8 Things That Can Go Terribly Wrong With A Boob Job

I understand the impulse behind wanting to get a boob job. 

I'm a fat woman and I developed early. I had D-cup boobs by the time I was 10 years old, and if I had the money back then you can bet my butt would've been visiting plastic surgeons for consultations. 

As I got older, my relationship with boobs continued to be fraught.

It can be hard to love your body when you're saddled with boobs (big boobs or little boobs) that don't look anything like any of the boobs you've seen anywhere else except for maybe on ancient fertility statues in the museum. 

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That said, I've never gone under the knife. 

That's primarily, I think because my relationship with my own big boobs changed dramatically after my mom lost one of hers to breast cancer when I was in high school.

While boob jobs are great if they bolster your self-esteem and make you happy, boob job complications are a real thing and plastic surgery isn't a walk in the proverbial park unless your park is riddled with dog shit and drunk people asking you for change. 

Here are 8 boob job complications you might not know about! 

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1. Loss of sensation.

During any kind of breast surgery, you can lose sensation in your nipples.

They can react to hot and cold (ie, still cut glass when it's cold outside), but you won't feel that.

For many women (hello, me included, yes) nipples are central to their sex lives, so this is definitely something to keep in mind. 

2. Ability to breastfeed.

While this is certainly not the case for every woman, it is a real risk.

If your doctor performs your breast augmentation surgery making a nipple incision, it can permanently damage your milk ducts and make nursing impossible.

Some women with implants choose not to breastfeed at all of their own volition out of concern about what the implant could be passing along to the infant. 

3. Cancer screenings.

If you get a boob job, it can affect the reliability of your breast cancer screenings.

Most mammogram technicians say that as long as the implant is behind the muscle, you'll be fine.

But this isn't the way every single doctor out there performs a breast augmentation, so you need to be very conscious of this going in. 

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4. Infection.

While the quality of today's breast implants are superior to the ones in days of yore, they are still a risk.

After all, you're putting a foreign object inside of your own body.

To that end, you could get an infection if the implant releases bacteria or mold into your body. 

5. "Potato boob."

Repeated surgeries and internal scarring can lead to breasts that are strangely shaped and lumpy.

Just like potatoes. 

These strange shapes are formed when scar tissue underneath the surface forms and creates lump and pockets inside the breast.

Dramatic weight gain or weight loss can also be a factor. 

6. Chronic pain.

I didn't know this when I started reading up on boob job complications and it floored me:

You can expect chronic pain in your chest to go on for years, if not forever, especially if you get your implants PRIOR to having children.

I don't think I'm wild about perpetuating this whole "pain is beauty" thing, aren't heels bad enough?

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7. Death.

Yup, the big D for a pair of DDs. 

The FDA recently confirmed that a small number of women can get a very rare type of cancer (ALCL: anaplastic large cell lymphoma) from receiving breast implants. 

Yes, the number is small, but that "small number" of women are still dead.

It's something to consider. 

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8. Autoimmune disorders. 

Most women get breast implants to feel beautiful and confident. 

I support a woman doing anything that's going to make her feel that way, but I also think that every plastic surgeon should look each candidate in the eye and say, "I'm happy to give you a breast augmentation or reduction but you need to know that you might wind up with a debilitating autoimmune disease such as fibromyalgia, dermatomyositis, polymyositis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, mixed connective-tissue disease, pulmonary fibrosis, eosinophilic fasciitis, orpolymyalgia."

This list might read like I am trying to "scare" people off of plastic surgery. 

I'm really not. 

I think it is important for a patient to be educated about the potential risks they face when going under the knife, and I feel like the more serious boob job complications continue to be mostly not discussed! 

In an age where medical reality shows and makeovers live on YouTube are the norm, making sure you have all the information you need to make an educated decision is critical.

Happy boob shopping!