The Cost of a Breast Implant Revision in NYC

Cost is one of the largest contributing factors in the decision for someone to pursue cosmetic surgery. Price can often be an important differentiating factor to consider when comparing surgeons. A surgeon’s expertise specific to the procedure you are interested in, the quality of their results, and photos demonstrating high-quality results can often be reflected in a higher price. If a particular surgeon is more expensive but you appreciate their opinion and results more than another, speak with their office coordinator to review payment options. Be very wary of free consultations as these are often not thorough enough for the provider to give you a full education on a procedure. Proper knowledge is essential for making an appropriate, informed decision regarding surgery.  Prices range from $15,000 on the very low end, to above $30,000 for very experienced high-quality surgeons on Park Avenue.

What Affects the Cost of a Breast Implant Revision?

The cost of a breast implant revision procedure can vary depending on several factors. One major factor would be geography. The larger the city (New York City for example), the greater the density of plastic surgeons. Board-certified plastic surgeons look to stand out by obtaining the highest level of training available within their field. A surgeon with advanced training and a well-established practice will often be more costly than a junior surgeon without the same credentials. Many warm-weather cities are known for offering inexpensive plastic surgery. While there are qualified providers in those places, it is important to research the implications of seeking surgery away from home – downtime, hotel/travel expenses, and what would happen in the case of any complication. Another aspect of surgery that can affect the cost is the associated surgical center and anesthesia fees. These are usually billed based on time in surgery, so how effectively a surgeon can achieve the desired result within a certain time constraint is a consideration. The average, uncomplicated breast augmentation typically takes around one to two hours. Lastly, the type of practice the plastic surgeon maintains can affect cost. For example, a surgeon seeing many more patients within a given day with less time and attention per patient can charge less due to volume. In this case, patients may often be seen by a lower-level provider (PA, RN) for many of their post-operative follow-up visits. On the contrary, some surgeons prefer to minimize patient overload to allow each patient a large amount of individualized care, and that type of extra attention comes at a higher cost.

Additionally, some complex breast implant revisions require the use of absorbable mesh or a tissue scaffold called acellular dermal matrix.  Use of these materials is reserved for difficult cases and requires a surgeon with significant revisionary breast surgery experience.

What is Covered Under This Cost?

If a previous breast augmentation surgery failed to deliver the desired aesthetic—or if the appearance of implants has been affected by age or pregnancy-related changes to breast tissue—revisionary surgery can help.

Breast augmentation changes the size or shape of the breasts using techniques such as implant placement or fat transfer. Breast implant revision is a surgical procedure that addresses issues with size, shape, feel, or placement of the original implants.

Revisional surgeries are indicated either by implant rupture, capsular contracture, a change in breast tissue due to aging, pregnancy, or breastfeeding, breast cancer, or initial results that failed to deliver the desired aesthetic.

Besides a desire to change the size or shape of their implants, reasons our patients have sought a revision include:

• Pain or implant migration caused by excessive scar tissue forming around the implant, also known as capsular contracture.
• Poor initial placement resulting in implants sitting too high, too low, too wide, or too close together on your chest wall.
• “Rippling,” or being able to see implant folds through the skin, which can happen with both saline implants and silicone implants.
• Changes in breast tissue due to natural aging processes or significant weight loss.
• Implant failure

Breast reconstruction and breast implant revision procedures use many of the same techniques. Breast implant revision surgery, however, can be more complicated than initial breast augmentation because revisionary procedures require managing scar tissue and changes in breast tissue as well as any complications from the original procedure. Breast implant revision also almost always involves the removal of the original implants. Many patients express hesitancy considering revision surgery if they have had a bad outcome or experience with another surgeon. We encourage our patients to review credentials and before/after galleries while considering options for revisional surgery.

How Can I Set Up a Consultation?

The first step to schedule a consultation would be doing thorough research. There are many ways to find a plastic surgeon. Arguably the best way would be to receive a referral from another physician, such as primary care, dermatologist, or OB-GYN. These providers often see multiple patients with good results and can attest to those by referring their patients somewhere. Friends are a secondarily good referral source, especially if they are patients themselves. When it comes to advertising, the most essential consideration is the plastic surgeon’s education, board certification ONLY by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, and before/after gallery. If those components match your desired outcome, then they would be a good source of information to seek in consultation. You will often come across taglines such as “no downtime surgery” or “no anesthesia required”. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. There are no shortcuts to SAFE plastic surgery.

The next step would be contacting the office of a board-certified plastic surgeon to find a time to meet them. First impressions last a lifetime, so pay attention when speaking to the receptionist upon calling. Should you decide to have surgery, this is the team you will be dealing with multiple times per month for at least a year. The administrative team directly reflects the surgeon’s ways of working. Another thing to clarify would be a potential timeline for surgery. This is sometimes best done before reaching out to qualified providers because they are booked one to six months out, on average. Knowing well enough in advance will give you adequate time to interview surgeons, get any preoperative lab work done, and feel confident moving forward with your scheduled procedure.