What Type of Sensory Changes Occur After Breast Augmentation?

When it comes to a breast augmentation procedure there are basically two different possible types of sensory changes one can expect. The first possibility is a slight sensation difference that may last for a short period of time while the second is a long term sensory change. These sensory changes can be in the skin of the breasts, the areola and even on the nipple. Matter of fact the most commonly reported sensory change is a loss of nipple sensation. In general though these sensory changes are a direct result of minor nerve damaged caused during the procedure and these are only temporary and will soon return to a normal state.

Most of the time, women who have undergone the procedure tell their surgeon that they have noticed some slight decreases in their breast's sensitivity but only after a couple days they then tell their doctor that everything has returned to normal.

There is also the chance of hypersensitivity. This hypersensitivity is when the patient touches a certain area that area seems to loose all feeling. This is very common in any type of injury. In these cases you may feel an itch or an irritation but when you touch the area you cannot feel your own touch. This is usually always a temporary sensory change as a direct result of the healing period and generally goes away within a couple weeks.

In some rare cases a patient may experience sharp pains attributed to the breast augmentation and although this is a rarity it is still a possible risk associated with the breast augmentation procedure. These sharp pains are big enough to limit the patient's daily activity but luckily in the few cases this has happened it only lasts for a couple weeks at the most.

The concept of what a permanent sensory change is a change that occurs and is still around after a period of one year. These permanent sensory changes are possible and should be considered another one of the risks associated with a breast augmentation procedure. A permanent change that is most commonly reported is the dulling or complete loss of sensitivity to a certain area of the breasts. There were barely any cases in which total sensation loss was found in the patient's chest.

By Dr. Jim Greene