Explant Surgery in Sarasota, FL
Remove Your Breast Implants and Move On
Breast implant removal surgery, often called explant, takes your implants out. Depending on your situation, Dr. Shulman also removes some or all of the capsule, which is the layer of scar tissue your body formed around each implant.
Women arrive at this decision from very different directions. Some have a rupture or a hardened, painful breast. Some are tired of the maintenance, or their bodies have changed, or they simply don't want implants anymore. Some are worried about symptoms they can't explain. Dr. Shulman doesn't rank those reasons or ask you to defend the one that's yours.
She has been a board-certified plastic surgeon since 2002, has practiced since 2000, and has been in Sarasota since 2009. She's a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (F.A.C.S.), and explant is one of the procedures she's best known for. Request an appointment and she'll show you what removal would realistically look like on your body.
Is Explant Right for You
Decide Whether Removal Alone Will Satisfy You
If you want your implants out, you're a candidate. The real question isn't whether to remove them, it's whether removal alone gets you a result you'll be happy with, or whether you'll want something done to the breast at the same time.
Removal on its own tends to work well when:
- Your implants were modest in size, so the skin hasn't stretched much.
- Your own breast tissue is reasonably full.
- Your skin still has good tone and you haven't had major weight changes.
You may want to add something when:
- Your implants were large and the skin envelope is stretched. An implant removal with lift addresses that.
- You'd like some fullness back without another device. Fat grafting can restore volume with your own tissue.
- Your breast is firm or painful, which usually means capsular contracture needs treating at the same time.
Dr. Shulman will tell you which category you're in at the consultation, and she's just as willing to say you don't need the bigger operation as to recommend it.
What Happens, Step by Step
Follow an Explant From Consultation Through Surgery
Explant is usually an outpatient operation of roughly one to two hours under general anesthesia, meaning you're fully asleep. It runs longer if the capsule is thick or has to be removed completely.
- Your consultation. Dr. Shulman examines you, asks about your implants and how long you've had them, and talks through what your breasts are likely to look like after removal. Bring your implant device card if you have it. She quotes you herself, and consultations run about 40 minutes.
- Deciding how much capsule comes out. This is the most important technical decision. Sometimes the capsule is thin, healthy, and can safely be left alone. Sometimes it's thickened, calcified, or contracted and needs partial or complete removal, which is called a capsulectomy. Dr. Shulman will explain which applies to you and why, rather than defaulting to the most aggressive option or the easiest one.
- The day of surgery. She usually works through your original incision where possible. The implant comes out, the capsule is addressed according to plan, and the breast tissue is redraped. If you're having fat grafting or a lift at the same time, that happens now.
- Right after. You'll wake up in a surgical wrap. Most patients go home the same day with a driver, and many are surprised by how much easier explant feels than their original augmentation. Drains are sometimes used when a full capsulectomy was performed. Dr. Shulman gives you a way to reach her directly afterward.
Explant Recovery Timeline
Expect an Easier Recovery Than Your Augmentation
Most patients return to desk work within a few days to a week and to full exercise around four to six weeks. Explant is generally a gentler recovery than implant placement, because nothing is being stretched to make room.
- The first week. Expect soreness and swelling rather than the tight pressure you may remember from augmentation. You'll wear your surgical wrap day and night, and Dr. Shulman will tell you when to switch to a supportive bra. If drains were placed, they usually come out within the first week.
- Weeks two and three. Most desk workers are back. Swelling drops noticeably. No lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk and nothing overhead.
- Weeks four through six. Activity returns gradually, with clearance for full exercise around four to six weeks depending on how extensive your surgery was and how you're healing.
- Months three to twelve. This is the part worth preparing for emotionally. Your breasts will look flatter and more deflated immediately after surgery than they will six months later, because skin needs time to contract. Judging your result in the first weeks is the most common source of unnecessary distress after explant.
