What do you do if your implant ruptures? Usually, it is not an emergency, but patients usually are very eager to have their breasts are stored to the normal volume they had prior to the rupture. Usually, the exchange of the implant is a very simple operation for women to undergo an much easier than the original augmentation surgery because there is no additional muscular work that is typically needed at all. Usually, the capsule or the scar that surrounds the implant needs to be removed or modified to restore the shape to the breast. Often it is the capsule itself that causes the implant to rupture.

A breast capsule is a scar that forms around the implant. This scar is a natural phenomenon that the body forms around any foreign body at all inside you whether it is a piece of glass under your skin or a piece of pencil lead in your hand or a pacemaker or breast implant. Usually the capsule at forms is soft and is entirely not noticeable to you. But in some patients, the scar can thicken. The healing cells, the fibroblasts, are the scar-forming cells and within these cells there are microscopic clusters of involuntary muscle. This muscle within the scar tissue then contracts or tightens and ultimately can tighten around the implant in your body’s attempt to try to push this implant out of your body. Your body is trying to push the implant out just as it would push out a piece of glass or a piece of pencil lead under your skin out of your skin. This is exactly the same phenomenon that occurs with breast implants.

When a saline implant ruptures it typically is not from trauma. The rupture is from the capsule to tightening around the implant causing folds in the implant. As you walk around doing your normal activities of daily living these little folds then rub back and forth continuously and ultimately create a hole in the implant. It is very rare, and I have not seen any breast implant whether it is saline or silicone that is ruptured as a result of trauma. Dr. Jacobsen has never had the experience of seeing of breast implant rupture from a car accident or from a fall. Dr. Jacobsen has had patients that have had severe trauma to their chest and their implants are intact despite rib fractures that may have occurred right directly adjacent to the implant after a motor vehicle accident for instance.

So, the saline implants are quite resilient as are the gel implants.

Dr. Jacobsen has seen many women over the years that have had chronic rupture of their implants and they have been unaware of this. Usually, at this point, the implant is entirely deflated of the saline fluid and the implant is folded up much like if you held in your hand and punched it up into your hand. The body forms the capsule around it separating it from the rest of your body. In this way generally, the ruptured implant is not harmful to you.

Please feel free to have a look at our page for Dr. Jacobsen’s breast implant recommendations to learn more about Dr. Jacobsen’s approach.