Can Breast Implants Be Removed Through the Belly Button?

Question

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.

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

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

Daniel A. Medalie, MD · Answer

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

Camille Cash, MD · Answer

If you had your implants placed via a periareolar incision that same incision can be used to remove them.  No new incision is necessary.  Visit with a board certified plastic surgeon near you to learn more.  I've included a video that I hope you find helpful.

Jeffrey Weinzweig, MD, FACS · Answer

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.

Tom J. Pousti, MD · Answer

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.

Jourdan Gottlieb, MD · Answer

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.

Susan E. Downey, MD · Answer

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.

Stuart B. Kincaid, MD, FACS (in memoriam) · Answer

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?

Can Breast Implants Be Removed Through the Belly Button?

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