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Breast Implant Removal (Explant) & Breast Implant Replacement

Breast implant removal and (sometimes) subsequent breast implant replacement are chosen when patients are dissatisfied with the current state of their breast implants. Breast implant removal can be performed on its own for patients looking to remove their implants. Sometimes, a breast implant replacement procedure is combined with breast implant removal to effectively improve the appearance of the breasts. Other times, patients opt for autologous (their own) fat to replace lost volume. Another option is to perform a breast lift after implant removal when patients want their smaller breasts to have a perkier profile.

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What Is Breast Implant Removal (Explant)? What is Breast Implant Replacement?

Breast implant removal (also known as “explant” surgery) is often done to change either the size, location, and/or type of implants currently in place. Some patients who are concerned with Breast Implant Illness (BII) wish to have the implants removed to determine the effect on their health, while others wish to remove saline implants in favor of more natural-feeling, -looking, and -acting implants made of FDA-approved silicone gel. Due to the valve of saline implants, leakage is an all-too-common problem. (Silicone implants are factory sealed, and therefore don’t have the valve-leakage problem.) In addition to the fact that saline implants can feel firm and unnatural, rippling can also occur more often with saline implants. One lesser known fact is that the outer shell of both silicone and saline implants is comprised of silicone, a totally inert substance that is used medically in many devices, including heart valves. Another reason for breast implant replacement is the occurrence of capsular contracture, which is when the tissue around prior implants becomes firm.

Patients also come to Dr. Weintraub to reposition their implants under the pectoralis-major muscle to create the most natural-looking result. If the implants were originally placed by another surgeon over the pectoralis-major muscle, the artificial “half grapefruit” roundness of the implant can dominate the top of the breast, a telltale sign of implant surgery, and this “artificial” looking result can be rectified by placing the implant under the muscle. Due to concerns about Breast Implant Illness, an increasingly popular procedure is to remove existent implants and to replace the lost volume with autologous fat, which can be liposuctioned from various areas of the body such as: the abdomen, flanks, back, bra area, arms, outer and inner thighs, hips, and knees. In patients who have drooping breasts, sometimes a lift is done in conjunction with a removal and replacement of implants. The end result should reflect breasts that are elegantly sized, proportionate to one’s physical type, with a natural silhouette, gentle slope, upturned nipples, and fullness in the lower part.

Breast implant removal and replacement can take between half hour and multiple hours to complete, depending on the specific modality chosen, as well as your aesthetic needs. Patients often return to work three days after surgery, and require little downtime to fully recover. If swelling and bruising occur, it should resolve within a week. Dr. Weintraub performs breast implant-revision surgery in the comfort of his QUAD A-accredited NYC surgical facility. Patients can expect significant, long-lasting aesthetic improvements to their breasts following their implant removal and replacement.*

Considering Breast Implant Removal & Breast Implant Replacement

While there is no specific chronological age that determines when you should have some rejuvenative procedures, breast implant removal and replacement should not be considered before the age of 18, or when the patient has matured enough to know what her breast volume is and can judge what she wants. Breast implants do not interfere with breast feeding if they are inserted through the transaxillary approach, the approach Dr. Weintraub prefers.

If you fit these requirements and see something that truly bothers you when you look in the mirror, it is time to pick up the phone and schedule an appointment for a consultation with Dr. Weintraub for breast implant removal and breast implant replacement in New York. Likewise, there is only one person to have plastic surgery for: you and you alone. It should never be undertaken due to pressure from others.

Goals of Breast Implant Removal (Explant) & Breast Implant Replacement

Breast implant removal and replacement can enhance the appearance of breasts by replacing past implants with better positioned implants, more appropriately sized implants, more natural-looking and -feeling implants, or a combination of the above. Dr. Barry Weintraub always places implants under the pectoralis-major] muscle so that implants look, and feel, the most natural.

Your Consultation

You’ve certainly looked in the mirror many times. However, when you look in the mirror and begin to see things that upset you, that’s when you should schedule a consultation for breast implant removal and replacement. A consultation will help give you a better understanding of your own issues.

