How Can I Definitively Determine That I Have a Slow Leak in my Saline Implant?

When saline implants leak, they generally result in a "flat tire" effect. Occasionally, I have seen slow leaks from around the implant fill valve or from a pinhole defect. Although most saline implants will inevitably deflate, they may not deflate completely. Make sure that you have waited at least three months from your initial operation before you make any rash decisions. Occasionly, swelling can subside more quickly in one breast than the other. However, if you are very sure that your implant is delated, it should be removed and replaced.

Hello Jellybean,

Who told you to get an MRI?  That was a waist of money and an inappropriate use of resources.  Saline implants generally will get smaller with time (usually days, but sometimes weeks) and become very obviously deflated.  If your plastic surgeon says they are in tact, I would trust him. If he was the one who ordered the MRI, go to another doctor for a second opinion (which might require two visits, a week or two apart so that he can assess changes.)

There can be other reasons why your breast(s) appears smaller, and patients can be deceived into thinking their breasts are either larger or smaller, when in fact something else is going on like implant migration, tissue stretch, or capsular contracture.

Best of luck.