Breast Augmentation: Q&A
Ask a Question
Signs of Capsular Contracture After Breast Augmentation?
my breast implants are now 10 years old and stick out more. They feel somewhat harder, but is this the implant or capsular contracture? How does a doctor determine if a patient has this problem?
Tags:
60 Doctor Answers |
Asked by
anon
+8
Capsular Contracture Answers
Thanks for the question, Olive.
Capsular contracture is something that I help my patients with frequently. One of the most common reasons for people with implants to have additional surgery is capsular contracture.
There are four grades of breast capsular contracture - The grading is as follows:
Grade I the breast is normally soft and looks natural
Grade II the breast is a little firm but looks normal
Grade III the breast is firm and looks abnormal
Grade IV the breast is hard, painful,...
more
+5
Capsular Contracture after Breast Augmentation makes the breast feel hard
Thank you for your question. The diagnosis of Capsular Contracture after Breast Augmentation with implants is made by physical exam. If the Breast Implant looks smaller, rides higher on the chest than before and feels hard and does not move freely then most likely the diagnosis would be Capsular Contracture.
See your doctor for an examination
+5
Signs of Capsular Contracture After Breast Augmentation?
Increased firmness 10 years after breast implant surgery is certainly a capsular contracture. The implants themselves do not get firm. Capsular contracture is when the tissue surrounding the implant gets more dense and tightens arounds the implant squeezing it. If it tightens enough, the implant will get very firm and become shaped like a ball. Remember that the smallest space an object can occupy is a perfect sphere, and if the scar tightens enough, the implant will become a sphere....
more
You might also like...
Real Stories
Not Sure if Breast Implants Are Right for Me - Mid Missouri, MO
I have ALWAYS wanted breasts. I have a very curvy figure only a 24 inch waist and a 36...
+5
Capsular Contracture What is it?
Any time a foreign object is implanted in the body, whether it is a pacemaker or a breast implant or an orthopedic device or anything else, the body responds by forming a thin, wispy, fibrous membrane around it. In most cases this membrane or 'capsule' stays thin and wispy, but in some cases over time the capsule may tighten around the implant and thicken, making the implant feel firm or even hard. In advanced stages the contracted capsule can even distort the shape and position of a...
more
+3
Breast augmentation complications
A capsular contracture is diagnosed by physical exam and symptoms - imaging can show scar but not contracture. If the implant is firm and does not move around or starts to ride up on the chest more so on one side than the other, then more than likely you have it. Consult the Plastic Surgeon that placed them for corrective options.
Best Wishes.
+2
Signs of Capsular Contracture after Breast Augmentation?
Most likely with 10 year old implants the firmness you are feeling is from capsular contracture. Capsular contracture is scar tissue that forms around the breast implant. All women have scar tissue around their breast implants but when the scar tissue becomes too thick it becomes firm and can become a problem. A doctor can determine if a patient has capsular contracture by experience and examination.
+2
Signs of Capsular Contracture After Breast Augmentation
After a period of time usually years rather than months the breasts may begin to feel hardened and look distorted. These are the early signs of breast capsular contractures which are classified into 4 grades. The treatment for this problem is to remove the implant and its surrounding capsule and replace with a new implant.
+2
Signs of capsular contracture after breast augmentation.
Hello. Capsular contracture is diagnosed during physical exam by a plastic surgeon. You may also be experiencing syptoms that may be related. Sometime an MRI can also detect excessive scar tissue around the implant. I would advise you consult with a board certified plastic surgeon to be examined. Best of luck.
