Patients who have breast augmentation, breast lift, or breast reconstruction may have breast implants as part of their procedure. This surgical procedure like any surgical procedure triggers the body’s immune system and responds to the foreign body by acting on the foreign body usually either dissolving ,pushing out ,or attacking the foreign body. Because this is not possible with a breast implant, the body creates a natural shell around the breast implant called a capsule. In certain situations this capsule may be triggered to thicken ,tighten, and squeeze around the implant which is known as capsular contracture.
Implant capsular contracture also known as capsular contraction can also be magnified and triggered by certain conditions of the patient’s own immune system or issues related to surgery in which there is a hematoma or a pooling of blood, a seroma which is a collection of clear fluid, a contamination or an infection where bacteria trigger the capsule to become hard tight and squeeze the breast implant. When this happens women will typically notice one or both breasts feeling very firm or hard when squeezed, when on their stomachs face down, when someone hugs them, or if there’s any tightness or discomfort felt in the breast region.
Massaging unfortunately will not help capsular contraction in the long term and typically results in the breast capsule tightening up again. Certain medications have been proposed for capsular contracture but none of them are FDA-approved for this indication as it is an off label asthma medication that comes with serious side effects in certain patients. Surgical revision of fixing capsular contraction unfortunately has a very high reoccurrence rate normally result in the patient encapsulating over and over again.
Sometimes patients only option may be surgery and despite the risk of up to a 90% rate of getting capsular contracture again there is an after surgery option that helps reduce the likelihood of getting capsular contracture.
This treatment is called the Aspen after Surgery treatment and is applied two weeks after surgery. The treatment involves using sound wave technology or ultrasound waves in combination with certain medications that are driven into the newly formed capsule. The sound waves allow the medication to act more effectively by hitting the target immune system trigger, bacteria , or contamination that may be the catalyst for causing what would be the onset of another encapsulation after surgery.
If you would like information about preventing capsular contracture after your planned surgery or even as an alternative to avoiding surgery, call the Aspen after surgery treatment center at 818-478-9208. You can also request a virtual evaluation where a clinical expert can look at your present condition determine if you are a candidate for either treatment or prevention and discuss how and where this treatment can be received.
Please also see video below on a patient who had 5 failed breast surgeries due to repeated capsular contracture after surgery and how she helped avoid it after her last surgery using the aspen after surgery 2 week post op program.