Scar Healing Following Explant Surgery – What to Expect
Scars Following Explant Surgery
After explant surgery, it’s completely normal to have questions — and many of them tend to focus on the scars left behind. Some people turn to support groups, like the Nordic Facebook community, to compare healing progress and scar appearance with others. It’s not uncommon to wish for a time machine just to see how everything will look once healing is complete. For some, aesthetics may not matter at all — but the key message is this: every body is unique, and so is every healing journey. Your recovery and body are unique — try not to compare yourself to others. This page contains useful information regarding explant scars, the stages of wound healing, and actual images of post-explant scarring.
You’ll also find links to additional resources about scar care and healing. As always, be sure to contact your surgeon directly if you have questions specific to your surgery or if you suspect any complications, such as infection.
Factors That Might Affect Your Recovery
As previously said, everyone of us is unique and recovers differently following surgery. However, there are several factors that might affect wound healing for everyone.
Here are some key factors that may affect healing after explant surgery:
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- Age
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Nutrition – What you eat plays a crucial role in proper wound healing. Surgical wounds require extra energy and protein to heal effectively. That means your energy and protein needs are higher after explant surgery than usual. Protein is primarily found in meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products. In addition, zinc and vitamin C are also important nutrients that support the healing process.
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Smoking
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Hematoma (bleeding)
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Chronic illnesses (such as diabetes, anemia, or conditions that affect collagen production)
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Certain medications (such as corticosteroids)
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Infection at the surgical site
Understanding the Four Phases of Wound Healing
Following explant surgery, your surgeon will advise you on how to care for your wounds, when to return for follow-up appointments, what symptoms to monitor for, and more. The support group is full of conversations on wound healing, scars, discomfort, and other aspects of the early recovery phase. However, numerous questions can appear months or years following the surgery, involving numbness, pain, tingling sensations, adhesions, and more.
Healing doesn’t happen overnight — it occurs in four overlapping stages, each playing a crucial role in restoring tissue. That is why it is essential for anybody considering — or who has already had — an explant to understand the healing phases and what to expect along the way.
1. Hemostasis Phase (Immediately to Several Hours Post-surgery)
This is the body’s first response to injury and begins within seconds. The goal here is to stop the bleeding. Blood vessels constrict (vasoconstriction) to reduce blood loss, and platelets rush to the site to form a temporary clot. These platelets also release chemical signals that trigger the next stages of healing.
This phase is short but critical — without proper clotting, healing cannot progress.
2. Inflammatory Phase (Day 1–6)
Once bleeding is under control, the body enters the inflammatory phase, which focuses on cleaning the wound and preventing infection. Blood vessels dilate to allow immune cells like neutrophils and macrophages to reach the wound site. These cells remove bacteria, damaged cells, and debris.
You may notice redness, swelling, warmth, and pain — all normal signs that the immune system is doing its job. Though uncomfortable, this phase is vital for setting the stage for tissue repair.
3. Proliferative Phase (Day 3–24)
During this stage, the body begins to rebuild the tissue. Fibroblasts generate collagen, which provides the structural framework for new tissue. Small blood vessels begin to grow (a process called angiogenesis), and epithelial cells start covering the wound from the edges inward.
You may see the wound begin to shrink as tissue forms. This phase is also when granulation tissue develops — a sign of healthy healing.
4. Remodeling or Maturation Phase (Day 24 to Several Months or Longer)
The final phase focuses on strengthening and refining the new tissue. Collagen fibers are realigned and cross-linked to increase tensile strength. Over time, the scar becomes smoother, flatter, and lighter in color.
Although the skin may appear healed from the outside after a few weeks, internal healing can continue for months to a year or more, especially after surgeries involving deeper tissue layers like explant.
The healing process takes time, so be patient!
Explant Scars
⚠ Signs of Infection
Sometimes an infection may occur, and it’s important to contact your surgeon if you suspect this might be the case. Your surgeon will likely ask you to come into the clinic for an examination and proper treatment.
The symptoms listed below are indications of a possible infection:
- Increased or worsening pain
- Increased redness
- Unusual swelling
- A change in the amount or color of wound drainage
- Odor coming from the wound
- Fever and/or general malaise
If you suspect that you might have an infection, you should contact your surgeon without delay.
Why Does My Breasts Hurt or Feel Strange Following My Explant Surgery?
It’s not uncommon to experience sharp, tingling, or strange sensations in your breasts for some time after explant surgery, maybe months or even years. This discomfort is often caused by severed nerves trying to regenerate and reconnect — a natural part of the healing process. In most cases, sensation takes some time to return, and if you have deeper concerns about your healing, always consult your surgeon.
Research has shown that scar tissue contains more nerve endings than normal skin. That means a surgical scar can send confusing signals to your central nervous system (CNS), making it harder for us to interpret certain symptoms. The impact of a scar on your nervous system also depends on the direction of the incision. For example, horizontal scars — like those from an explant — can carry up to three times more tension than vertical ones, which may affect your nervous system more significantly.
Spitting Stitches
Your plastic surgeon likely closed your surgical wounds using dissolvable stitches that are meant to break down on their own inside your body. You may also have had one or more external sutures removed about 1–2 weeks after surgery. However, in some cases, instead of fully dissolving, your body may try to push out the remaining suture material — which is, after all, a foreign substance. This can happen weeks, or even months, after your explant surgery. This is commonly referred to as “spitting stitches”, and this term is quite literal — it describes your body pushing out pieces of suture thread.
This typically appears as a small, tender bump under the skin, sometimes resembling a pimple. The key difference is that, inside the bump, there’s a small, clear or white suture fragment that your body is working to remove. Once the thread comes out, the area usually heals quickly on its own. Just make sure to keep the site clean to prevent infection.
If you’re feeling concerned or need guidance about anything related to your recovery, don’t hesitate to reach out to your surgeon. They performed your procedure and know exactly how your sutures were placed — which means they’re best equipped to give you proper advice.
On Plastic surgery Hub, you can read more about spitting stitches.