+2
Diagnosing capsule contracture
Hello,
Progressiively firmer breasts 10 years after a breast augmentation is suggestive of capsule contracture. Diagnosing capsule contracture is done through history and physical examination only. No diagnostic tests are needed or helpful. There are three grades of capsule contractures:
1. Breasts feel firmer but look normal/the same
2. Breasts feel firmer and the shape and contour of the breasts have changed
3. Breasts feel firmer, shape has changed, and...
more
+2
Capsular Contractures in Breast Implants
It sounds like you have developed capsular contractures. Breast implants do not intrinsically change shape with time. Capsular contracture, when severe enough, can be an extrinsic force that will change the shape of a breast implant. The changes that you are describing are typical of a severe (grade 3 or 4) capsular contracture. The breast becomes more firm or even hard and the shape of the implant is distorted from a dome shape to a more spherical shape. The implant width or diameter may be...
more
+2
Capsular contracture
Capsuluar contracture varies in severity. If your breast feel very hard and they are painful with manipulation, then you most likely have capsular contracture. You need to be evaluated by a Board certified plastic surgoen and consider capsulectomy and exchange of breast impalnts.
+2
Breast implants do NOT get hard, ever. But the scar capsule around them can contract and make your breast(s) firm or distorted.
Breast implants do not "wear out" at around ten years or so. This is urban legend. Saline implants can leak or deflate (textured implants more frequently), requiring replacement via surgery. Older types of silicone implants can rupture, and the gel inside does not absorb, but can cause the scar capsule to thicken and the breast to feel firm, lumpy, or irregular. Replacement (including removal of the capsule) is necessary.
In your case, since your implants were placed around...
more
+1
Capsular contracture after breast augmentation
Thank you for your question. A capsular contracture is diagnosed by your surgeon based on his examination of your breasts. A capsular contracture usually presents with an increased firmness of the breast or a change in shape. Typically, the breasts appear smaller and more narrow, and are both higher and more projecting. This can progress and worsen over time.
While capsular contractures are less common with newer implants, they do still occur. The treatment of a capsular contracture...
more
+1
Breast Augmentation and Capsular Contracture
Capsular contracture is the number one reason that breast enhancement patients may wind up needing additional surgery in the future. Your body will naturally form a layer of protective scar tissue around the implant following breast augmentation. If this layer of scar tissue becomes thickened, it may result in a harder and differently-shaped breast. This is called capsular contracture. See your surgeon to see if this is indeed what you have. Best wishes!
more
+1
This is probably capsular contracture
This is probably capsular contracture. The fact that you have had implants in for 10 years makes it more likely that this is breast implant capsular contracture. Whenever there is a foreign body, the body form scar around the foreign object. This also happens when breast implants are placed. Scarring can be mild, leading to mild symptoms. As the scar thickens, the breast becomes more firm. If the scar continues to thicken, the breast and breast implant can actually become more painful. In...
more
+1
Your Body Forms a Scar (Capsule) Around Your Implant Following Breast Augmentation
It’s normal for your body to react to a foreign material such as a breast implant by forming a scar. This scar surrounds the breast implant and is known as a capsule. Capsule formation occurs in every patient to some degree following breast augmentation. In most cases, this represents a normal response to a foreign material being placed inside your body.
Without capsule formation, implants don’t stay in one place. When this happens, implants migrate and secondary pocket revision may be...
more
+1
Capsular Contracture After Breast Augmentation Detected By Medical Exam
The implant itself never hardens. It remains the same. Rather, it is the tissue around your implant that can potentially tighten, and this is what squeezes the implant to make it feel harder. If you've just recently noticed that your breasts have changed in shape, feel, and how they project from your body, then you're right - you could be developing capsular contracture. While you can feel for yourself for any changes that indicate capsular contracture (signs include hardness, swelling,...
more
+1
Capsular Contracture after Breast Augmentation
Most likely with 10 year old implants the firmness you are feeling is from capsular contracture. Capsular contracture is scar tissue that forms around the breast implant. All patients have scar tissue around their breast implants but when the scar tissue becomes too thick or contracts, it becomes firm and can become a problem. A doctor can determine if a patient has capsular contracture by an examination.
+1
Hardness 10 years after breast implants, Capsular contracture?
You give a very good story for capsular contracture. You have had the implants in a while. They got harder and are sticking out more. Best to see a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon. They will be able to guide you as to what comes next.
