Breast Implant Rupture and Breast Injury Caused by an Accident – Avoid These Mistakes!

Can a Breast Implant Rupture or Leak From an Accident?

The most common accident that can cause a breast implant rupture is a car accident. But any accident that causes substantial force against a breast implant can cause a breast injury and cause the implant to rupture and leak.

Fortunately, a car accident is not very risky for breast implants. We have represented many women with breast implants who had a car accident, but only a very few experienced a breast implant rupture.

A motorcycle accident, slip and fall accident, or trip and fall accident can also cause a breast implant rupture, but it is not common.

Can a Breast Implant Rupture In a Car Accident?

Yes, the impact of a seatbelt against the breast during a car accident can rupture a breast implant causing it to leak. If your airbag doesn’t deploy and your breast hits the steering wheel, that can also rupture a breast implant.

Either the driver, front-seat passenger, or rear-seat passenger in a car accident can experience a breast implant rupture causing the breast implant to leak. The car accident lawyers in New York at 1-800-HURT-911® are experienced with breast implant rupture from a car accident.

Can a Seat Belt Cause a Breast Implant Rupture In a Car Accident?

The shoulder restraint part of a seat belt can cause shearing and crush injuries to the breast.

Although the shoulder restraint part of the seat belt can cause a breast injury, the use of the shoulder restraint should not be avoided. The shoulder restraint is far more effective at preventing serious injury than the rare risk of a nonlife-threatening breast injury.

Additionally, using a shoulder restraint is required by law. If you don’t use it, you can get a ticket if you don’t have a doctor’s note stating you cannot use the shoulder restraint.

You should only avoid using the shoulder restraint if you have a medical reason such as just having had breast implants inserted. If you need to drive without using the shoulder restraint, get a letter from your doctor stating why you should not use the shoulder restraint and keep it in your car so you can give it to a police officer if you get stopped.

What Causes a Breast Implant Rupture From a Fall?

Breast implant rupture from a fall is very unusual because the fall would need to directly impact the breast. A fall causing a breast implant rupture will likely also cause other serious injuries such as a broken nose, facial fracture, or concussion.

Will Health Insurance Cover or Pay for a Breast Implant Rupture or Breast Implant Leak?

Yes, if your breast implant was ruptured because of an accident like a fall.

Health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid will pay to replace breast implants when one was ruptured in a car accident but only after no-fault insurance has denied further treatment. It is very unlikely that you will find out that a breast implant was ruptured after no-fault insurance has denied further treatment. This means that in a car accident, you must submit the claim to no-fault, not health insurance. See the next paragraph below.

Health insurance must pay to replace both breast implants even if only one breast implant ruptured because of an accident.

There may be Med Pay insurance coverage from a premises insurance policy insuring the business that caused an accident resulting in a breast implant leak or rupture.

Important: Health insurance will pay to replace both breast implants even if only one leaked or ruptured in an accident. Breast implants are manufactured and sold in sets to match a specific different size for each breast implant. Additionally, your plastic surgeon will likely be concerned about the viability of the breast implant which is not leaking. Plastic surgeons want to replace both breast implants.

Will No-Fault Insurance Pay to Replace Breast Implant Rupture From a Car Accident?

Yes. New York No-Fault insurance will pay to replace your breast implants because of a leak or rupture from a car accident.

As long as No-Fault insurance has not denied further treatment, no-fault insurance must pay to replace both breast implants when one was ruptured in a car accident. The No-Fault lawyers in New York at 1-800-HURT-911® can make sure that No-Fault pays to replace both of your breast implants.

Do I Have to Pay a Plastic Surgeon Upfront to Replace My Breast Implants After a Car Accident?

No. Your plastic surgeon will probably not want to accept your no-fault insurance and will want you to pay thousands of dollars upfront to replace a breast implant that leaked or ruptured from a car accident. But in New York, we can convince your plastic surgeon to accept no-fault insurance upfront to replace breast implants ruptured in a car accident.

NOTE: Most personal injury lawyers in New York do not know how to get your plastic surgeon to accept payment later from no-fault insurance. We receive many calls from people who ask us to send them to a plastic surgeon who will accept no-fault insurance because their current personal injury lawyer does not know how to get a plastic surgeon to accept no-fault insurance. We cannot help you unless you want to change your lawyer to the personal injury lawyers in New York at 1-800-HURT-911®.

Will Insurance Pay to Replace My Breast Implants With Larger Breast Implants?

Maybe. An insurance company must pay to repair or restore your medical condition and cosmetic appearance to what it was before your accident.

If the cost to replace both breast implants with a larger size is the same cost as your current size breast implants, the insurance company will pay for the larger size breast implants.

