Breast Implant Removal Without Replacement
The most common reason that cosmetic patients wish their breast implants removed is to have larger implants placed. There are also replacement operations for implant rupture and breast hardening or Capsular contracture .
It is occasional in plastic surgery that a patient requests that her breast implants be removed and not replaced. This can be accomplished without much difficulty, but depending upon how much breast tissue and skin are present can leave not-so-pretty results. There are options that can improve things such as breast lift or reduction. Then there are those patients look better without their implants. These are usually older subglandular "Over the Muscle" cases in which distortion is evident.
Breast Implant Removal with Breast Lift Video
The first two women in this video had removal of their breast implants without replacement along with breast lift surgery. The third had different smaller implants placed with a reduced scar breast lift. An important factor here is how much of the current breast fullness is due to the implants and how much natural tissue is inside there. One thing to notice in this video is that upper pole fullness tends to go away when implants are not replaced.
The key here is to select an experienced plastic surgeon and listen to his or her advice before proceeding.
Insurance Coverage and Breast Implant Removal
Trying to figure what a health insurance company will and will not cover (much less the rate and time to payment) has driven more than one surgeon to stop dealing with them. We still work with some PPO insurance as a non-Provider and simple removal with capsule removal can be covered. Additional procedures (such as breast lifts) to improve the appearance of the breasts are not covered in general. At this point, it seems that most local insurance companies are reviewing requests involving breast implants carefully so be patient if you decide to try the "insurance covered" route. It seems that the adjuster assigned to a particular case has more to do with approval than anything else. Pre-approval is absolutely necessary for these operations in Southern California.
Most insurance companies seem to be covering the removal of the implants and perhaps the scar capsules, but nothing else. Working with an insurance company makes things more complicated unless you choose simpler surgery without corrective cosmetic add-ons like breast lift surgery:
Please note that this resource is offered freely to individuals considering cosmetic breast surgery. No rights are granted and it is not to be reprinted or copied without the author's prior written consent. Understand that some of the information presented may be a matter of professional opinion. Although efforts have been made to assure accuracy, no guarantees are expressed or implied.
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