Deltoid Implants

Q: Dr. Eppley, I had large deltoid implants placed over a year. After the swelling went down, they’ve given me a rather deformed appearance. I can send you pictures. Is there anything that can be done to give me a less deformed appearance? Someone recommended a fat graft would be the least risky alternative but he also stressed that the results from a fat graft might not last. I hope you can help. Thank you.

A: Thank you for your inquiry. I would need to see some pictures of your shoulders to best answer what may be able to be done. But my suspicion is that the implants are short in surface area with a projection that makes them stick out like ‘bumps’ on your shoulders rather than blending in and having a more confluent look to the surrounding shoulder contours.  Your options would be to either replace them with custom implants that are better designed and softer or remove them and then secondarily do fat grafting. Fat grafting would only be an option if one has enough fat to harvest to perform the procedure and with the understanding that the survival of fat grafts is very unpredictable.

Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana