How Does Earlier Breast Surgery Affect the Plan?
An augmentation, reduction, or lift changes the breast in ways that matter when planning future surgery. If you have implants, your surgeon will want to know their size, type, location, and whether you have experienced problems such as significant scar tissue. Previous reduction or lift surgery also leaves incision patterns and changes how the skin and breast tissue have been shaped.
Our implant-based reconstruction information confirms that many women with cosmetic implants can still undergo reconstruction with implants. The approach may need to account for the existing implant pocket, previous incisions, and how the breast has healed.
If you still have your original operative report or implant card, bring it to your consultation. Those records can answer questions that may not be obvious from an examination alone.
Does Previous Augmentation Mean You Need Implants Again?
No. A previous augmentation does not commit you to implant-based reconstruction.
Depending on your mastectomy, health, body type, cancer treatment, and preferences, your options may also include autologous breast reconstruction, which uses your own tissue to recreate the breast.
It is also important to distinguish cosmetic breast augmentation from breast reconstruction. Augmentation adds volume to an existing breast. After a mastectomy, reconstruction creates a breast mound after breast tissue has been removed. The goals and surgical considerations are different even when an implant is used.
What About Shape and Symmetry?
Later procedures may be used to improve contour or create a closer match between the breasts. Our breast shaping options can include fat grafting, implant adjustments, lift techniques, or reduction when appropriate.
For unilateral reconstruction, surgery on the natural breast may sometimes help improve symmetry. Your earlier cosmetic procedure is therefore one part of the planning process, not a decision that determines what you can or cannot have now.
Discuss Your Previous Breast Surgery With Our Team
If you have had an augmentation, reduction, or breast lift and now need reconstruction, contact us at The Breast Center – Park Meadows Cosmetic Surgery. Call 303-706-1100 to meet with our surgeons in Lone Tree, Colorado, and review how your earlier surgery may influence your current options.
