Fillers and Implants - What Happens When They Leave the Body

The decision to have fillers, breast implants, or butt implants placed in the body can be influenced by viewing celebrities on social media, or at red carpet events, who have obviously had some sort of cosmetic procedure. The opposite is also true as some patients make the decision to remove their fillers or implants once they view a celebrity discussing their reasons for having the same procedure. Once the fillers, breast implants, or butt implants are removed, what happens when they leave the body?

Cosmetic Removal Procedures – Rising in Popularity

Even though cosmetic procedures were on the rise as recently as 2021, the number of patients who decided to have a cosmetic removal procedure or cosmetic dissolution procedure also grew from 2021 to 2022. The Aesthetic Society reported that, as recently as 2021, 365,000 patients had breast augmentation while 148,000 patients made the decision to have their breast implants removed and replaced. In addition, about 47% of patients (71,000) did not replace their breast implants after they were removed.

In addition to celebrities who have discussed reversing their cosmetic procedures, there are also many videos on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram where the person posting the video discusses their decision to reverse their previous procedure. As time goes by, cosmetic surgery trends change and patients who once wanted to have fillers or implants make the decision to have them removed.

Fillers – How They Are Dissolved

Fillers are injected into the body to restore lost volume and give the skin a plumper look. They can also give the skin a smoother look by reducing or eliminating fine lines and wrinkles in the treated area. While fillers are not a permanent solution, there are some people who are not happy with the results and want to remove the fillers before they are absorbed by the body. Some of the reasons patients want to have their fillers dissolved include gaining an overly filled look or unnatural look to the treated area, asymmetrical results, the formation of lumpy areas, and the filler migrating to another area of the body.

If a person wants the filler to be removed, many of the most popular types of fillers can be reversed through the use of an enzyme known as hyaluronidase. It is injected under the skin to speed up the natural disintegration of hyaluronic acid (which is the active ingredient in many filers). If the filler is not made of hyaluronic acid, the doctor might perform a steroid injection to reverse the effects of the filler.

Butt Implants and Breast Implants – How They Are Removed

As opposed to fillers, implants will not dissolve in the body. When it comes to butt implants, they are devices containing silicone that are placed in the butt to change the shape and contour of the buttocks. Breast implants can contain silicone or saline and they are placed in the breast area to provide a larger shape/increased augmentation to the look and size of the breasts.

Implants do have a limited lifespan and they usually need to be replaced after a certain amount of time. Patients can also decide to have them removed from the body if they later decide they no longer enjoy the changes in the size and shape of the treated area provided by the implants. Plus, breast implants are often removed if the person begins to experience some form of illness such as fatigue, chronic pain, or dysfunction to the nervous system.

If a person decides to have their breast implants removed, there can experience a dramatic change in the appearance of the breast area including the formation of loose skin and a change in the shape of the breast area. For example, the removal of breast implants can leave the breasts with skin laxity, a loss of conical shape, a loss of projection, and a hollow look. Breast implant removal can also lead to a risk of excess skin, a rippling appearance, and an inversion of the nipple.

The removal of buttock implants can also cause a change in the appearance of the area where the implants were removed. The skin and the soft tissue can start to stretch once an implant is removed and the overlying skin can start to experience skin laxity, skin indentions, folds, and an irregular look to the contour of the buttocks.

What to Know Before Deciding to Have Fillers or Implants Removed

Patients should talk to their doctor before making the final decision to have a procedure to dissolve fillers or remove implants. The doctor can go into greater detail about the benefits and drawbacks of making the desired changes and also detail the possible short-term and long-term changes that can possibly happen to the appearance of the body. Once the doctor shares the necessary information, the patient can make an educated decision about the removal of fillers or implants from the body.

- MA