If the cost of larger breast implants is more expensive than replacing your breast implants with the same size, you can pay the plastic surgeon the difference in price.

Asking an insurance company to pay for larger size breast implants than what you had before your accident is called betterment and insurance companies will not pay for betterment.

Will Insurance Pay to Replace My Breast Implants With Smaller Breast Implants?

An insurance company will probably pay to replace your breast implants with smaller breast implants because smaller implants are likely the same cost or less expensive than the breast implants you had before the accident.

Since there is no betterment, the insurance company will have to pay 100% of the cost.

Can a Breast Implant Rupture In a Motorcycle Accident?

Yes. Direct impact on your breast implant in a motorcycle accident, can rupture the implant. In a motorcycle accident, health insurance, not no-fault insurance will pay to replace breast implants.

You should have a personal injury lawyer knowledgeable about breast implant rupture but to avoid paying a plastic surgeon upfront you also need a motorcycle accident lawyer in New York.

Can You Replace Only One Breast Implant or Should You Replace Both Breast Implants?

Both breast implants should be replaced even if only one is leaking. Breast implants are sold in matching sets and should be replaced with a matching set.

Your plastic surgeon will want to replace both breast implants but may replace only the one ruptured breast implant because of concern that no-fault insurance or health insurance may not pay for both breast implants.

Don’t let your plastic surgeon make the mistake of replacing only one breast implant because your plastic surgeon is afraid of not getting paid.

Even if only one breast implant was ruptured, damaged, or leaking, you should have both breast implants replaced by a plastic surgeon.

What Happens if You Don’t Replace Both Breast Implants

1. Although only one of the breast implants may develop a leak, both implants should be replaced because breast implants come in matched sets and if only one is replaced, it would look unnatural. You are entitled to be returned to the condition you were in before the accident.
2. An additional problem is that if one breast implant was ruptured, the other implant could be compromised and begin leaking at a later date requiring you to undergo a second surgery. Your doctor will have concerns about the integrity of the breast implant which is not yet leaking.

We will get New York no-fault insurance to pay your plastic surgeon upfront to replace both breast implants without you having to pay any money upfront if your injury is from a car accident in New York.

Will I Be Reimbursed by Insurance if I Pay to Replace a Breast Implant That Ruptured?

If your breast implant leaked because of a car accident and you pay out of pocket up-front, you will not be reimbursed from no-fault insurance for the entire amount, and you may not even be reimbursed for the replacement of both breast implants. You will be out of pocket thousands of dollars.

See more information about how to get no-fault insurance to pay to replace your breast implants.

We represented many women previously represented by other lawyers who were unable to get their plastic surgeon to accept No-Fault. When they were asked to pay thousands of dollars upfront, they called us.

Don’t be pressured into paying money to your plastic surgeon. If you need a car accident lawyer in New York, we can arrange to get plastic surgery to replace your breast implants paid by No-Fault at no charge to you.

Let us file your No-Fault claim and No-Fault application. We will handle all of your No-Fault billing issues and represent you for your disability payments at no charge! We only charge a one-third fee of the money we collect for you for your pain and suffering. You must file a No-Fault application within 30 days of the date of your car accident, and it can sometimes be difficult and take time to determine the correct No-Fault insurance company, so don’t wait. Call now for a free consultation.

Is Breast Implant Rupture an Emergency?

A breast implant rupture by itself is not an emergency. But in rare instances, a breast injury can be an emergency. Trauma from a car accident or a fall can cause a serious breast injury that can even be life-threatening, whether or not you have breast implants. See the next paragraph that discusses when a breast injury can be an emergency.

At the time of an accident, you probably won’t know that your breast implant ruptured. It can take a couple of days to become aware of the leak.

When a saline implant ruptures, the saline (saltwater) is absorbed by the body and will not cause any harm.

When a silicone implant ruptures, the thick gel leaks out more slowly than saline. Although not an emergency, a silicone implant should be promptly removed to spreading to other parts of the body, such as the lymph nodes or the lungs.

When is a Breast Injury an Emergency?

A car accident or a fall can cause a breast injury. Blunt force trauma or the seatbelt can cause a serious breast injury requiring urgent medical care.

A serious breast injury is rare and may occur whether or not you have a breast implant. As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, breast implant rupture by itself is not an emergency.

A serious breast injury requiring emergency treatment can include hemorrhagic shock from an intramammary hemorrhage (internal bleeding in the breast). However, serious breast injury is not common.

Most patients with severe breast trauma have associated injuries such as extremity fractures or rib fractures, organ injury, or pneumothorax/hemothorax, requiring a chest tube.

