Is ultrasound an effective treatment for capsular contraction?

Hello and sorry you're having some post operative issues.  This is a complicated question.

If your doctor is concerned about early contracture, early massage, and sometimes ultrasound therapy such as ASPEN ultrasound has been tried.  Others may attempt closed capsulotomy, which can be painful and is an older technique.  If early enough, there is some evidence that Accolate or Singulair may help the smooth muscle in the capsule relax.

However, it is important to know that if true contracture develops, you will probably need capsule removal and replacement of your implant.  It is a challenging issue to discuss with patients - the scar/contracture rate and pattern is very different from patient to patient and we can't always tell beforehand who is at risk for this.

Ultrasound is a harmless technique, but there is no guarantee it can improve your contracture.  If your PS is recommending it, it's probably worth a shot as the risk is low.

Best wishes,

Christopher C. Chang, MD 



Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia

Ultrasound and massage as nonsurgical treatments for mild cases of capsular contracture may be worth pursuing, as long as you understand that there is little research to support the effectiveness of either technique. The idea behind both treatments is that they break up the scar tissue that attaches to the capsule (i.e., the tissue housing your implant). Capsular contracture occurs when that scar tissue thickens and contracts around the implant. In most patients, the capsule is a soft, pliable sheet of scar tissue. For more advanced stages of capsular contracture, surgery to remove the capsule is the only effective treatment. Good luck to you.