Is my saline breast implant leaking? How do you know? 3 signs.

Posted on April 12, 2012

Brrrrng.  Brrrng. (phone rings.)

Patient XX: “I think my saline implant is leaking.”

Dr. G:  “Tell me, what do you see?”

We then will get into a big discussion about the past few weeks.  Do you see a difference in size?   Did you have any trauma? (An injury, hit to the chest, recent mammogram, etc).  Do you see an increase in the wrinkling? Loss of upper pole (ie cleavage) fullness?

Breast implants can leak.  They are man-made objects and like all things eventually they can fail.  So how do you know if your saline implant is leaking?

The best way to figure it out is to go see your doctor.  Mammograms are not reliable to tell you if it is leaking.  A  common reason for a saline implant to leak is fold failure- a small hole in the periphery of the implant.  Trauma doesn’t usually cause the leak by itself- there has to be a weakness or hole present.  I once had a patient who had been a horrible car accident and had a welt across her chest from her seatbelt.  Her skin was not okay, but her implant was fine.  Breast implants are generally quite durable.  But at some point they can fail.  And if you are within 10 years, you are likely still under warranty.  The fix is an easy one usually- just a simple implant exchange.  And unlike the first surgery (for most of you with implants under the muscle), not painful.