Rippling of breast implants is not only a clear sign that a woman has had breast augmentation, it’s an unattractive, unnatural look. Rippling of breast implants is an uncommon complication, one that’s more often associated with saline breast implants than silicone, and more likely forbreast implants placed over the chest muscles (subglandular) than those placed under the chest muscles (submuscular).
Common Causes For Rippling
The most common cause of rippling is an underinflated saline breast implant. To avoid this, saline implants are often “over-filled” to prevent them from rippling. However, sometimes surgeons will inflate one or both implants less than ideally in an attempt to refine surgical results and achieve symmetry between breasts. Other times, implants may begin properly inflated, but fluid migrates through the implant shell, causing the implant to deflate slowly over time, resulting in rippling several years after surgery.
Another cause of rippling is a ruptured silicone breast implant. When a silicone breast implant ruptures, the silicone remains in the scar capsule your body puts around the implant, but you may see a change in the appearance of your breast.
Finally, rippling can occur when the breast implant adheres to the scar capsule, pulling on it and other breast tissue. This is called “traction” rippling, and it’s the least common cause of rippling.
Reduce The Risk of Rippling
All of the following reduce your risk of rippling after augmentation breast surgery:
- Submuscular placement of breast implant
- Silicone gel breast implant
- Smooth breast implant shell
To learn more about this or other breast augmentation complications, please contact Gayoso Plastic Surgery in the Tampa area today.
