The development of breast implants – both saline and silicone – created the foundation for amazing breast augmentation results. Implants go the distance in mimicking the look and feel of natural breast tissue.
Yet, under certain circumstances, the soft texture of implants can cause them to visibly wrinkle beneath the skin.
This largely avoidable problem is known as breast implant rippling. It tends to appear beside the underarm and can be especially pronounced when leaning over.
Why Does Breast Implant Rippling Happen?
In some cases, rippling is the result of an oversight or even carelessness on the part of the surgeon. This is more likely to happen with inexperienced or ‘bargain’ surgeons.
It may be that the pocket the surgeon created was not precisely sized to hold the implant in place. Or, if the patient has saline implants, the surgeon may have underfilled or overfilled them. Sometimes, it’s just simply that the surgeon placed too large an implant in relation to the patient’s breast width.
As such, choosing a board-certified plastic surgeon who has many years of experience with breast augmentation is the first BIG step toward reducing your risk of rippling.
Yet, even in cases where the surgeon has covered all the bases and placed the implant with the utmost care, there can still be multiple causes for rippling. And more than one of these causes can apply to an individual patient.
- Loss of Volume
Saline implants come equipped with a valve. Over time, this valve can begin leaking. While this isn’t dangerous for the patient because the body is able to safely absorb the saline solution, the decreasing size of the implant can result in rippling and cause the implant capsule to start shrinking.
- Not Enough Natural Breast Tissue
Women with thin breast tissue are at a greater risk for breast implant rippling because there’s simply not enough natural tissue to cover and cushion the implant.
- Choice of Implant Type
As mentioned above, the overfilling or underfilling of saline implants can cause rippling. Many patients choose silicone implants for this reason. There are also highly cohesive “gummy bear” implants that will not ripple at all. If they become tethered to the capsule, however, their textured surface can appear as ripples.
- Scar Tissue Tethering to the Skin
While recovering from surgery, some patients experience scar bands between the skin and the capsule of scar tissue that the body naturally creates around the implant. Movement of the breast can make this tethered tissue visible beneath the skin.
- Weight Loss
As much as losing weight can be a joy, if the loss is substantial after the implant surgery, it can exacerbate breast implant rippling.
How Is Breast Implant Rippling Rectified?
In situations where the rippling is the result of not enough cushioning, the easiest fix is a fat transfer. This involves using liposuction to remove fat from one part of the patient’s body, purifying it, and carefully injecting it into the breasts where it serves as a natural filler.
For more complicated cases, there are breast implant revision surgical techniques to remedy breast implant rippling. Depending on the situation, the surgeon may replace the implant, change its placement, and/or add a dermal or synthetic matrix to the capsule to provide better support.
Whatever the case, nobody has to live with breast implant rippling forever.
Considering Breast Augmentation?
If you’re thinking about breast augmentation surgery for yourself, then contact us today.
Our highly skilled and board-certified plastic surgeons have decades of experience with breast augmentation surgery.
They will spend ample time with you, going over all of your options and finding the best result that will minimize, if not prevent, the likelihood of breast implant rippling.