When choosing a surgeon for your Breast Implant Removal (Explant) & Breast Implant Replacement in NYC, you should:

  • Check for board certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (there are many other boards, some legitimate, some not, but there is only one American Board of Plastic Surgery, established in 1931)
  • Ensure that the physician attends a major hospital in your community, and is in good standing with that hospital
  • Confirm that he or she has a fine reputation amongst other medical professionals in your community
  • Speak to the surgeon’s patients who have undergone similar procedures

Remember, this is your surgery, and you are interviewing the doctor as much as he’s interviewing you. Do not hesitate to bring a list of questions with you on your breast implant removal and replacement consultation. And remember: a good surgeon is someone who not only has the skill to perform the surgery, but is someone who understands what your specific needs and desires are. A good surgeon should listen, listen, and listen!

Have no fear during your consultation. This is a time to speak, to be heard, to learn, and to develop a trusting relationship. Questions can be answered, and fears allayed. And while Dr. Weintraub is at the cutting edge of his field in terms of technique and medical developments, you will find his office environment to be comforting, personable, and inviting. He and his New York staff truly care about each and every patient, and take great pride in making themselves available to help with every step of the process.

How Breast Implant Removal (Explant) & Breast Implant Replacement is Performed

Safety comes first. Plastic surgery is surgery, and should therefore be taken seriously.

Dr. Weintraub prefers his breast implant removal and replacement patients to be in a comfortable state of twilight sleep, where the patient is unarousable and is awakened only after the procedure is over. Due to advancements in anesthesia and new medications possessing a shorter half-life, no longer do breast implant removal and replacement patients have to contend with nausea, vomiting or grogginess; rather, the emergence from anesthesia is crisp and clear.

Dr. Weintraub insists on the most sterile conditions in the New York City operating room, with on-staff, board-certified anesthesiologists and state-of-the-art monitoring equipment commensurate with the highest hospital standards. The only person performing the surgery is Dr. Weintraub himself. Every intraoperative maneuver is executed with precision and care, and all wounds are sewn in multiple layers by his own hand.

Breast implant removal and replacement surgery should never be rushed, and Dr. Weintraub always strives for the best, as he understands that patients will live with the result for the rest of their lives. His aesthetic is sophisticated and reflective of understated elegance. In his own words, “Cosmetic surgery is nothing less than artwork on the human form.”

Where is the Breast Implant Removal & Breast Implant Replacement Performed?

Though once limited to a hospital setting, the more modern approach to breast implant removal and replacement is to perform such procedures in a safe, secure and completely private operating room. Although Dr. Weintraub has privileges at Lenox Hill Hospital, Manhattan Eye Ear and Throat Hospital, and The Center for Specialty Care (outpatient limb of Weill-Cornell Hospital), he prefers the privacy of his hospital-grade, state-of-the-art surgical center attached to his office at 800A Fifth Avenue. This facility is attended by Dr. Weintraub’s team of board-certified anesthesiologists, certified registered nurses, and fully licensed operating-room staff. With its private entrance, its standards are of the highest quality, and offer Dr. Weintraub’s patients the utmost in medical and plastic-surgical care.

The Best Candidates for Breast Implant Removal & Breast Implant Replacement

The best candidates for breast-implant removal and replacement are well balanced, in good general health, and possess realistic expectations. You are an excellent candidate if you’ve done your homework, have had your consultation, and the following three things are present:

  • You are highly motivated to make the change
  • You have the ability to pause your daily responsibilities (work, family, school etc.) in order to undergo the procedure
  • You have the financial wherewithal to make an elective cosmetic surgery come to fruition.

Preparing for Breast Implant Removal (Explant) & Breast Implant Replacement

Once you have decided to make this exciting new change and undergo breast implant removal and replacement in NYC, you will need to provide medical clearance from your family physician. You will be given instructions as to how to prepare for breast implant removal and replacement, and will be given prescriptions to be filled in advance. A custom-made post-surgical garment will be ordered for you by Dr. Weintraub’s office, eliminating unnecessary bother or fuss. For those patients who live beyond a 50-mile radius of New York City, Dr. Weintraub advises a two-night post-operative stay at The Pierre, The St. Regis, The Mark or The Carlyle Hotel, where his patients are given a special reduced rate, and where he will visit you after your procedure. A private nurse can also be provided.

