Muscle distortion AFTER explantation?

[Summer7]

I was reading up on breast implants on other websites (feels like researching this is my part time job right now) and I came across an interesting question posted online. A woman posted this query:

Subpectoral breast implant removal: What happens to the muscle that was cut?

I was surprised that this question had never occurred to me. I just presumed that after explantation the muscle lay back down against your chest and was fine. Apparently if you have muscle distortion after getting a breast augmentation you'll STILL have muscle distortion even if you get the implants removed. I didn't know this! One surgeon responded to her saying this:

I agree that larger implants and greater degrees of muscle dissection from the sternum increase the risk of muscular deformity with contraction, but this is something that generally is seen with the implants in place. If this occurred while your implants were in place, then you are likely to have the problem after they are removed; if you did not have the problem with the implants in, you are unlikely to have it after removal- in other words, a well-performed breast augmentation should have a low risk of leaving you with muscular deformity or noticeable weakness, and therefore removal of implants placed during a well-performed operation should be low risk as well.

A patient chimed in at the end of all this with this comment:

As a woman who had sub-muscular implants and explanted two years ago, yes, you can have muscle distortion after explant. I do. No one warned me about it prior to implanting, and apparently, there is no fix for this issue. My right breast muscle pulls away from my sternum at an angle for about halfway up my breast area when I flex. My implants were only 360 cc, not really large by today's standards. However, I was very small prior to having implants, which is why I got them. Women should seriously consider this complication before having this surgery. Implants are not real breast nor do they feel normal. They were fun for awhile, tho.


For some reason muscle flex distortion really freaks me out. It's one of the things I've had to struggle to come to terms with. I kept telling myself that it it happens to me and it's pronounced that I can always get them removed. Is it true though that you'd still get muscle distortion even after going to the trouble of removing them?

I have found two excellent surgeons so I am confident that they know what they're doing. I think the odds are in my favor that this won't be a big issue, but I just thought this information was useful. I've learned to much about breast augmentation it's rare now for me to come across something I don't know or hadn't considered yet!

[angeleyes]

That is good to know and something I will ask my PS the next time i see him.

[Summer7]

I like knowing all the facts ahead of time to. Once there are no surprised I am good to go. This would have been something that upset me were I to find out after the fact though. Forewarned is forearmed I say!

[Darling]

This is something I've been very concerned about. I will be asking my surgeon about it when I schedule a consultation.

[sarah_x]

would muscle distortion be really noticeable to other peopl looking at you?

[Summer7]

Who knows. It's just good info to keep in mind for anyone considering removal one day. Some people won't have issues, but some will notice weird movement in the breast area.

[Margit]

Originally Posted by Summer7

Who knows. ... Some people won't have issues, but some will notice weird movement in the breast area.

it might be hidden by the padded bra which will return its "best friend" position after the removal!

[violetta]

Originally Posted by Summer7

I was reading up on breast implants on other websites (feels like researching this is my part time job right now) and I came across an interesting question posted online. A woman posted this query:

Subpectoral breast implant removal: What happens to the muscle that was cut?

I was surprised that this question had never occurred to me. I just presumed that after explantation the muscle lay back down against your chest and was fine. Apparently if you have muscle distortion after getting a breast augmentation you'll STILL have muscle distortion even if you get the implants removed. I didn't know this! One surgeon responded to her saying this:

I agree that larger implants and greater degrees of muscle dissection from the sternum increase the risk of muscular deformity with contraction, but this is something that generally is seen with the implants in place. If this occurred while your implants were in place, then you are likely to have the problem after they are removed; if you did not have the problem with the implants in, you are unlikely to have it after removal- in other words, a well-performed breast augmentation should have a low risk of leaving you with muscular deformity or noticeable weakness, and therefore removal of implants placed during a well-performed operation should be low risk as well.

A patient chimed in at the end of all this with this comment:

As a woman who had sub-muscular implants and explanted two years ago, yes, you can have muscle distortion after explant. I do. No one warned me about it prior to implanting, and apparently, there is no fix for this issue. My right breast muscle pulls away from my sternum at an angle for about halfway up my breast area when I flex. My implants were only 360 cc, not really large by today's standards. However, I was very small prior to having implants, which is why I got them. Women should seriously consider this complication before having this surgery. Implants are not real breast nor do they feel normal. They were fun for awhile, tho.


For some reason muscle flex distortion really freaks me out. It's one of the things I've had to struggle to come to terms with. I kept telling myself that it it happens to me and it's pronounced that I can always get them removed. Is it true though that you'd still get muscle distortion even after going to the trouble of removing them?

I have found two excellent surgeons so I am confident that they know what they're doing. I think the odds are in my favor that this won't be a big issue, but I just thought this information was useful. I've learned to much about breast augmentation it's rare now for me to come across something I don't know or hadn't considered yet!

i had implants only for 5 weeks. i could not stand them inside. they feel not real at all and you always will know you have breast implants.
i thought i chouse a right PS. it was also expensive,anyway now when i am explanted my muscle distortion is 100% seen worse.
PS never tell us an honest info about this.

[violetta]

Originally Posted by sarah_x

would muscle distortion be really noticeable to other peopl looking at you?

the smallest move or action involving pec.muscle will show you this muscle distortion.

[baer77]

This is another reason I am so glad I found this forum! If it weren't for you guys I probably would have never heard of muscle distortion at all! I was originally thinking I wanted silicone unders but after reading about distortion (among other things like healing time) I am now considering overs, maybe even saline overs. Does it all depend on the skill of the ps when doing unders? The one I have seen for a consult so far I'm sure is very skilled. What are the DISadvantages to overs? I would love to hear some people's opinions!

