Implant Removal With Lift in Sarasota, FL
Remove Your Implants and Reshape the Breast in One Operation
Breast implant removal with lift takes the implants out and repositions the remaining breast tissue higher on the chest in the same surgery. It exists because of a simple problem: an implant stretches the skin around it, and when the implant leaves, that stretched skin stays.
Not every explant patient needs a lift. Women who had smaller implants, good skin tone, or plenty of their own breast tissue often do well with removal alone. But if you had larger implants for a long time, removal on its own can leave the breast looking deflated and sitting low, and a lift is what closes that gap.
Dr. Alissa Shulman has been a board-certified plastic surgeon since 2002 and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (F.A.C.S.). She has practiced since 2000 and has been in Sarasota since 2009. She'll tell you honestly which category you fall into rather than defaulting to the larger operation.
Do You Need the Lift
Find Out Whether Removal Alone Will Be Enough
You're likely to need a lift alongside removal if your implants were large, you've had them a long time, your skin has lost elasticity, or your nipples already sit at or below the crease beneath your breast.
Things that point toward adding a lift:
- Larger implants that stretched the skin envelope significantly.
- Implants in place for a decade or more.
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding, or major weight change since your augmentation.
- Little natural breast tissue left to fill the space.
Things that point toward removal alone:
- Modest implant size and good skin tone.
- Substantial natural breast tissue.
- A willingness to wait and see, since skin does contract over six to twelve months.
That last point matters. Some patients prefer breast implant removal first, then decide about a lift a year later once everything has settled. Dr. Shulman is comfortable with either approach and will lay out the trade-offs of doing it in one operation versus two.
What Happens, Step by Step
Follow a Combined Removal and Lift From Start to Finish
A combined removal and lift is an outpatient operation of roughly three to four hours under general anesthesia, meaning you're fully asleep. It's longer than either procedure alone because both are being done in sequence.
- Your consultation. Dr. Shulman examines your breasts, assesses skin quality and how much natural tissue you have, and shows you where your nipple sits relative to the crease beneath the breast. That measurement largely determines whether a lift is needed. She quotes you herself, and consultations run about 40 minutes.
- Planning the combination. She'll decide how much capsule needs to come out with the implant, then plan the lift pattern around what's left. Scar pattern depends on how much skin has to be removed, ranging from an incision around the areola alone to a vertical incision and sometimes one along the crease. She draws this for you in advance.
- The day of surgery. She marks you standing, since the lift has to be planned against gravity. The implants come out, the capsule is addressed, then she repositions the nipple and areola higher, tightens the remaining tissue into a rounder shape, and removes the excess skin. If you're also having fat grafting for volume, that happens in the same operation.
- Right after. You'll wake up in a surgical wrap, supported and secured. Most patients go home the same day with a driver. This recovery is more involved than a straightforward explant, because you're healing from two procedures at once.
Combined Removal and Lift Recovery
Plan for a Longer Recovery Than Removal Alone
Most patients take one to two weeks off work and return to full exercise around six weeks. Expect this to track a breast lift recovery rather than an explant recovery, since the lift is the more demanding half.
- The first week. Soreness, swelling, and tightness. You'll wear your surgical wrap day and night and sleep propped up on your back, and Dr. Shulman will tell you when to switch to a supportive bra. Short walks around the house help circulation.
- Weeks two and three. Bruising fades and most desk workers return. No lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk and nothing overhead.
- Weeks four through six. Activity builds back gradually, with clearance for full exercise around six weeks, adjusted to your actual healing.
- Months three to twelve. Shape continues refining and scars follow a predictable arc, looking their worst around two to three months before flattening and fading over the following year. One advantage of combining the procedures: because the lift addresses the stretched skin directly, you avoid the deflated interim period that removal alone can involve.
Risks Worth Understanding
Weigh the Trade-Off of Combining Two Procedures
Combining removal with a lift means accepting lift scars in exchange for better shape. That's the central trade. A straightforward explant through your existing incision usually adds no new visible scarring, while a lift adds a permanent scar pattern around the areola and often below it. Dr. Shulman places those scars where a bra or swimsuit covers them, and she won't tell you they'll disappear.
Beyond scarring, the risks are those of both procedures: bleeding, infection, fluid collection, delayed wound healing, changes in nipple sensation, and asymmetry between the two sides. Combining them also means a single longer operation, which is worth discussing if you have health conditions that affect anesthesia.
Doing both at once is generally safe and is how most surgeons handle stretched skin after explant, but some patients with very thin tissue are better served by staging the procedures. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons publishes patient safety guidance on both operations, and Dr. Shulman will tell you if staging would be safer in your case.
Paying for Removal With Lift
Compare the Cost of One Surgery Against Two
Combining removal and lift costs more than removal alone but less than having the two procedures separately, since you pay facility and anesthesia fees once instead of twice. That's a genuine argument for doing them together if you already know you'll want the lift.
Insurance occasionally covers implant removal when it's medically necessary, such as a documented rupture, but the lift portion is cosmetic and isn't covered. Sovereign Plastic Surgery bills insurance only for breast reconstruction after cancer surgery, so this is a self-pay procedure here. Dr. Shulman quotes you directly at your consultation, 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 Won't Upsell the Lift
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.
On this procedure in particular, that independence matters. Adding a lift is the more expensive operation, and a surgeon with an incentive to sell it can always find a reason to recommend it. Dr. Shulman has spent a career telling patients when they don't need surgery, and she applies the same standard here. If removal alone will make you happy, she'll say so.
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 Procedure
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 holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture alongside her medical training, which shapes how she plans the reshaping half of this operation. She works below the neck only. Read Dr. Shulman's full background and credentials.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not necessarily. It depends on your implant size, how long you had them, your skin tone, and how much natural breast tissue you have. Women with smaller implants and good skin quality often do well with removal alone. Dr. Shulman assesses where your nipple sits relative to the crease beneath your breast, which is the clearest single indicator.
Yes, and combining them is common. You get one recovery instead of two and pay facility and anesthesia fees once. The main reason to stage them instead is very thin tissue, where doing both at once carries more risk to blood supply. Dr. Shulman will tell you if that applies to you.
Often, yes, at least initially, because skin stretched around an implant doesn't spring back immediately. Some contraction happens over six to twelve months. How much sagging remains depends on your implant size, how long they were in, and your skin elasticity. A lift addresses it directly rather than waiting to find out.
Yes. Fat grafting can restore fullness using fat from your own abdomen or thighs, with no device involved. It can be combined with removal and a lift in one operation or done later. It adds modest volume rather than replicating an implant, and some transferred fat is reabsorbed.
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.