Deconstructing Conventional

Dr. Shaher Khan: Breast Implant Illness and Gaslighting: A Surgeon's Take on REAL Informed Consent

• Christian Elliot • Episode 57

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What if that unexplained fatigue, brain fog, and joint pain isn't "just stress" or aging, but caused by something physically inside your body? Dr. Shaher Khan, a plastic surgeon who exclusively performs breast implant removal, pulls back the curtain on what may be one of modern medicine's most overlooked health crises.

Reading directly from FDA black box warnings and manufacturer documentation, Dr. Khan reveals disturbing facts about breast implants that most women are never told: they contain heavy metals like arsenic, lead, and mercury; they're designed to need replacement every 7-10 years; they require MRI screenings every two years; and silicone can migrate into lymph nodes, organs, and tissues where "it may not be possible to remove."

While mainstream medicine often dismisses breast implant illness (BII) symptoms or attributes them to stress, thousands of women report the same constellation of symptoms—fatigue, joint pain, autoimmune issues, cognitive problems—that mysteriously disappear after implant removal. Dr. Khan shares remarkable recovery stories and explains his meticulous "en bloc" surgical technique that ensures complete removal of implants and the surrounding capsule tissue where toxins accumulate.

This conversation goes beyond physical health to examine the emotional dimensions of implants: the external pressures that lead women to get them, the partner dynamics involved, and the profound psychological relief that comes with reclaiming natural health. Dr. Khan's compassionate approach acknowledges both the personal choices women make about their bodies and the medical community's failure to provide genuine informed consent.

Whether you have implants yourself, know someone who does, or simply care about understanding how foreign substances affect our bodies, this eye-opening discussion challenges conventional wisdom about cosmetic procedures and reminds us that sometimes the path to healing begins with removing what doesn't belong.

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SPEAKER_00:

