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Can Breast Implants Be Removed Through the Belly Button?

can breast implants be removed through the belly button if the original surgery was done with a periareolar incision? i really do not want new scars.

Doctor Answers 7

November 5th, 2015

Breast Implant Removal Through the Belly Button

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It is recommended that you have your implants removed through your periareolar scar as this will not leave you with a new scar. It would be very difficult to remove them through the belly button. If you have silicone implants removing them the belly button is not an option. Few surgeons, if any, would even remove saline implants through the belly button.
Jeffrey Weinzweig, MD


Chicago Plastic Surgeon
4.8 out of 5 stars 69 reviews

September 12th, 2012

Can Breast Implants Be Removed Through the Belly Button

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Going through the navel will give you a new scar. Using a scar you already have for access will not. If the implants are saline it is possible to remove them, but the trade-off as I see it is poor. If you are slender there is a small risk of having visible or palpable ridges along the abdomen. If the implant breaks (and it must to drain the fluid) it may not be possible to know if the entire shell has been removed. (If the implants are silicone it is completely out of the question because the silicone will spill within the breast and abdominal wall.)

If the same incision is used, the scar should wind up like it is now. Thanks and best wishes. 

Jourdan Gottlieb, MD
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

August 3rd, 2012

Removing intact or ruptured breast implants

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The periareolar incision can minimize scarring in most patients. I would not recommend breast implant removal through the belly button. 

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS
Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon
4.8 out of 5 stars 95 reviews

July 31st, 2012

Scar to be used to remove implants

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Certainly no one wants to add additional scars to their breasts just  for the removal of implants.   If implants were placed thru a periaerolar scar or thru an inframammary incision then these scars can be again used to remove the implants.     You would not have a new scar -  the  scar you have would be used to access the implants and remove them.

Susan E. Downey, MD
Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon

July 31st, 2012

Remove Breast Implants Through The Belly Button

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HI,

It would be very difficult to remove the breast implants through the belly button (impossible if they are silicone). Why not go through the same peri-areolar scar that you already have? Also please be aware that after the implants are removed, you will have some droop to the breasts (since they were stretched out by the implants).

Regards,

Daniel A. Medalie, MD

Learn more: http://www.ClevelandPlasticSurgery.com

Daniel A. Medalie, MD
July 31st, 2012

Hello

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In our practice we wouldn’t be able to do that procedure threw the belly button. Make sure that you go to certified plastic surgeon. You didn’t mention if you had saline or silicone?

 

Stuart B. Kincaid, MD, FACS (in memoriam)
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

December 16th, 2012

Removal of Breast Implants via Trans-umbilical Approach?

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I would suggest that you have the breast implants removed through the same incision line used to initially place the breast implants. I would not remove the implants through the trans-umbilical approach.

 Best wishes.

Learn more: http://www.poustiplasticsurgery.com/Procedures/breast-implant-removal.htm

Tom J. Pousti, MD, FACS

These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.