However, when a breast injury occurs after an accident, the patient may go home or to a hospital emergency room without any knowledge of trauma to the breast. For this reason, it is important to know the symptoms of a possibly serious breast injury.

Symptoms That Could Indicate a Breast Injury is an Emergency

If you have any of the following symptoms of breast implant rupture after an accident, you should go to a hospital emergency room:

• Large contusion overlying the breast that may have mild swelling
• Shallow or difficulty breathing
• Low blood pressure
• Intense breast pain
• Intense chest pain
• Blue lips and fingernails
• Low or no urine output
• Excessive sweating
• Dizziness or loss of consciousness
• Confusion

Is a Breast Implant Rupture a Serious Injury?

While a breast implant rupture is generally not a serious injury from the viewpoint of a doctor, a breast implant rupture is a serious injury from the viewpoint of a personal injury lawyer.

A breast implant rupture caused by an accident is a serious injury requiring surgery and can result in a valuable personal injury settlement.

How Long Does It Take for a Breast Implant Leak to Show?

You may notice a saline breast implant leak over a period of days after an accident. Silicone implants take a few days longer than saline implants to look deflated.

A breast with a saline implant will usually look deflated sooner than silicone implants because silicone is more viscous or thicker than saline.

A breast implant leak may cause your breast to look only slightly deflated because not all of the saline or silicone will leak out.

Usually, only one of the breast implants is ruptured, but both implants will need to be replaced.

How Would You Know if Your Breast Implant Was Leaking?

When your breast implant leaks you may begin to notice that one of the breasts will begin to change shape and look a little smaller, flatter, and deflated as compared to the other breast.

The breast with the leaking implant will feel less full and less firm than the other breast.

Usually, only one breast implant will rupture and leak. You will probably not see any bruising on your breast.

If you have a car accident and notice that one of your breasts seems to be changing shape or appears to be flatter or deflating, you probably have a leaking implant. It may be more noticeable at the top of the breast as in the photo below.

The photo below shows a breast implant leak that occurred when our client’s car was hit in the rear, and the seat belt impacted her breast. Over a period of days, her breast slowly began deflating.

What Does a Breast Implant Rupture Leak Look Like?

This photo shows a leak in the right breast (left side of the photo). The left breast still has a full look and is larger while the right breast is much smaller both on the top and the lower part of the breast. The entire right breast now looks smaller, deflated, and flatter. Notice that there is no bruising visible.

Our client went to a plastic surgeon and learned that her breast implant was leaking due to her car accident. The plastic surgeon wanted $8,000 upfront, but she didn’t have the money. We arranged for the plastic surgeon to get paid by No-Fault insurance so she could have the surgery without paying any money to her plastic surgeon upfront.

Does a Breast Implant Rupture Hurt?

The impact and trauma causing the breast implant to rupture may hurt and cause pain, but the rupture or leak itself is not painful. If you have severe breast pain after an accident, go to the emergency room at a hospital to make sure you do not have a serious injury including internal bleeding in the breast or a fracture.

Can a Breast Implant Rupture Kill You?

No, and yes in rare instances. It’s possible that a breast injury can kill you but very rare. A breast implant rupture will not kill you, but you may have a breast injury that can kill you. See the paragraph on this page, When is a Breast Injury an Emergency?

If you have severe breast pain after an accident, go to the emergency room at a hospital to make sure you do not have a serious injury including internal bleeding in the breast or a fracture.

What if I Had a Car Accident and My Chest Is Bruised?

If your chest has bruising after a car accident, it is possible that your breast implants may have been ruptured or displaced, especially If you have bruising where the seatbelt tightened around you or if your chest was hit by the steering wheel, dashboard, or airbag,

Make an appointment with the surgeon who performed your original breast implant surgery. We also suggest that you request imaging of your breasts with an MRI.

If you have severe breast pain after an accident, go to the emergency room at a hospital to make sure you do not have a serious injury including internal bleeding in the breast or a fracture.

My Breast Implant Isn’t Leaking but Doesn’t Look Right, Can It Be Damaged?

Yes. A breast implant can become displaced. When a breast implant is displaced from its original position (prior to the car accident), one breast may be moved higher than the other, more to the left or right, or protrude outward at an unnatural angle.

Misdiagnosis of Breast Implant Rupture After a Car Accident

A doctor may prescribe steroids thinking that your breast has capsular contracture and recommend that you do breast massages on your breast. While the diagnosis may be correct, after a car accident you should request your plastic surgeon to rule out a breast implant rupture before taking steroids.

See more information about breast implant rupture after an accident.

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