Hello everyone, welcome to episode number 57. I have, I guess, what you could call a long-form deep dive into the world of implants, or more specifically, breast implants. Despite being largely dismissed by the medical world, breast implant illness, also referred to as BII, is a real disease. And in case you didn't know, there is a massive but non-publicized movement among women to have their implants taken out. And if you or someone you care about has breast implants or any number of other types of implants, you'll want to make time for this interview. My guest here is Dr. Shaher Khan. He is a plastic surgeon who specializes in breast implant removal, a procedure known as an X-plant. And I would say Dr. Khan is a unicorn in the field of plastic surgery, and I say that for two reasons. One, he is someone who honors the Hippocratic oath to do no harm, and two, he genuinely believes in informed consent. In fact, he believes in it so much that while he could make a lot more money doing breast implants, he exclusively does explants because he believes it is harmful and unethical to knowingly put toxic material into the human body. So, what kind of toxins and health problems come from implants? Well, we cover that in detail. To do that, Dr. Kahn reads straight from the FDA's black box warning about implants. He reads warnings from the manufacturers and warnings from the waiver women have to sign in order to receive implants. He also discusses the shelf life of implants and how often women are supposed to get an MRI to check for ruptures. And if you think the side effects listed in drug ads is bad, wait until you hear what true informed consent would look like for breast implants. And given what is coming to light about them, Dr. Khan believes they will eventually be banned altogether. It's that serious. So just to toot his horn a little bit more, another area where Dr. Kahn shines is his method of removal. It is much more thorough than what 99% of his peers do because he goes the extra two miles to make sure no dead or diseased tissue is left in the body. And Dr. Kahn is also very transparent in what he does. Thanks to one of his former patients, he has a robust social media presence. And through his channels, not only can you see him in action as a surgeon, but you can find thousands of other women eager to tell their story of breast implant illness and having an explant. And wait until you hear the stories of the health turnarounds that happened for his patients after having their implants removed. The only place I would quibble with him a bit is his perspective on detoxification, but that is a conversation for a different day. And you may be wondering of all the topics I could host a show about, why this one? Well, if you've listened to other episodes, you know by now that I am on a mission to do what the medical world was not designed to do, and that is to help people find the root causes of their health challenges, rather than play biochemical whack-a-mole with their symptoms. Implants, including dental implants, such as Dr. Michelle Jorgensen and I talked about in episode number 48, are a big upstream reason why people are so sick. And while it's part of my intake process, it still shocks me how hard, hardly anyone in the healthcare profession bothers to ask basic questions about what people are eating or what toxic exposures they have, or which are sometimes the same thing. And I guess I'm I'm particularly fired up at the moment because I just did a conversation today with someone who had the typical story of awakening to the reality that after all the fancy testing is over, all the medical world really has to offer is cut, burn, and poison. And given that realization, the person I was speaking with pivoted to the so-called functional world only to find out that it is basically the same exact model dressed up as a natural medicine, where she that they just run a set of more expensive tests. They swapped out a few medications for a suitcase full of supplements, told her not to do anything until she takes all the supplements and get back to the doctor in three months. And friends, is that what we call functional? Like to me, that's I could argue is an embarrassment to the word healthcare. So anyway, I'll soapbox more about this in my upcoming book and in my next podcast interview where my guests and I are going to take on a few of the sacred cows of medic of the medical and alternative world. That would include lab tests, supplements, and bioidentical hormones. So that episode is really going to stretch your thinking, especially if you consider yourself a healthcare professional. So, okay, rant over. One final thought before I play this interview. I don't want to play an episode like this one without first addressing that while our conversation is largely about the physical health ramifications of implants, I don't want to overlook the emotional impact of implants either. That may be even bigger, and it is a huge emotional decision to opt for implants, and it is probably an equally emotional decision to opt for an X-plant. So here's the deal. Ladies long to be beautiful, and I think it's a wonderful part of how God made them. And from my half of the species, I can say we men appreciate the effort you put into looking beautiful. Please keep it up. But, ladies, this episode is not a judgment of your choices or about how you endeavor to make yourself look beautiful, or even an attempt to tell you what's right for you. I have not walked a mile in your shoes, so who am I to tell you what's best for you? But I can tell you this my wife's beauty or her worth does not come from her curves, and it is not diminished by wrinkles. If you've ever met her, you know she's not hard to look at, but her inner beauty is radiant, and I can say that it's only getting better. She shines on the inside and it lights up her face. If you've met her in person, you know what I'm talking about by the way she greets you when you walk into a room. That is internal beauty on display. And so, friends, in case anybody needs to hear this, don't attach your self-worth to something fading. There's something to be said for doing your best to age well naturally. So, whatever effort you put into your external beauty, I'd encourage you to also put at least that much effort into your internal beauty, your virtues and your grace for other people. Do that, and you might end up almost as beautiful as my wife. So, okay, without further ado, here is my interview with a special doctor who spends more time caring for his patients one-on-one than any doctor I know of. He is so generous with his time, so much that he gave me two hours of an interview right after he came out of surgery. So, welcome to my conversation with the man of humility and integrity, Dr. Shaher Khan. All right, hello everyone. Welcome to today's show. My guest is Dr. Shaher Khan. So let me tell you a little bit about this wonderful man. He is a double board certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon by both the American Board of General Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. So, for context for how much training he's had, plastic surgery training includes 16 years post-high school education, including 10 years of training after medical school. And more specifically, it includes passing a written and two-day oral examination. So Dr. Kahn is a breast implant illness specialist with a clinic in Michigan and a new clinic in California. And his practice is dedicated to the removal of breast implants. And he has patients from all over the world. So one of the things I like about him the most, and I guess we'll see how this interview unfolds, maybe there's something even more endearing about him, but uh he has really just a deep commitment to transparency. In other words, that he still honors what I think of as the medical relic of informed consent. And he actually involves the patients in education and realistic expectations. So, Dr. Khan, with all that said, thank you so much for coming and welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, thank you very much. It's an absolute pleasure to be here with you and to discuss uh with our viewers about uh the very interesting world uh of plastic surgery. And thank you very much for this very nice and warm welcome. I should mention that believe it or not, I'm still learning every single day. Uh, the dean of my medical school on the first uh day of orientation of medical school said a good clinician will always be learning. And as you can see, one year from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, medicine is going to be very different than what it is now, uh, the way it is practiced. So a patient that came to me that I operated on just yesterday from California, and we are here in Michigan, she had her mammogram that was read by AI, Artificial Intelligence, in addition to the radiologist. And so basically, this is uh where now it's becoming the standard of care and practice. The patient gave permission uh for this newer technology in addition to the radiologist reading. Who could have ever imagined, uh myself included, that when I went to medical school that first week of orientation, we would be getting help from the computer uh system and from the vast uh uh database that we have. As you will see, uh medicine is gonna change and only for the better, and it's gonna get more efficient and uh much more practical.

SPEAKER_00:

Man, well, I hope you are over the target on that assessment. That's great. So, all right. Well, give us the background, the story behind the person. So, did you always know you wanted to be a surgeon? And then what got you into the specialty of breast implant removal?

