject the silicone into the breast wherever it will go easily. I have seen it done both ways... more

There is no easy solution to the problem. If the silicone can be localized than it can be excised. However, this is unlikely. Unfortunately the silicone is a thick gummy like substance that is difficult to remove when injected. This is very different from breast implants that generally contain the vast majority of the silicone when ruptured. Also the silicone in current breast implants is very thick and generally stays together as a mass.. It occasionally forms a cyst which can be excised... more

The first thing you need to do is find out what the lumps are. The usual sequence of mammogram, ultrasound and MRI should let your Dr. know what you are dealing with. After that there are many options from doing nothing to doing a mastectomy with reconstruction. Whoever you see should be able to give you all your options, the advantages and disadvantges of the options and their recomendations.

Before committing to any course of action: 1. Get an MRI to show the extent and distribution of the injected silicon. That will dictate what kind of excision surgery will be needed. 2. Get more than one opinion from Board certified surgeons from the American Board of Plastic Surgery (go to www.plasticsurgery.org for listings of surgeons near you)

It is illegal to inject large amounts of silicone into breasts. Unfortunately, there are people who will do anything for money, and patients who think they can get something for nothing. You are now in a situation where bilateral mastectomies may need to be done to get rid of the silicone and then you could have a breast reconstruction. This is not the answer you want, but it is what a reputable plastic surgeon would suggest. Good luck.

Liquid silicone injections to the breasts create a terrible problem. First of all, they make accurate breast cancer detection nearly impossible. Secondly, in order to remove them the surgeon usually needs to do a mastectomy and formal cancer type reconstruction. This results in a final outcome that is completely different from what you are thinking it would be. What you want is to trade your current situation for a breast augmentation. That is not possible.

Removal of a localised silicone injection could be done if the mass could be visualized by imaging techniques. Most commonly I have seen a more diffuse injection of silicone which in extreme cases requires a mastectomy and implant reconstruction. Hope that helps!