Answers
"I have new breast implants, and they don't look exactly how I
expected. What happened?"
— Answered by
Scott L. Spear, M.D
Washington, DC
Everyone starts asymmetric, so don't expect to be perfectly symmetrical
after surgery. Swelling and other distortions persist for weeks and even
months after surgery, so don't be in a hurry to judge your result for at
least 6 weeks. The results can even subtly change over many months or
even years. The breasts are swollen for the first 6 weeks and so they
will eventually look 10-20% smaller. The tissues need time to
accommodate to the implants. It is OK to discuss problems with your
surgeon early on, but often you will need to wait to see if the problems
are artifacts that will resolve with time. The problems that should be
addressed more aggressively and early on after they appear are major
swelling usually on just one side indicating internal bleeding (a
hematoma), or severe pain, swelling, redness and fever which could
indicate an infection.
