How Long After "Popping" the Implant with Needle Should You Wait to Get Explant?

To "pop" the implant is a well established minor office procedure called Percutaneous Preoperative Implant Deflation (PPID). PPID allows you the patient to visualize the residual breast volume, skin excess, and nipple malposition. Additionally, it allows the patient and surgeon to appreciate the deformity and the complexities involved. Do you need a lift (mastopexy), another implant, or nothing? Performing this office procedure allows you to know all these questions prior to surgery. Your plastic surgeon will be more prepared to deliver a better result for you if he knows how things look prior to going to surgery. I don't like surprises in the OR.

This minor procedure can be performed in the office about 1-2 weeks prior to explant. The longer you wait, the better the deflation and retraction of your breast tissue.

To read more about PPID, do a web search on Percutaneous Preoperative Implant Deflation to read one of my published medical articles on this topic. Good luck.

The idea behind in-office deflation is to deflate the implants prior to removal in order to more accurately determine the lift necessary following contraction of the breast. Wait times differ between surgeons from a few weeks to a few months. If you have an appointment scheduled with your plastic surgeon, this timeline should already be identified for you. In cases of smaller implants with little to no ptosis of the breast tissue, in-office deflation offers very little benefit to simply removing them in the operating room.