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Subscribe to RSSThere's really no other way to put this: During a Pilates stretching exercise, a 59-year-old woman said her body "swallowed" one of her breast implants. Sounds like something we just made up, but the woman's case is the subject of an unbelievable report, just published online in the latest New England Journal of Medicine.
The woman was a breast cancer survivor who'd had a double mastectomy, and afterward had gotten breast implants. During a Pilates routine, she was doing a Valsalva maneuver, a breathing technique in which a person takes a deep breath and holds it while bearing down. (In other words, you're going through the motions of exhaling forcibly, but without letting any air escaping through the mouth or nose.)
Doing a Valsalva maneuver increases pressure inside your chest cavity. In this lady's case, enough pressure built to essentially send her right implant through the thin tissue between her ribs and into the space in between the lungs. This left her more perplexed than anything -- where did it go?! Fortunately (and incredibly), she said upon arriving in the the emergency department of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore that she wasn't experiencing any chest pain or shortness of breath.
"I can picture how this could happen in a freak occurrence," says Dr. Anthony Youn, a Michigan-based cosmetic surgeon and frequent contributor to msnbc.com, who didn't treat this patient but gave us his professional opinion on what the heck happened here.
Note that Youn called this a "freak occurrence" -- this is not exactly going to happen to your average Pilates lover, as this woman's case had some extra complications. She'd recently undergone a surgery to repair her heart's mitral valve, a procedure that typically involves some separating of the muscles that run between the ribs.
"What likely happened in this instance is that the breast implant was placed under the chest muscle and on top of the ribs, an extremely common practice in breast reconstruction," Youn says. "When the patient Valsalva'd, the pectoralis (chest) muscle likely contracted and pushed the implant through the space between her ribs," which was particularly fragile after the valve surgery.
"The weakened scar tissue was easily torn, and the strength of the pectoralis muscle pushed the implant deep into her chest," Youn explains.
The woman was treated at Johns Hopkins, where surgeons retrieved the implant from within her chest and put it back where it belonged.
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That poor woman. Talk about insult added to injury! I'm glad for her that she is working on good health habits after such a horrendous experience, but she probably should have waited just a BIT longer for her tissues to heal before putting her chest under such stress. I'm a youngin', and pilates would knock my sorry hide to the ground in nothin' flat!
That's why they say 'check with your doctor before doing these exercises'. Hope she recovers quickly!
One of the strangest occurrences I've heard of.
OUCH!!!
Just think what she could do with a kegel!
lol Sir, you are aptly named.
This story made me cringe.
A Chiropractor could probably squeeze it back out.
Devil's Son: I'd rather not think about it :(
A Chiropractor? It was inside her chest cavity, unless he uses a rolling pin and squeeze her like a tube of toothpaste, I really don't see come out...
would have been funnier if it was a butt implant
Hey been there & devil's son, You two should start a comedy routine, that there is some funny stuff.
"butt plant" LOL, you must be proud of that one.
Wow...who would have thought? Poor lady...I'm glad it didn't cause her pain, but sorry she had to get treatment that did cause her pain:(
I'd laugh and talk sh!t if she weren't a cancer patient. Still funny though.
Yeah, at least the issue with the implant wasn't life threatening. That's one hell of a story to tell at a dinner party!
It's nice to see someone get implants for a valid reason, not because they want to look like barbie. I hope she gets this fixed so that it doesn't happen again.
So having big boobs isn't a valid reason? ;P
Not when they threaten to consume your head! :P
As a woman myself I find ridiculously large breast implants just terrible. It's honestly nice to see someone be able to go through such a horrible ordeal and get a surgery to look natural again.
As a guy, I find implants wonderful until the lady takes her top off.
Implants are for bimbos who are attracted to shallow men.
What's wrong with natural breasts, I don't care if they're small or not but I just don't get turned on by silicone or saline filled bags.
I can see how augmentation post surgery for mastectomy would be cathartic but if you just want to have bigger LUMPS in the front, don't do it, it shows you have very little between the ears.
So, I'm curious - would you guys prefer pert silicone boobs or saggy natural boobs? I like to ask guys that question because the answers are usually hilarious.
Perky breasts no matter how they go that way.
Also the breasts must be in proportion to the woman's own chests size. Its kinda of a turn off to see a small petite women with huge fake boobs. Think that's kinda of the lesson, go for firmness not size.
Good gravy! This poor woman has been through enough. Cancer, heart problems and a wandering boob. Too bad she had to have yet another surgery.
That's just weird! I'm a breast cancer patient and my dr. wanted to know if I wanted to have implants done after my lumpectomy because insurance would cover it. NO WAY....my boobs are just fine thank you! Now, after reading this, I'm even more certain I made the right decision!
It was a freak occurrence that had contributing factors.... How you justify your decision based on this poor woman is beyond me....
How do you bitch at someone who went through breast cancer and was proud enough to make the choices she did for her own body and her self-image who just happens to know probably exactly what Pilates lady went through? I'd say she's qualified to make the statement she did. While I agree with the "freak occurrence" part of having an implant suddenly disappear, both Kaara and this gal made their own choices and are now living with the results after their surgery. Personally, if I were going to have any surgery, I wouldn't even be doing any light exercise for about a month afterwards-but that's just me.
You had a lumpectomy. She has a mastectomy. BIG difference! If my breast were actually removed, I would get implants. If I just had a lump removed, that means I still have my breast...for the most part.
I jumped in cold water once, and my penis disappeared.
You sir get today's "made me laugh so suddenly I spit on my monitor" award.