The Cost

Each patient is individual in his own makeup and anatomical configuration. Therefore, in order to give an accurate quote for breast implant removal and replacement, it is best to schedule a consultation that will allow Dr. Weintraub to appropriately judge what is involved. For those patients who live overseas or outside New York City or the Hamptons, photographs can be emailed or sent to the office, and a phone consultation can then take place.

After Surgery

There can occasionally be a short period of minimal swelling and sometimes bruising after breast implant removal and replacement. You must carefully follow all instructions provided by Dr. Weintraub in order to achieve the best results possible. He is a firm believer in early showering, because, in his own words, “Clean wounds make for narrower incisions.” He will advise you as to when you can return to your normal lifestyle and exercise routine after your breast implant removal and replacement in NYC.

What Sets Dr. Weintraub Apart

Dr. Weintraub has always been blessed with a strong aesthetic sense. He possesses a unique blend of medical science and artwork, as it truly is artwork that he performs on the human form. His attention to detail ensures that he gets the best results possible, and he is meticulous about everything he does, from pre-op to post-op care and beyond.*

He studied medicine at Cornell during a time when core values were emphasized, and it is on these values that he bases his practice. He believes that physicians should be humble and respectful, and should never lose sight that the person they are operating on is exactly that: a person possessing real-life issues and concerns. The chairmen of the department of general surgery at Cornell at the time, Dr. Tom Shires, along with another luminary, Dr. Leon Morgenstern of Cedars-Sinai, taught Dr. Weintraub that “The operating room is a sacred place. It’s a very serious place. Never be cavalier about surgery.”

During his surgical residency training, Dr. Weintraub regularly visited Mexico to donate his time operating on deformed children and adults who couldn’t afford proper healthcare. In less-than-optimal conditions, he learned how to perform surgery with the basics, and received great satisfaction in making profound differences in people’s lives by restoring their faces and bodies. Similarly, when he was Chief Resident at the New York Hospital – Cornell Medical Center, and later when he was Chief Resident at the Reconstructive Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, he found that his compassion for patients, along with his skill and precision as a surgeon, could change lives and bring people joy they never thought possible.

Dr. Weintraub believes that surgery is never a race. The patient is always number one. He keeps in his wallet a piece of paper that is his motto in the operating room: “Always demand what is right, and never accept second best.” He likes to consider himself a “thinking surgeon,” and does not enter the operating room with a mechanical series of steps to execute robotically, but likes to remain alert and ready for whatever intraoperative challenges might spontaneously arise. Although many notable surgeons openly listen to music while performing surgery, Dr. Weintraub does not, preferring the mood of the operating room to remain serious and focused.

Over 60% of Dr. Weintraub’s practice is comprised of complex redos of surgeries performed by other offices. Such procedures always involve difficult issues, since there exist not only the limitations of a patient’s own anatomy, but also the limitations of another surgeon’s aesthetic, and the scar tissue that has developed as a result. Patients seek Dr. Weintraub from all over the world to correct their aesthetic problems. He takes great pride in getting the best results, and always enjoys the challenges of such procedures.

Last, Dr. Weintraub will not hesitate to turn patients away if he feels they are not good candidates for surgery. If a surgery is not in someone’s best interest, he will be the first to say so. However, when a patient is a good candidate, the results produced by Dr. Weintraub can be magical, and he feels that it is an honor to give patients a gift they can enjoy for the rest of their lives.

How To Get Started

Dr. Weintraub and his staff will be happy to discuss breast implant removal and replacement with you. Please call our office for a private consultation. We hope you look forward to our warm welcome and the opportunity for us to help you make an educated and confident decision.

Contact our office today to set up your consultation for breast-implant removal and replacement.