“Ruptured 30 Year Old Silicone Implants Removed”

UPDATED.. I am 4 weeks post-op, I still have a lot of pain in the left breast, a knot located next to my incision,is very painful still. my Dr said this is from the heavy stitching he had to do because of the scar tissue and silicone removal of the old implants. All I know is that it is still holding me back from my everyday life. I am still not back to work, and I cannot even wear a sports bra. I don't see any signs of infection, Dr. gave me a shot of novicaine in the left muscle under my arm yesterday to help me with pain. I still have trouble sleeping, and lifting my arm in certain directions. My breasts look great in spite of the pain! My Pain is an all day thing, it feels like its never going to get better, even the skin feels like its sore to touch, and I still have to keep the left nipple covered with a pad, because its still so sensitive, better than 2 weeks ago, but still too sensitive to leave it uncovered. I hope this gets better soon, I need to return to my normal life again.

When I read your comments, I could relate 100%. Your story is very similar to my own experience. I am 3 weeks post-op and I am seeing a Physical Therapist on Feb. 222010 to see if she can correct the situation. My prayer is that this works and that I can be 100% painfree.

UPDATE: It is July 29th 2010, my surgery was Dec 9th..and I can honestly say that I am doing great..at one point I didn't think that I would ever be able to say that. My pain is gone except for a digging feeling under my left breast , like something is twisting into my ribs, or like a jabbing feeling when I am laying on my stomach or side..it is better than before, and its bearable..but neverthe less its still there. My life is back to normal, and I have feeling in my breast and nipples. I do have a little numbness under both breast's but I think this will go away eventually.I still cannot wear an underwire bra, not sure if this is normal or not. They are beautiful..and healthy, and best of all ..NO silicone leaking into my ribs an body Now all I need is the digging feeling to go away from the left breast and I will be feeling ggreat! Thank you Dr for my beautiful Girls!

I just found out that my 23 year old implants that were supposed to be saline are in fact silicone and both ruptured and leaking, the right intracapular and the left extracapsular with extravasation of silicone medially (whatever that means!). I am in shock! My surgeon died a year after he did my surgery by getting hit by a car while cycling so I can't go back to him. I have had some health problems over the past several years that I am now wondering are related to the ruptured silicone implants. I have swallowing problems and underwent an endoscopy a few years ago and was told that I have a ring on my esophagus that had to be dilated. I also was diagnosed with tumors on my thyroid almost 5 years ago and had to have my thyroid removed because of them. I just had an MRI done to confirm the ruptured, leaking implants and they found that my asending aorta is dilated. The cardiologist says it could be due to connective tissue disease and he also informed me that swallowing problems can be related to schleroderma which is a connective tissue disease. From all my very recent research, I see that connective tissue disease has been linked to ruptured silicone implants. As you can imagine, I am in complete and utter shock and scared to death right now. I have been trying to find a plastic surgeon who is skilled at removing ruptured silicone implants that will also take a referral so that I can try to get my HMO health insurance to pay for the removal. I finally got one to accept me and I go into see him this Monday. I just hope and pray that my insurance will cover the removal but I am sure I will have to pay to have them replaced with silicone and I am hoping they can get all of the silicone out. From reading these posts, it seems like removing them is going to be quite difficult and painful. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Kathy

Hi Kathy,

I was told by my surgeon that the same thing happens with saline. They also rupture, the fluid can become unsterile and can cause problems also. They too need to be removed every 10 years if they last that long. I'm sure your doing your homework on this but please, be sure before you have them put in. Not sure what your doctor told you but I was informed by mine, that I would have to wait 6 mos. before I could even have implants put back in even if I wanted them after surgery. Good luck to you and I wish you all the best.

Carol