No sir, the award is now yours.
tsk tsk tsk Now Eric, this is not about you. Did they find it for you dear? 8-}
Did it ever come back?
Eric..... maybe you need penis augmentation?
Is it just me or does "pilates" sound like something you get on the bottom of your feet, kind of like athlete's foot?
I think there's an app for that.....
I just wish the author of this article had not used the words "fake breast". In this case, it should have been referred to as a prosthesis, since that's what it is. A little dignity for a cancer survivor, please!
1-Couldn't find anything less picky to whine about?
2-If dignity was the issue, why aren't you bitching about the article being written in the first place?
3-Her name isn't mentioned. Her privacy intact. How exactly is her dignity damaged?
I agree, use of the word fake is incorrect. If you can see it, smell it, taste it, touch it, it is real.
Aren't they basically the same thing in this case? I agree-her name wasn't disclosed, the article explained the facts otherwise about how it could have happened-if she didn't want the story run she could have objected.
I, too, am a breast cancer survivor so note this: Most of us have a very good sense of humor after all our surgeries so not to worry about the humorous part of this. I was even told by my oncologist that my 'humorous attitude' attributed to my healing. So laugh a lot folks! It is great for everyone. My favorite in these blogs though is from Eric about what happened to him when he jumped in cold water! I laughed out loud at that one.
Actually, not a prosthesis. Those are the ones that go in the bra. And those would actually qualify as a fake boob (and is what I thought of when I read the headline. I figured she left it in her gym bag and it was stolen while she was in class for some bizarre reason). I don't equate an implant with a fake boob. Might refer to boobs with implants as fake though.
My mom is a breast cancer survivor and she had to have an implant. She even refers to it as a fake breast. Get over yourselves. Try not to take life so freakin seriously.
I feel sorry for anyone who has surgery only to have the outcome worse than the problem. I am living with such a situation and know many doctors hide the truth just to make a fast buck performing the surgery. The person is stuck with the result.
Does using a technical term change the fact? The recipient knows that it is fake and so the only person being confused is one who doesn't realize that a prosthesis is a medical term for fake.
Would you settle for "Implant." It's real, it's hers, she knows it's there, so fake is crude, the only people who know it's an implant are those who have business knowing.
What a neat party trick!! Suck it in, make it disappear, and POOF!! pull it out from behind some guys ear!! A few minutes later, go in the back and have a friend slap ya on the back pretty good while coughing and BLAMMO!! ur boobie pops back out!! Can u imagine the possiblilites?
Omg Harry, that's funny! No disrespect to anyone stricken with cancer.
I tried a similar trick called "hide the weinie" except that I didn't try to tuck it behind her ear.
Well, thinker, thats the problem. Always tuck it behind her ear. If she doesn't like it, tell her the other places you wanna hide it.
Hey Rocky, watch me pull a boobie outta my back
Glad they gottit back in front.
My mom is a 40+ year breastfeeding survivor.
From 36D to 36-long.
<evil grin>
In the rural South where I grew up, we'd call that poor woman "snakebit".
I am surprised that the doctors didn't tell her she needed to rest and not exercise for x amount of months after having had heart surgery so recently. I agree, poor woman, she's been through enough!
I'm sure they did and I would guess that she didn't think anything of it-proof that being addicted to exercise doesn't always pay off.
like others, my first thought was this poor woman, hasn't she been thru enough. and bless her for making me smile. it really is a funny story. too bad more people doesn't have her sense of humor and ablitily to go on.
She breathes wrong and makes a fake breast disappear......
I took my girlfriend to the doctor, whipped out a checkbook and made TWO fake ones appear......ta da!
I can do it again if needed, can she??
nothing disappeared... it simply repositioned itself into the empty space in its immediate vicinity (the intercostal space). I believe the breast/prosthesis was surgically extracted and repositioned (intact). They filled that intercostal space with mesh, so that this wouldn't happen again.
Sounds like this occurred after VATS. Here's another instance published recently.
http://www.ctsnet.org/sections/clinicalresources/clinicalcases/article-30.html
Kaara, she did not have a lumpectomy, she had a full masectomy. Big difference.
At first I thought maybe it burst and filled her full of silicone. Glad that didn't happen.
Sean, you are completely wrong. Silicone implants are legal in the United States.
http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/BreastImplants/default.htm
Some even say that the new silicon is extremely safe and well known doctors prefer it.
Meghan, actually I'm not completely wrong at all. Further research will show that the FDA did put a temporary adjunct on the use of sillicone implants for any use other than breast reconstruction.
Since I was partially right, but you say I'm completely wrong, it is actually you who are completely wrong instead.
Thanks for the update anyway.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_implant
Imagine if that'd been a guy with a penile implant- he'd never live that one down!
At least it didn't get caught in a wringer.
Good one Raptor, thanks for the laugh!
Glad the woman will be OK.
Whatever that exercise was called, bearing down that hard is not good for you. People have strokes like that, and soil their pants too.
Yes, when that is done you put pressure on the vagus nerve and it can seriously drop your pulse rate to dangerous levels. Sustaining that is a mistake, and it is the reason so many people die on toilets.
I was thinking the same thing - a good way to burst an aneurism, if you happen to have one. I can't imagine there are any benefits to justify the risks.
In aviation the valsalva manuever is taught to open the passage to the inner ear to equalize pressure- preventing or treating a very painful ear block. Keep your mouth shut, hold your nose and blow out you ears, of course you can't blow out your ears but the effort opens the passage from the back of the throat to the inner ear. I can't imagine what other reason you would do this, much less part of an exercise routine.