tissue expander

Hi Ladies,
I’ve just come home from hospital after having a tissue expander put into an igap reconstruction as the boob wasn’t big enough & lipofilling just wasn’t working for me. I have to say the pain is horrendous and I feel as though I’ve got a cricket ball stitched to my ribs. The expander has been over inflated so that I won’t need anymore expansion (I’m only a 30B) but it looks awful, far too big & too high. The surgeon is planning on deflating it a bit at a later date but I suppose I’m just looking for other ladies experiences of tissue expansion & if this pain is normal & if things do get better. Feeling quite down about everything at the moment.
lbx157

Hi there
I know what you mean about the tissue expander feeling like a cricket ball - it was like this for me too and i hated it.
Will the expander implant be replaced with a permanent implant at any time?
Many say that these permanent implants ‘soften’ over time to create a more natural shape?
I don’t know what else to say which is reassuring to you ibx157 because in all honesty i was very unhappy with the outcome of mine, BUT that is not to say that other ladies on here find them acceptable and comfortable to live with.
At the moment you have some pain and swelling i am sure., Over time when things settle down you can take a look and see what you think about your overall result.
Thinking of you as i do know how you feel right now xxxx

Thanks Naz,
Just wondering if there’s anyone else out there that has had experience of tissue expanders. I’m still in such a lot of pain, really fed up
lbx157

Hi I am looking to have reconstruction but I still have one chemo session Tac on Thursday, then 4weeks break before radiotheraphy for 3weeks. Had some info to read about this from Oncology yesterday and was a bit confused to see that it mentioned radiotherapy could make reconstruction difficult if at all as the skin looses its stretch!! Do any of you ladies know anything about this? If so would appreciate anything you can tell me. I was told I would have to wait maybe a year or more for reconstruction anyway, I had a masectomy in August.

Hi Kirstie,
My reconstruction is a delayed one. I had my mastectomy in 2004 & an igap reconstruction in 2010. The igap (breast created from the top of my thigh) was successful but too small & they have been trying to increase the size with lipofilling but it hasn’t been too successful. That’s why I am now going down the implant route. I had chemo & radiotherapy in 1999 (I have had bc twice now) & although my surgeon did say it would be difficult because I’ve had radiotherapy it would not be impossible. I suppose I’m slightly different because the implant is being put underneath my igap but even so the pain of the expender stretching the skin is immense. However I’m sure it will ease in time, I’m only 10 days post surgery.
My advice to you would be to research all the different methods of reconstruction as there are a lot out there. I had to do this because I was told the “normal” route i.e. muscle & fat taken from the back would not be suitable for me as I’m quite slim & don’t have the fat to spare!!!
Good luck
lbx157

Thank You so much for that Ibx157 I too am slim size 8!! So not much to spare either :slight_smile: I hope you are feeling better soon and pain free.Sounds like you have been through quite a lot. Take care and thanks again.

Hi,i had expanders in after double mx with ld flap.the expanders were expanded 3 times altogether and each time was painful for about 3 days,then they settled down,but unfortunately they remained like very hard cricket balls for the entire time.Last july i had them replaced with implants,much softer and pain free,look loads better too,then in december last year I had nipples tattooed,now im very happy with results,hope you will be too.good luck,
Di.x

Thanks dib, good to hear things do get better eventually

Hey Guys i think that tissue expansion is a common strategy used for breasts renovation.This basically includes development of the breasts skin and muscular using a short-term tissue expander.After three to four several weeks of the mastectomy.This process is reinforced by a small device procedure situated within the expander and it will proceed until its dimension is a little bit bigger than the other breasts.Thanks a lot!!