Before and after bilateral saline breast implant deflation in a 58-year-old woman. Her submuscular implants were placed over 20 years ago. While they were not causing any major problems, she had gained weight since surgery and disliked her animation deformity, evident when she flexed her pectoralis muscles as in the first set of images.
This patient was unsure whether to remove her implants altogether or to downsize them and consider implant exchange with smaller silicone implants, on top of the muscle to correct her animation deformity. As an interim procedure, in-office deflation of her saline implants was proposed as an option to put her in the driver’s seat and allow her to see first-hand how her breasts would look now, at this stage of life.
She decided on implant deflation as her next step before committing to explantation or implant exchange. 280 cc of saline was removed from one implant, and 375 cc from the other. She appreciated the ability to shower the next day and have no downtime after this procedure.
Follow up photos are shown 2 months after implant deflation. She likes her more natural breast contour and is still considering small implant as a secondary procedure under general anesthesia. Her other option is to have removal of the breast implant shells under local anesthesia under local anesthesia.
Only patients with saline breast implants are candidates for deflation – silicone gel breast implants must be removed as a whole, which can also be done under local anesthesia. For more information about explantation of silicone implants, visit our explantation web page.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