+1
Signs of Capsular Contracture After Breast Augmentation?
When implants are inserted, your body forms a thin layer of scar, called capsule, around the implant. This is normally thin and pliable, but inflammation can cause the body to thicken this capsule, making the implant and capsule more noticeable.
Plastic surgeons diagnose capsular contracture by the look and feel of the breast. In a normal breast augmentation the tissues feel soft and the capsule is not very detectable by feel. If contracture develops the capsule thickens and shrinks...
more
+1
Capsular Contracture
Dear Anon,
The implant itself doesn't become firm with time, but the capsule around it can thicken and distort your implant. There are several grades of capsular contracture, with a painful capsule being the worst grade. It sounds like you may have a grade 3 contracture. At this point, surgical management is usually the best bet. You should see the surgeon that initially did your surgery. They should be able to tell from their physical exam whether you do indeed have a...
more
+1
Capsular Contracture after Breast Augmentation
Breast implants are a foreign material. The body reacts to it by encasing it in a capsule. This capsule is similar to the membrane covering an egg yolk that keeps it separate from the egg white. For some patients, this membrane begins to harden over time making it more like an egg shell. At this point, the breast will feel hard and the shape can become distorted. This sounds like what you are experiencing. Your plastic surgeon can confirm this with an...
more
+1
Your Changes in Appearance and Firmness are Characteristic of Capsular Contracture.
Your changes in appearance and firmness are characteristic of capsular contracture. With capsular contracture, the implants become more ball-like in shape. (Their original shape is more like a disc). This is due to the physics of a flexible three-dimensional object. The shape with the smallest surface area is a ball, and with capsular contracture, the surface area is reduced, forcing the implant into a ball shape. The rate of capsular contracture increases with time, especially...
more
+1
Signs of capsular contracture
If you have noted a hardening of your breast implants over time, this is most likely the result of a capsular contracture. A physical exam by your plastic surgeon would be the best way to confirm this. The implants are most likely still soft, but they are encased within a thickening connective tissue rind around the implants which is compressing the implants and making them feel hardened. Often, a capsular contracture will progressively distort the shape of the implants as well. There are...
more
+1
The signs of capsular contracture after breast implants (augmentation).
EXAMINATION OF YOUR BREASTS FOR CAPSULAR CONTRACTURE.
The four grades of implant contracture span the signs of capsule problems experienced by some patients.
These grades start with a soft breast (with a thin capsule present), and progress to a firm breast with a normal appearance (Grade II).
More contracture then causes the breast to be firmer still, with implant displacement or distortion (Grade III).
Finally, the last grade of...
more
+1
How a Doctor Determines Capsular Contracture
Hello- Breasts that feel firmer than a normal breast should, indicate some degree of capsular contracture. After a breast implant is placed, the body lines the space the implant is in, with scar tissue. In some patients, this space gets smaller, literally contracting, and eventually compressing the implant. The smallest possible shape is a sphere and can produce mis-shapen breasts. After breast augmentation, the breast softness is graded from I-IV.
* I being as soft...
more
+1
Capsular Contracture
It sounds like capsular contracture and it can be diagnosed by a plastic surgeon. If they become painful or the assymetry becomes something that you cannot tolerate, you may need to do something about it.
Tampa Plastic Surgeon
+1
Capsular contractures and breast implants
When you put in a breast implant, your body doesn't like it. It can't break it down and get rid of it, so it forms a capsule made out of scar tissue around the implant. This is fine. Everyone gets a thin capsule around their implants. You will probably never notice it. What you don't want to see is a thickened capsule or tightening of the fibers in the capsule which can make the breast feel firm or distort the way it looks. This is called a...
more
+1
Breast firmness may be a sign of an early capsular contracture but not always.
