After I had my son I had mastitis in both breasts. Are implants still an option for me or am I more likely to get an infection?

I recommend an in person evaluation by a plastic surgeon to be measured and discuss your goals. After I measure and discuss goals with my patients, we then look at pictures of former patients with similar measurements with different size and style breast implants. My patients tell me that this process is very helpful in determining what size breast implant is right for them. They also get to see what they would look like when the implants have fully dropped and fluffed and in clothes. You get to see actual results and the surgeon's experience and not a virtual idea of what can be achieved.
Dr. Ted Eisenberg, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon and Author                           
RealSelf Distinguished Hall of Fame Inductee

Hi, thank you for sharing your question. 
A history of mastitis is not a contraindication for breast augmentation. As long as your medical history does not preclude you from cosmetic surgery, you should be cleared.
Consult with a board certified plastic surgeon to review your options. I hope this helps. Best of luck!

The infection rate with primary breast augmentation is extraordinarily low. As long as the mastitis is behind you I'm unaware of any studies that show you would be a greater risk for infection. We do think that bacteria play a role in capsular contracture which is an unwanted occasional problem after breast augmentation. The body does not reject breast implants so I don't think that's an issue. The occasional patient can be a candidate for breast augmentation by fat grafting. This would be limited to a patient who has adequate fat for the procedure and does not want to have a large increase in volume.

Hi. Those are not necessarily contraindications to having breast implants and breast augmentation.  I would recommend consulting with a board certified plastic surgeon with good experience in breast augmentation, to go over all of the specifics of that procedure with you.  Good luck and take care, Dr. Howell

Thank you for your question.This is not a contraindication for breast implants. I would recommend an in person consultation to be evaluated and discuss all your options. Also, take photos of what you want to look like or breast sizes that you like to give the surgeon a better idea of your expectations.

Hi,A history of mastitis is not a contraindication for receiving breast implants. The implants are commonly placed underneath the muscle which is far away from the ducts and natural breast tissue. Both saline and silicone implants have been placed for many years without strong literature evidence of patients rejecting them. You are not at risk of increased infection after mastitis, but if you do have another child it is possible this condition may reoccur. Many women are able to successfully breast feed after receiving implants. Best wishes,Dr. Christine Rodgers

Dear Considerate951597,
it is hard to tell for sure without an examination. If you are considering a surgery, I would suggest you to consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. Only after a thorough examination you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Thank you for sharing your question.  In general mastitis would not preclude you from implants in the future but it would be important to discuss your full medical history in order to give you the best advice. Seek out an in-person, or virtual, consultation to discuss. 

I can certainly appreciate your concerns. Unfortunately, you do not indicate the reasons those foreign devices were rejected so it may be that they were placed under less than sterile conditions.In regard to mastitis, you should still be able to have breast augmentation as long as you have been adequately treated.Best of luck.

During breast feeding there is a higher risk of having an infection due to milk production but this does not increase the infection rate when once this infection is resolved a breast implant is put in a patient with this medical history.