Can chest exercises or lifting weights cause capsular contracture?

Question

I am 6 months post op and have capsular contracture. I am worried that because I was doing pectoral muscle weight lifting and also swimming the breaststroke for multiple hours a day that I cause the tissue around the implant to become hard and then cause the capsular contracture. In the future should I stay away from exercising those muscles? And what about arm exercises? I can feel that in my chest as well.

Robert Oliver Jr., MD · Answer

Early (<1 year) capsular contracture after primary breast augmentation is almost exclusively due to postoperative hematoma (blood) or subclinical infection. In most cases of acute hardening in the first 4-6 weeks I've seen in my practice, I believe it's from small amounts of blood that accumulated around the implant that trigger the inflamatory response of capsular contracture.Exercise is not a cause of capsular contracture unless you caused a late bleed around the implant.

Elizabeth A. Kinsley, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

There are things that surgeons can do in surgery to help prevent contractures, and overall the contracture rate is very small, but there is still a very small percentage of patients that will get one. Im sorry this happened to you, but I do not think any thing you did, especially exercise had anything to do with it occurring. The body forms scar tissue around any foreign object, such as a breast implant. this is normal, but when this capsule becomes thickened or tightens around the implant, thats when it is called a capsule contracture. Chances are you and your surgeon did everything right. Good news is that it is correctable.

Can chest exercises or lifting weights cause capsular contracture?

Answers (2)

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