Thank you for taking the time to write your question. There are many causes of a breast that becomes firmer with age. It can be related to tightening of the pocket around the implant (known as a capsular contracture - CC) or it can be related to changes in natural breast tissue volume. If you have seen an increase in breast size / bra cup over the last 10 years it may be an increase in the breast volume which can make the breast feel firmer. This is not a concern...
more
+1
Diagnosis of Capsular Contracture after Breast Augmentation
Although capsular contractures following breast augmentation can occur just about anytime, most women start having symptoms around three or more months to several years after their breast implant surgery. Therefore your symptoms may be compatible with this diagnosis. It might also mean that you have a ruptured implant if silicone. The diagnosis of capsular contracture is made by History and Physical exam.
Signs and symptoms of a capsular contracture are going from a soft breast in...
more
+1
Capsular Contracture
Increased firmness after 10 years is a sign of capsular contracture. It would be adviseable to see a board certified plastic surgeon (preferably your implanting surgeon) who can utilize history and physical examination to diagnose capsular contracture.
+1
Signs of Capsular Contracture After Breast Augmentation?
Without examining you it is somewhat difficult to give you a complete diagnosis. I would suspect if your implants feel firmer, you may have developed some capsular contracture. If you have a silicone gel implant, this may indicate a sign of leakage. The free silicone can irritate the capsule and cause thickening over time. I would recommend seeing a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon for a proper evaluation. Good luck.
+1
Breasts firm- capsule contracture?
It sounds like you do indeed have capsule contracture. Implants do not get hard. The hardness is the pocket around the implant changing and getting smaller and squeezing the implant, limiting movement and looking and feeling unnatural. Opening the pocket and freeing the implant can solve these issues although there may be recurrence.
All the best,
Talmage J. Raine MD FACS
+1
Capsular contraction after breast augmentation
A change in firmness as well as appearance 10 years out from having breast augmentation is suggestive that you may be forming a capsular contraction. Sometimes this progresses to the point of being painful. I would recommend making an appointment with your plastic surgeon and getting them to examine you. If you have a capsular contraction the treatment is often removal of the implants, as well as removal of the old capsules or "opening" of the capsule depending on...
more
+1
Capsular Contracture After Breast Augmentation
One of the key elements in determining if you have a capsular contracture is if the implants are hard and do not feel normal. If they are painful, you have a significant capsular contracture that may require implant exchange and scar release/removal. Normal aging of implants, over 10-15 years, get hard, both saline or silicone. Saline implants have a lesser chance of getting hard than silicone, but both in the long term 10-15 years will become harder. All breast implants need to be...
more
+1
Capsular contracture
Breast implants do not harden over time. They develop capsular contracture. The scar tissue around the implant starts to contract hardening the entire implant, changing it's shape, and potential moving the implant (usually upward). To determine if you have a capsular contracture your plastic surgeon will look for changes in breast shape, position and for the softness/hardness of the breast implant. The treatment is to release the scar but very often if a release...
more
+1
What is capsular contracture
Everyone forms a capsule around their implant. This is no problem when this capsule remains thin and soft. This problem of capsular contracture is a pathologic process where this capsule becomes hardened, thickened and calcified. Patients experience capsular contracture experience a hardening of their implant/breast, distortion of their breast shape/position, and in severe cases, breast pain.
+1
How to tell if you are having a capsule contracture
Any time you implant a foreign body into a human, the body surrounds the foreign body with a thin layer of scar tissue called a capsule. Ordinarily, the scar tissue around a breast implant is thin and doesn't pose any problem, but if it is stimulated, possibly by a low grade infection, it may thicken and contract. As the shape that results when you try to minimize the surface area containing a given volume is a sphere, a breast undergoing capsule contracture will become more...
more
+1
Is it a capsule?
If they feel abnormally firm, most likely the implants are encapsulated. Encapsulated implants will feel very distinct from the surrounding breast tissue, are usually firmly attached to the chest wall, and the breast tissue will sometimes hang off the implants. Obviously the best way is to be examined by a board certified plastic surgeon, with experience in treating capsular contractures.
