Welcome to my blog. I am a retired plastic surgeon in Seattle and was in private practice since 1991. I've seen more than a few interesting faces and cases through my years spent in the exam room, the operating room and the emergency room. And I have an opinion on just about everything relating to plastic surgery (and a lot of unrelated stuff). If you like my blog, let me know. Thanks for reading! Lisa
I do a lot of breast implant removals and the topic of en bloc capsulectomy often comes up. I am so glad to see this this very well researched and well written article by Jolene Edgar. She has interviewed me and several other plastic surgeons regarding our approach to the breast implant illness patient. IfContinue reading…
Breast Implant Illness, Breast Implant Removal, Breast Implants, Patient Beware, Patient Safety
This post is based on a phone consultation from earlier this week. I’ve changed a few unimportant details to protect patient privacy. This lady has smooth, saline implants that are about 10 years old. She is part of the Pacific Northwest Breast Implant Illness (BII) Facebook group and she thinks her implants are making herContinue reading…
Breast Implant Illness, Breast Implant Removal, Breast Implants, My Plastic Surgery Philosophy, Patient Safety, Plastic Surgery
This is a question posted by a patient on RealSelf. She’s a lady in her 50’s with 11 year old anatomic Allergan Style 410 implants. She has typical menopausal symptoms and does not think her implants are causing her night sweats, mild brain fog or hot flashes. She’s heard about BIA-ALCL and wants to knowContinue reading…
Breast Implant Illness, Breast Implant Removal, Breast Implants
I get a lot of requests from breast implant illness patients to do an en bloc resection of their implants and the surrounding implant capsule. The term en bloc refers to a procedure that removes the structure in question in one piece or all together. This term is used most commonly in cancer surgery whereContinue reading…
Breast Implant Illness, Breast Implant Removal, Breast Implants, Patient Safety, Plastic Surgery
Recently I received this email from a former breast implant illness patient. I am sharing it with her permission but she has asked me to protect her identity. I will call her Celeste because I love that name. I have made no changes except for correcting a few typos. Celeste: I read your blog postContinue reading…
Breast Contouring, Breast Implant Illness, Breast Implant Removal, Breast Implants
In a previous blog post bemoaning the difficulty of good follow-up in clinical research I sort of place most of the blame on patients who blow off the follow-up once they have their desired implants. This was my experience with the implant study I participated in many years ago. I had an 80% follow-up at 5Continue reading…
Breast Implant Illness, Breast Implants, New Technology, Now That's Cool
Capsular Contracture 101 Anyone who knows my practice well knows that I am not a big fan of breast implants. I much prefer fat transfer and/or breast lift to get a breast looking nicer. But sometimes only a breast implant will get the patient the size and shape of breasts they desire. Implants have manyContinue reading…
Breast Contouring, Breast Implant Illness, Breast Implant Removal, Breast Implants
You gotta read this from today’s Slate.com. This will involve some heavy mental lifting so put on your thinking cap and take the time to read the entire article. MEDICAL EXAMINER Cuba’s Sonic Attacks Show Us Just How Susceptible Our Brains Are to Mass Hysteria The symptoms so many Americans experienced were probably not causedContinue reading…
If you have not read my initial post on Breast Implant Illness, I recommend you do so now. In fact, I implore you to read it. Here’s the link. https://www.sowdermd.com/blog/breast-implant-illness/. I belong to a few physician only message boards and breast implant illness has been a hot topic in the past few months. It isContinue reading…
Breast Implant Illness, Breast Implant Removal, Breast Implants
In a perfect world, women would wait until they were done childbearing and breast feeding prior to having breast implants, mostly because pregnancy and breast feeding can really change the breast. In the real world, many young women opt for breast enhancement long before having children. I am often asked what effect childbearing will haveContinue reading…
@lisalynnsowder
