What Causes Encapsulation of Breast Implants?

The body forms a natural barrier to implants and all become encapsulated.  Some get tight and no one knows ffor sure why this happens.

There is a huge difference between a CAPSULE and a CAPSULAR CONTRACTURE.

EVERY foreign body placed in our bodies (artificial joints, heart valves, shunts, artificial blood vessels, ports, Lap Bands, bullets, shrapnel and breast implants) become covered and walled off with fine scar tissue also called a capsule. This is the body's way of walling these items off.

In some cases the scar process does not stop and a lot of scar becomes deposited which constricts and chokes on the implant within it. That is referred to as a CONTRACTURE.

There are many recognized potential causes which may trigger a capsular contracture. Among them :
- Blood (It has long been recognized that bluntly separating tissues instead of carefully dividing them with a cautery results in more bleeding and subsequent contracture).
- Foreign Bodies (fragments of gowns, glove powder, gauze etc)
- Infection (any seeding of the implants with bacteria at the time of surgery or years later from a dental procedure or a urinary tract infection for example)
- external radiation