Good luck
+1
Capsular Contracture
This is, by far, the greatest risk of having implants. Saline breast implants, though ten years old, should be as soft as the day you received them Breast hardening or distortion may be signs of capsular contracture. Your physician, by exam. can determine whether you have capsular contracture by the look and feel of your implants. Some women require a surgical excision of capsular tissue (capsulectomy).
+1
Firmness of the breast after augmentation is capsular contracture.
Implants, themselves, do not harden. The firmness you describe is the capsule shrinking in surface area and squeezing the fluid inside the prosthesis. This makes it feel firm. It is not a health problem but you might want to visit your surgeon at a convenient time to discuss your options.
+1
Capsular contracture
Breast implants themselves do not get harder or softer, it is the tissue around them that can change. Usually years after implants are put in the firmness is a capsular contracture. this is scar tissue that has become thick or tight around the implant causing the implant to feel "hard" or distorted. It becomes a problem if it bothers you. Ten years after surgery the only remedy is surgery.
+1
Signs of capsular contracture with breast implants
If your breast implants begin to feel very firm to the touch or appear to be distorted, you may have early signs of capsular contracture, or hardened scar tissue around your implants. Often times they may feel painful to the touch as well, which can occur in more advanced forms of this condition. You can try to massage the implants to relieve some of these signs/symptoms, but you should contact and visit your plastic surgeon for a more thorough evaluation. This may...
more
+1
Do I have a capsular contracture?
The implants even at ten years should not only feel soft but, move freely around the pocket. If they are firm, do not look a like and have limited mobility in the pocket, they probably have a component of a capsular contracture. The issue is the degree of distortion and the firmness. This is where the most accurate way to determine this is touching the breasts although in many cases a picture may be sufficient initially. The treatment in my practice involves...
more
+1
Touch, feel and look..............
are they hard, distorted, painful? does one look or feel harder than the other? Do your breasts hurt when it is cold outside?
If so, than you have a capsular contracture that will only improve with surgery. Return to your surgeon and ask her or him .
+1
Capsular contracture breast implants
Capsular contracture is an abnormal hardening or circumferential compression of the implant. The causes have not conclusively been determined although some things that increase capsular contracture are: 1) Infection, 2) Hematoma (collection of blood around the implant), 3) History of breast radiation, and 4) History of previous capsular contracture. The best person to diagnose capsular contracture is the patient and the original surgeon who placed the implants and has been...
more
Bakersfield Plastic Surgeon
+1
Diagnosis of capsular contracture
Your body forms a capsule of scar tissue around your implants within months of your breast augmentation surgery. This is normal and desirable, as the capsule helps in the long-term support of your implants.
Capsular contracture refers to tightening of the capsule, which causes the implants to look or feel hard. In advanced cases, capsular contracture can also can breast pain.
If your implants have become firmer, you probably have a capsular contracture.
Reasonable options:
1. If it...
more
+1
Capsular contracture signs
If the implant feels firmer to you, this is most likely capsular contracture. This is easy to diagnose by physical examination. Are they silicone? A leaking silicone implant can lead to capsular contracture in a previously soft breast. Seek a consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon to discuss your options. Hope this helps.
Tracy M. Pfeifer, MD, MS
+1
Signs of capsular contracture
To answer your question, a little bit of background about implants and capsules may help. When the breast implant is first placed, your body will form a scar around the implant. We call this scar the "capsule" of a breast implant. In some patients, this scar can become excessive and tighten around the implant. This tightening is known as "capsular contracture."
Depending on the degree of tightening, you may be able to see or feel this scarring around the implant, and...
more
+1
Capsular contracture more common with older implants and relatively easy to fix
I am always surprised by the number of women who don't realize that they have a relatively easy option for addressing capsular contracture and that there may be very little down time associated with the surgery. And so many women with older implants or who have had surgery 10 years or more simply accept a less optimal appearance to their breasts and associated firmness.
But it doesn't need to be this way.
The older implants are known to have greater gel bleed which allows smaller particle...
more
+1
Capsular contracture
All implants form a capsule. Which ones will develop capsular contracture we cannot tell. But if it occurs, diagnosis is very easy.