[txmom2boys]

The disadvantage of overs is if you don't have enough breast tissue to start with you will see the implant under your skin and if you get rippling it will be much worse. Also I heard the chance of CC is greater because unders are always being massaged by your muscles. I have saline unders and it is true that your muscle deforms when you flex it but you get used to it. It's not a big deal, it doesn't hurt, and no one will even see it unless you are flexing your pec muscles naked in front of people. If I flex both my pec muscles really really hard they squish my boobs way over to the sides of my chest and it looks like I have super far apart boobs.

This doesn't much bother me though because I don't ever use my chest muscles and when I do, I am certainly not doing it naked infront of an audience

[Summer7]

Originally Posted by Margit

it might be hidden by the padded bra which will return its "best friend" position after the removal!

LOL!!!!! You know, I wasn't even thinking about padded bras. Very true though. Maybe by the time I'm old and want these things out they'll have super bras that work mini miracles.

[Summer7]

Originally Posted by txmom2boys

TI have saline unders and it is true that your muscle deforms when you flex it but you get used to it. It's not a big deal, it doesn't hurt, and no one will even see it unless you are flexing your pec muscles naked in front of people. If I flex both my pec muscles really really hard they squish my boobs way over to the sides of my chest and it looks like I have super far apart boobs.

This doesn't much bother me though because I don't ever use my chest muscles and when I do, I am certainly not doing it naked infront of an audience

It's so hard to come to terms with this. It's always been something that bothered me. I know it doesn't hurt but the weirdness of it all creeps me out. I wish I could get overs but I don't have enough padding to cover them up with! I wonder if you're getting the new anatomical cohesive gel implants if you can put these over the muscle and still achieve a natural result. I think I'm going to do another consult with my PS before I book a surgery and ask a few more questions.

[Ginny]

Originally Posted by violetta

i had implants only for 5 weeks. i could not stand them inside. they feel not real at all and you always will know you have breast implants.
i thought i chouse a right PS. it was also expensive,anyway now when i am explanted my muscle distortion is 100% seen worse.
PS never tell us an honest info about this.

Does anyone know the percentage of ladies with breast augmentation who have muscle distortion?

[Miss_Emily]

Thank you so much for posting this. I'm not going to even try and pretend I knew or even thought about this. I seriously thought that your muscle would go back to normal if or when you would remove the implant. It never even crossed my mind to ask my doctor this . I'm pretty sure I have a great a doctor, but when I see him again I am definitely going to ask him about this.

THANKS SUMMER7!!!!!!

[Summer7]

Glad you're finding this informative. I am doing some more research online about this. I have read doctors say that there is nothing you can do, and some say it's fixable. I am posting a link to a plastic surgeon who's patient has flex distortion. He posted some great pictures of it. Check it out:

http://www.breastaugmentationvirgini...ex-distortion/


I will add more links as I find them.

[Summer7]

I'm bumping this because I notice a lot of people are suddenly asking question about flex distortion. Check out the link I posted above. It's got some great pictures showing what muscle distortion can look like in a patient.

[wishfull yogini]

that linked picture has more to do with a complication and not the usual flex issue with unders.

With unders, flex distortion refers to the fact that when you flex you pec muscles (use your arms to push pull lift etc), the implant will be compressed and 'move' with the muscle. Everyone with unders has it so some degree. Some aren't realy noticeable and some are downright ugly. Some women don't mind how it feels (or don't even notice it after they are healed) and some find it aggravating in an ongoing way. I'm one of the latter.

I've had overs before so flex distortion wasn't an issue at all. Due to cc with my overs, I decided to go with unders this time to help reduce that risk. I'm just about at my 1 year mark and I can honestly say the flex distortion (for me) is a big drawback with unders. Not only does it feel uncomfortable, I've very aware of how it looks (and it is ugly if I'm really exerting!). If it weren't for the increased risk of cc and the more natural look of unders, I'd have switched back to overs! I'll just have to get used to it...

[Summer7]

I'd odd that for something SO common there are no videos of pictures of this happening. It seems like something your PS should tell you about right away but the people I consulted with never even mentioned it.

I scheduled another visit with my ps to ask a few more questions. (Ladies...if you'd like me to ask anything specific about flex distortion let me know by tomorrow morning! I'll do my best to ask my ps and then report back here.)

I honestly believe that this would really bother me so I need to talk to my ps about what my options are. I get grossed out easily and I"m super sensitive. If I have to feel my muscles pulling in a weird way over my implants and then have the implants jerk around in my chest...well...I think I'm going to pass on getting a breast augmentation done.

[violetta]

Originally Posted by baer77

This is another reason I am so glad I found this forum! If it weren't for you guys I probably would have never heard of muscle distortion at all! I was originally thinking I wanted silicone unders but after reading about distortion (among other things like healing time) I am now considering overs, maybe even saline overs. Does it all depend on the skill of the ps when doing unders? The one I have seen for a consult so far I'm sure is very skilled. What are the DISadvantages to overs? I would love to hear some people's opinions!

i think it somehow does depend on skills of PS. well... i thought like this before too. i went to PS in Portland (US). Richard Bensimon. At "Pearl Women"s center". i honestly can say - his 20+ years of experience brought me NOTHING but problems. He is very misleading. Makes you believe he is the best. And you will. He is good at this. But than i was schoked. i woke up with DD in my chest instead of small C like i asked. He lied me in EVERYTHING . i would not recommend him even to my worst enemy.
Be careful who to choose.