breast implants and broken veins

[jeaniee]

Dear Dr. Rosenberg, I had small implants over a year ago. The surgeon has agreed to do a corrective operation as I am not happy with my breasts being rippled and one nipple higher than the other. I went through a terrible time after the surgery as I had several infections and the pain was about the most unbearable pain I'd ever experienced. However, what concerns me most are the unsightly broken veins around my nipples as a result of the first operation and I fear that a second operation will result in more. Can you tell me if this is unavoidable. I understand that recorrective surgery can be less traumatic as the pocket for the implant has already been created?
Many thanks for any feedback you can give me on this.

[Howard Rosenberg, MD]

I am not sure what is the nature of the "broken veins" that you describe about your nipples.  This is not a complaint that I am aware of occurring in many years of medical practice and breast augmentation surgery.  Your post-operative infections may have resulted in increased vascularity to the area, particularly if that is the area of your incision.  Sometimes laser therapy may be helpful.  Assuming your subsequent surgery occurs without complication, I would not expect it to make this problem worse.  It is true that additional revision surgery is often not as painful as the original procedure.

[jeaniee]

Dear Doctor Rosenberg,
I was surprised to learn that the broken veins BENEATH my nipples was an uncommon complaint. Perhaps it because I have quite thin breast skin. I thought it might have been caused by too much force being used during the insertion of the implants? Would it help if I sent photos? I have seen a laser specialist who advised me that they could not be effectively removed.