The breast becomes harder, the implants become rounder and may be more projecting, or the omplant can displace.
The PS will be able to tell you if you have capsular contracture and can grade that contacture.
If it bothers you, the treatment is surgery.
Baltimore Plastic Surgeon
+1
Signs of Breast Implant Scarring or Capsular Contracture
Breasts gradually "Sticking way out' and "feeling harder" are just two ways in which excessive scarring around breast implants manifests itself.
Normally, as part of the healing process, scar tissue is placed around the implants resulting in a soft cocoon. When the scarring is normal it is classified as a Class I contracture (Normal).
As the scarring becomes more excessive it can progress from only felt but not seen (Class II capsular contracture), to being felt AND seen...
more
+1
Capsular Contracture
A capsular contracture is best diagnosed by physical exam and symptoms. If the implant is firm and does not move around very well or is elevated on the chest more so on one side than the other, then more than likely you have a capsular contracture. They can also be painful.
+1
Capsular contracture can be detected by your plastic surgeon
A board certified plastic surgeon can easily detect and determine if you have capsular contracture just from feeling the implants and from the shape of the breasts. Encapsulation can vary depending on the severity and complexity of the case. If you experience some discomfort and feel abnormal firmness, it may indicate that you have excessive scar tissue around the implants.
You may want to discuss your options with your plastic surgeon. Unfortunately, even after 10 years, scar tissue may...
more
+1
How to diagnose capsular contracture
The reality is that all women who have implants will develop some scar tissue or capsule around the implant. The degree of firming around a breast implant is categorized according to the Baker system: I: soft, natural; II slightly firm, implant edge not visible; III firm, implant edge visible and palpable; IV firm, painful and distorted. Very few surgeons will recommend surgery for Baker capsular contracture grades below III. Once a Baker IV capsule distorts the shape by making it more...
more
+1
Capuslar contractures following breast augmentation may require further surgery
Capsular contracture, or hardening of your breast implants, may be mild or severe. If mild, one can generally leave it alone; however, if severe, the implant can get quite hard or firm and cause some discomfort. Additionally, the implant can look deformed and migrate upwards causing asymmetry of your breasts. In this case, many patients will benefit from open capuslectomy where the scar tissue is actually removed surgically.
+1
Capsular contracture
Dr. Williams has provided an outstanding concise answer regarding capsular contracture.
Now in answer to your specific question, it is NOT the implant. It sounds as if you have a Baker Grade 2-3 capsular contracture. Implants generally do not get harder or do not dramatically change shape with age (they may yellow and older implants may bleed). It is your body's reaction to the implant that is making them feel different. Whether you pursue surgical correction is up to you.
In the meantime,...
more
+1
You probably have some contracture
Hello,
Contracture is expected to some extent after the placement of breast implants. It is a matter of degree and time, really. Frequently, the contracture is mild and we leave it alone. More severe contracture can raise the question of treatment. Silicone gel implants over the long term are very prone to contracture.
Surgical treament almost always reduces or eliminates the problem but it can recur particularly in breast reconstruction cases in which the patient has had mastectomy,...
more
+1
If the implants have begun to project more prominently...
If the implants have begun to project more prominently forward and feel harder, they are almost certainly being surrounded by exaggerated scar tissues known as "capsular contracture."
This can be left alone if it doesn't bother you too much or it can be treated surgically. The options for surgery include removing the scar tissue and replacing the old implants with new ones in the same location as before (ie above or below the muscle). Alternatively, especially if the old implants were...
more
+1
Hard implants usually suggest capsular contrature
Over the years following breast augmentation, the implant itself changes minimally, but the tissue around the implant sometimes changes quite substantially. In the case of a saline implant, if the breast volume is the same, but the breast feels harder, tighter, or firmer than it was from the beginning, you probably have developed capsular contracture. The breast appearance and feel coud probably be improved with a "capsulotomy" or release of the scar tissue. ...
more
Comments (0)