Risks Worth Understanding
Know What Removal Can and Can't Promise
Explant is a safe operation, and the surgical risks are the usual ones: bleeding, infection, fluid collection, changes in nipple sensation, and scarring. Because Dr. Shulman generally works through your existing incision, most patients don't gain new visible scars.
The bigger thing to understand is cosmetic rather than medical. Your breasts will not look the way they did before you had implants. Skin that's been stretched for years doesn't fully return, and some laxity or deflation is normal. How much depends on your implant size, how long you had them, your skin quality, and your own tissue.
On symptoms: some women report fatigue, joint pain, and brain fog with implants in place, commonly called breast implant illness (BII). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledges these reports in its required boxed warning while noting the cause isn't established. You can read the agency's guidance on what to know about breast implants. Dr. Shulman won't promise removal will resolve symptoms, because nobody can honestly make that promise. She will take your account seriously and remove the implants properly.
Paying for Explant Surgery
Understand the Cost and Whether Insurance Applies
Cost depends on how much capsule work is needed, whether you're adding a lift or fat grafting, and facility and anesthesia fees. A straightforward removal sits well below a full capsulectomy combined with a lift.
Insurance occasionally covers implant removal when it's medically necessary, such as a documented rupture or severe capsular contracture, though plans vary and approval isn't automatic. Sovereign Plastic Surgery bills insurance only for breast reconstruction after cancer surgery, so explant here is self-pay regardless. Dr. Shulman quotes you directly at the consultation, your consultation fee applies toward surgery, and financing is available through CareCredit and Cherry. See our payment options and financing page.
Why Patients Choose Sovereign Plastic Surgery
Work With a Surgeon Who Advocates for Removal
Sovereign Plastic Surgery is a solo practice. Dr. Shulman runs your consultation, performs your surgery, quotes your price, and sees you at every follow-up. Patients can reach her directly afterward.
What sets this practice apart on explant specifically is that she isn't neutral about it. She's a public advocate for breast implant removal for women who want their implants out, and she's said plainly that she'd rather a patient leave her office having made the decision that's right for her than be sold the operation that pays better. Patients travel from Tampa and across Florida to be seen by a surgeon who starts from that position.
You don't have to take our word for any of it. Patients describe their own results and their own care in their own words, and you can read reviews from Sovereign Plastic Surgery patients before you book.
About Your Surgeon
Meet the Surgeon Performing Your Explant
Dr. Shulman has been a board-certified plastic surgeon since 2002, has practiced since 2000, and opened Sovereign Plastic Surgery in Sarasota in 2009. She was the first woman to serve as Chief of Surgery at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, next door to her office, and the only plastic surgeon ever appointed Chief of Staff there. She places implants as well as removes them, which means she understands exactly what's been done to your breast and how to undo it well. She works below the neck only. Read Dr. Shulman's full background and credentials.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your breasts will be smaller and, at first, flatter than they'll eventually settle. Skin that was stretched around an implant needs months to contract, so the shape you see at two weeks is not your result. How much natural fullness returns depends on your implant size, how long you had them, and your own tissue and skin tone.
Yes, and that's exactly what most of Dr. Shulman's explant patients choose. You're never obligated to accept a replacement implant, and she won't push one on you. If you'd like some volume back without a device, fat grafting is an option, either at the same time or later.
Most patients are back to desk work within a few days to a week and cleared for full exercise around four to six weeks. Explant is usually an easier recovery than the original augmentation. If a full capsulectomy was performed, expect the longer end of those ranges.
Most patients describe it as noticeably less painful than their augmentation, because nothing is being stretched to create space. Expect soreness and swelling for the first several days rather than the tight pressure of implant placement. Pain is greater when extensive capsule removal was needed.
Explant means removing the implant. Capsulectomy means removing the capsule of scar tissue your body built around it. The two are often done together, but not always, because a thin healthy capsule can sometimes be safely left in place. Dr. Shulman will explain which approach your situation calls for and why.
Scheduling is easy. You can request an appointment online or call the office at 941-366-5476, and the team will call you back to confirm a time. You'll meet Dr. Shulman herself. We look forward to seeing you.