We did some research and I'll admit it surprised me that this is such a common google search, but hey, there you go. I thought it would be obvious.
To be honest, when I started doing explant surgery (what feels like a long time ago now), I just assumed it would be an operation that would cause a reasonable degree of discomfort. It's a big(ish) operation after all. As it turns out though, my initial assumptions weren't quite right.
I always talk to my patients about post-op pain as part of the discussion. I guess actually that I do spend more than just a bit of time talking about it because a lot of explant patients have pain from their implants, so they want to know whether that will get better and naturally that leads me to talking about post-op pain and how the whole thing works.
So, it may be worth firstly considering why breast implants cause pain - go here, read this thing if you want. Totally breaking the "2 minute read" concept if you do that but whatever.
Q: does explant hurt?
A: Sometimes, Yes and no, Maybe, It depends what I do.
Ok, in all seriousness, yes, explant can be uncomfortable. But let me offer some clarity around such an epithet.
Firstly, breast augmentation hurts. Especially if the implant is placed under the muscle. So the first caveat I offer you is that explant tends to hurt less than the original implant.
Secondly, and again this applies mostly to those ladies with implants under the muscle, the act of removing the implant and scar capsule often offers an almost immediate sense of relief (with the help of some pain killers) because after explant, the Pec muscle is no longer being relentlessly stretched. Many women offer some version of "I can breathe better/ I don't feel the tightness in my chest anymore" on day 1 after surgery.
Thirdly, YOU WILL ALWAYS NEED SOME SORT OF PAIN RELIEF AFTER SURGERY.
Don't be a hero. I understand that many women choose a natural lifestyle these days that often doesn't involve taking pain medication like nurofen or panadol if they have a headache. Cool. That is fine. But if you try to be a hero after explant surgery, you'll just make things worse for yourself.
Pain after explant surgery often relates to: 1) the muscle repair that I do, and 2) the internal bra that we fashion to set the crease position. If you do nothing to control your expected pain after explant surgery, then you will unconsciously fall into a maladaptive posture that in the short term makes you more comfortable, but over days to weeks makes you bloody miserable.
If you have pain in the chest area, the default posture (because it temporarily makes things feel better) is to round your shoulders and hunch a little, and you'll also tend to take shallower breaths. However, this posturing will eventually lead to you experiencing worsening muscle tightness, severe headaches in some cases, and general unhappiness over all. If you just take your pain relief, it will allow you to gently stretch and ensure you have proper posture, which will actually make you more comfortable and allow you to get off the pain killers faster.
The shallow breathing is possibly more dangerous if you fall into that pattern. Shallow breaths lead to small parts of the lungs collapsing, which predisposes you to coughing (ouch) and in the worst case scenario, chest infections. You need to be comfortable taking deep breaths if you want to recover safely and well.
We often say to our patients: if you can comfortably take a deep breath in without pain causing your breath to catch, then you have been taking a sufficient amount of pain relief.
It is a simple, and reliable barometer of whether you are falling into a trap due to under-use of your prescribed pain medications.
So, if you want to minimise the amount of pain relief you need, take it properly to start with, recover well, and you will be off any pain meds sooner than you'd think.
We use a combination of pain relief medications after surgery. There is a stronger medication that most ladies use for a few days. Some ladies never take it. That is fine.
We also use an anti-inflammatory medication and some good ol' panadol. The use of these simpler medications minimises the amount of the strong stuff you need. So it makes sense to take them. These are safe, non-addictive medications with almost no side effects for most people. In my opinion, not taking these medications is a hell of a lot worse than taking them.
The last point I would make is that pain relief after surgery has a lot to do with your level of activity and whether you are following instructions. Take it easy after explant, don't move too much (but do your prescribed stretches), and expect that you will be a bit sore and sorry for maybe a week. You did just have surgery after all.
Have a lovely day.
Bye!