A plastic surgeon has revealed the state of a breast implant that had hardened in the body due to a process known as calcification.
And the results are truly shocking. You can watch the TikTok clip below:
In the clip, Dr Clayton L Moliver, sits down in front of two, pink objects and begins to crack them on the table.
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As he applies pressure, the structure breaks down and out pops a breast implant.
"In this video, I am opening a severely calcified capsule around a 30-year-old implant," he said.
"The patient had grade IV capsular contracture (scar tissue around implant). This case was one of the worst cases I have ever seen, because of the amount of calcification.
"It was quite remarkable. I was a bit stunned. In this case, it was initially hard like an egg shell.
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"When I started to press and squeeze the capsule began to have and I felt a crunching sound and feel.”
So how does the implant become encased in such a structure?
Dr Moliver also explained that a calcified capsule is a thickened layer of scar tissue or collagen.
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"CC is a thickened layer of scar tissue or collagen," he said.
"Normally a thin layer of collagen is laid down around the breast implant.
"This capsule is microns-thick and is soft, compressible and indistinguishable from the underlying implant.
“In CC, the layer of collagen thickens and gets firmer and firmer.
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"It can be caused by an unrecognised small or moderate amount of bleeding that may occur in the first few days after surgery.
“Or, more commonly, it is caused by normally present skin bacteria that touches the implant.
"It causes a biofilm and the body reacts to this biofilm by an immune reaction laying down layers and layers of collagen.
"After a long time period calcium will deposit within the capsule and within the wall of the capsule, as in this case.
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"The biggest danger of severe CC is that it makes medical imaging more difficult and therefore may obscure breast pathology like cancer."
And followers on TikTok were equally shocked at the video, with many taking to the comments to share their own stories and experiences.
One person shared: "Had mine removed 6 yrs ago . I was so sick..took a while for symptoms to go away but so glad I knew it was implants and got them removed."
And another said: "Excuse me while I pick my jaw up from the damn floor!!!"
A third added: "Didn’t happen to me... Everyone is different."
While a fourth said: "Wow!!!! I just had mine replaced after 12 years. I would hope it would never get to that point."
And a fifth wrote: "Same thing here. I just had my saline implants removed 2 weeks ago. I was in chronic pain for 2 years."
Topics: Health
Lucy Devine