implants - how will they change over time?

elise24601

I'm one month out from exchange. Overall I am happy - symmetry and size are good, no rippling, no animation, and (knock on wood) no issues with incisions healing. Waiting for my nipple tattoo now. Bruising and swelling have resolved. Only complaint is they are harder/firmer than what I would prefer.

My question is, how can I expect the look/feel to change (or not) over time, say in the next 3-5 years?

I have heard from some they "drop and fluff" from others they stay the same, and from others they develop contracture or worse problems. I wish I knew what was most likely to happen so I can keep an eye out.

If you have round smooth silicone gel implants, under the muscle, with alloderm, let me know how yours have evolved over time please!

Pi-Xi

Elise, I'm about 16 months in and I would say they haven't evolved, except I developed more lumps. My body takes exception to the internal stitches. Thankfully, it hasn't yet turned on the implants. With the alloderm, my plastic surgeon expects them to stay put.

farmerlucy

I’m five years out. They look and feel the same except for some tightness along the mx scar line that is a bit indented. PS said it could be fixed, but it doesn’t bother me

beach2beach

I'm thin so I don't know if it factors in at all, but I'm 3 months out. I notice some ripples on the side when my arms are down. All in all I'm happy with them and I hope it stays that way. My PS did say they may settle or I guess drop a bit, so I guess that would be the ripple plus it being under the muscle I'd guess the way the muscle lays on it would have something to do with it too. I also have the Alloderm.

SandiBeach57

In 2006 I had silicone implants with alloderm under the muscle followed by nipple tattoos. In 2007, I had a recurrence, implant was removed for radiation. Plastic surgeon said my skin was healthy enough to tolerate a new implant, so I received two smaller implants after I healed.

It has been 10 years and they are still fine. A little lower (okay..maybe from middle age sagging) with some fat necrosis. I did not tattoo the second time. They still have a nice shape.

Keepinthefaith

I had a nipple sparing BMXon October 6, 2017. Im just over 6 weeks out and my implants have changed drastically and will continue to change. I already had implants in at diagnosis, so they took my old ones out, did BMX and put new implants in. I'm having sizing issues and we have planned a implant exchange in the spring when I'm healed due to one breast being smaller than the other. I just had my check up today and they look great considering the BMX andno breast tissue. I have cadaver skin attached to my muscle to hold the implants.

Lalala1

I had a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction two years ago. The implants were polyeurathane and placed under the muscle. Over time the left side has moved slightly laterally but mostly they haven't changed much.

There is animation deformity, that was present immediately after the reconstruction and is still there, and if anything seems more obvious over time.

I am having a revision to place new implants over the muscle to fix this issue. The surgeon will place the implants in an adm/mesh pocket and attach that to the pec muscle. I am wondering if implants placed over the muscle would change more over time, without the pec muscle holding them in place? Would they sag or drop more over time?