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POSTED UNDER Breast Implant Removal REVIEWS

Starting the Process - Phoenix, AZ

ORIGINAL POST

Hello everyone! I've had my implants for 5 years...

RecentlyRegretful
$2,500
Hello everyone!
I've had my implants for 5 years and am strongly considering explantation. I've read so many stories and comments, I thought it was time to share my own and hopefully get some feedback.
I am 5'10", about 140lbs with an athletic build. Before implants I was maybe a 34 B cup, or 36 A, depending on the bra.
I wanted breasts for many years. I waited all through my teens and my Bs never blossomed. I waited through my early 20s, still, my barely Bs never grew. Finally, by age 24, I realized that my voluptuous dream breasts were probably not going to materialize, and I was going to have to take over where nature left off. I researched and studied, I met with half a dozen doctors, I worried, I fretted, I weighed the risks, and finally, at age 25 I went under the knife.
450 cc, moderate profile, under the muscle, mentor silicone implants. They came out beautifully. They look as natural as fake breasts can, and I was over the moon with the results. I bought all of the swimsuits I could never before dream of wearing, I cried in the dressing room when bras fit the way I thought they should, the first few years with my new breasts was everything I hoped for. But that has since begun to change...
I'm 30 years old now and am starting to feel very differently about my plastic additions. Here are my issues:
- My first concern is health. I worry constantly about silent rupture, and have spent waaay too many hours reading horror stories online.
- They have started to become more uncomfortable. Or maybe they always were but I was too busy bra shopping to notice. They burn and tingle, and sometimes I have sharper pains.
- I am noticing some new ripples on the side. Part of the aging process of implants, I understand, but I certainly didn't think it would happen to *my* implants.
- Knowing that they will have to be replaced at some point anyway makes me wonder if I should just bypass years of anxiety and have them removed.
- I have become very conscientious about my health over the last few years and having toxic plastic inside me decade after decade is quite unnerving.

The bottom line is that I think about them more than I don't think about them, and I'd really like to explore explantation further.

Currently, my primary concern is how they will look afterward. I'm not vain, but I do take care of myself and don't want to feel mutilated. I have been very pleased with the after pictures I have seen online, but the skeptic in me wonders if people just aren't posting the really bad outcomes. In my imagination, I wake up from surgery with giant skin covered holes.
Not having much breast tissue to begin with only further exacerbates my fear.

On the bright side, I healed well from my initial implant surgery. I'm still pretty young and my skin might bounce back. I have very low expectations of how I will look, so there is a strong chance I will be pleasantly surprised. I also don't believe I have any capsules or major scar tissue build up. And hopefully the silent ruptures I constantly imagine are truly just imaginary.

I have also considered that if I'm really really unhappy, I could consider fat grafting or replacement with saline implants (which would be the worst worst worst case scenario).

I'm having an MRI next month to see what's going on, from there I meet with my original implant doctor and another out in L.A., who seems to be quite proficient in explantation. My original doctor did a fabulous job putting them in, but that doesn't automatically make him the best person to take them out.

So that's where I am right now. Nervous. Obsessed. Curious. Scared. Any help is appreciated. I will continue posting as my journey progresses.

Bless you all for sharing your hopes, fears, and outcomes. It was a tough choice to put the implants in, and possibly an even tougher one to have them removed.

Replies (4)

June 7, 2013
Hi RR. Well here goes. If you are already having problems and thoughts of explantation after only having them for 5 years, those health problems and thoughts/fears will only get worse with time. Each and every woman on this site has been nothing but honest, both with their fears (I don't mean this as an insult, but your fears aren't new), their outcomes, and the healing process. This is an extremely personal decision that only you can make, but trust the reviews and pictures on this site. I did and I am thrilled with my decision (I'm two weeks post explant) and my results. My health issues (pain in left breast, and pain in upper back/scapula area) have disappeared. I have lived with this pain for YEARS and to be pain-free literally overnight is nothing short of miraculous! And I LOVE the way I look! You and I are the same height, but I weigh about ten lbs more. I look so much better with smaller breasts than I did with [RS bleep] boobs! And as an added bonus, my posture has improved dramatically. I would consult with an expert at breast reconstruction too, in addition to the consultations you are already planning on. Good luck with your decision whatever you decide.
June 7, 2013
Hi RR and welcome to this community of amazing women.  You are young and have only had implants for five years, so the odds are that you will get a great result.  As so many of us have found, there is a new appreciation for our small, soft and natural breasts.  And the likelihood of rupture and capsular contracture is definitely a factor for all of us who had/have implants.  It is such a personal decision and I can only tell you that the women on this site gave me the strength to have mine removed and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.  We are all here for you!  
June 8, 2013
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June 9, 2013

Welcome to the wonderful breast implant removal community! I'm so glad you've joined us and started your story. Like some of the others have said, this is a really personal decision and we are here for you through it all.