Dr. Jean Loftus is a double board-certified plastic
surgeon and is a national authority on plastic surgery. She has
appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and The Today Show, as a vocal advocate
of safety, conscientiousness, and honesty in plastic surgery.
Her book, The
Smart Woman's Guide to Plastic Surgery, is
the #1 best-selling book in the country on plastic surgery. This
book is available online at
amazon.com,
bn.com and
borders.com.
Dr.
Loftus has offices in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. Visit
her website at
www.infoplasticsurgery.com. To schedule a consultation,
you may contact her offices at (513) 793-4000 or (859) 426-5000.
Dr. Loftus just loves getting questions and posting answers. To
submit your question, please follow the link at the bottom of
this page. Even if you just want to send her a comment, she'd
love to hear from you.
Q:
Are women who form hypertrophic scars more likely to get capsular
contractures following breast augmentation?
Dr.
Loftus Answers: Excellent question!!! For those who may not
be familiar with these terms, hypertrophic scars are wide (often
unsightly) scars that form on the skin following surgery, lacerations,
or any incident in which the skin was cut and must heal. They
tend to be firm and darker than the surrounding skin. They may
take years to fade, or they may never fade and soften. These undesirable
scars are more likely to form on certain parts of the body such
as the chest, abdomen, thighs, knees, elbows, and shoulders (although
they may form anywhere). They are also more common in areas where
tension on the skin is great. . Hypertrophic scars are essentially
overzealous scar formation.
Capsular contractures are scars that the body forms around breast
implants. These scars may lay dormant and cause no problems, or
they may tighten around the implant, causing the breast to feel
firm, look unnatural, and sometimes hurt.
This was an insightful question because the person who asked it
realized that scar formation was at issue in both cases. There
are, however a few differences. In hypertrophic scars, the scars
are overzealous in growth (not in contracting) whereas in capsular
contracture, the scars are overzealous in contracting, not in
growth. Also, in hypertrophic scars, the scars are formed by skin
cells trying to heal. In capsular contractures, the scars are
due to connective tissue trying to heal. The bottom line is that
there is no known correlation between the two. The known factors
for capsular contracture are as follows: infection (overt or sub-clinical),
hematoma (bleeding after surgery), placement of silicone gel implants
(not an option at this time), and plain old bad luck.
Curious
about what others have asked? Want more valuable
information on Plastic Surgery? Go to the
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