SPEAKER_02:

So, this is a very good question. Um, you know, for me, I knew my mom. Um, my mother is a physician, she's uh uh OBGYN doc. Um, and so I saw her over the years, uh, you know, she worked extremely hard. Um, and I saw uh from within my family a lot of doctors. So it was truly um, you know, seeing what was around me, uh, the environment that uh basically showed me that, you know, this a lot of hard work, but a lot of satisfaction. And truly that was the positive feedback effect, if you will, the re-energizing force that literally uh was driving my mom and the so many other family members and friends uh that I saw growing up over the years. So I knew early on that I was gonna be in medicine. Now, within the world of medicine, they say you don't choose your residency like surgery or internal medicine or radiology. It ends up choosing you. And so I knew that I really wanted to do something with my hands. And so initially, you know, you're kind of going through this many different phases in your life as to, you know, you're gonna do cardiothoracic surgery, that was big. Uh, thoracic surgery, it was also very big, burn surgery. Everyone wants to do plastics. It's, I think, very intriguing because it's not only reconstruction, but also the creativity of basically taking care of a problem uh in a very thoughtful, systematic way. Now, the first order of business for me was to do the general surgery, which was a five-year uh commitment after medical school. Uh, in between medical school, I took a year off to do research at Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston uh in a cardiothoracic surgery lab. And then, so that's where I got exposed to the many aspects and facets of surgery. Now I did burns, two years critical care and burns training. And as you can see, the sickest patients of the whole hospital were in the burn unit because they have inhalation injury. They're uh if they have uh 20, 30, 60 degree burn, they're there usually at the burn intensive care unit for one, two, three months. And these patients, they have to be managed in the ICU type of a setting and uh repeated back and forth operating room visits. It's not uncommon to go back 10, 15, 20 times, depending on the severity of the big burn. And this is where I did reconstruction with Integra, which is artificial skin. It is basically the artificial skin that's made up of shark cartilage and bovine cartilage, uh, bovine uh collagen. Now, during this aspect, I got exposed to the world of plastics because I was going to the ABA, American Burn Association meetings, the plastic surgery conferences, and then I saw my patients that were then ultimately going to the plastic surgeons because we were doing the acute management, the burn treatments. And then for the touch-up and for the fine-tuning and the true sculpture of the, for example, the face, the hands, the arms, the body, um, the function and aesthetics came into place. So I truly got intrigued. And then I started attending the conferences, and I had a privilege of working as a general surgeon with the giants uh at the Yield Plastic Surgery program, for example, when I was doing my drone surgery at the Yielding Haven Hospital. So Dr. Persing, for example, Dr. Grant, and uh a few other surgeons uh that were there that were truly uh the giants, uh, like Dr. Steve Arian. Um, you know, and so when I saw this uh and having done the burns, I knew early on, and having done the integra research, I knew early on I wanted to do plastics. And this is where uh I was privileged uh to basically uh uh uh get my training of three additional years. So that's five plus two, that's seven, and then three years uh that is uh the plastic surgery training. And truly uh that was a spectacular part where you know we built up on what was the Burns training and also the general surgery training that I did. So this is one led to the next, to the next, and it was truly the great mentors that I've had over the years, both in the general surgery world and plastic surgery world, um, that truly led me to getting exposed to the many aspects and facets of uh plastic surgery. I was in Cleveland, um, and this is where at the Cleveland Clinic and at university hospitals we would have joint plastic surgery uh programs, uh meetings, conferences, visiting professors. Um, and this is where every Monday night, 7 to 10, we would have the grand rounds. I was there with Dr. Bauman Gyron, who was the past president, one of the giants of plastic surgery. I had a chance to shadow him quite a lot extensively, along with uh Dr. Gossein. So again, it is these individual talents that, if you will, motivated me, persuaded me. And it is truly a privilege to have been trained uh by the by the many amazing surgeons.

SPEAKER_00:

I I sense the humility and just the I can see how you make the comment that the profession kind of chooses you. So when did you first become aware of breast implant illness specifically?

SPEAKER_02:

So I knew this early on. So in my general surgery training, I saw and took care of many patients, um, hundreds, um, you know, when I was doing uh my um uh breast uh rotation, uh, which is uh breast oncology with Dr. Lennon um at Yale New Haven Hospital. So this was my dedicated six weeks and another six weeks that I did, um uh that uh and so I saw a lot of patients where they had the mastectomy, lumpectomies, and now they were undergoing reconstruction by the plastic surgeons. So I saw firsthand foremost what the implants did. Remember back then from 1992 to 2007, the breast implants were banned. So you could only the silicone breast implants were banned, so you could only get saline implants. You could get silicon implants if you were part of an experimental, experimental study. Now I remember Dr. Modlin, for example, telling us uh, you know, about uh hurt and the harm that the implants cause, the many um effects of having implants, the silicone leaching. Now, one thing that's very important to note here is my undergraduate major was biochemistry. So I dealt with, you know, mass spectroscopy, parts per billion, you know, like when you measure lead in the water. And so all these heavy metals. And so I had interest uh and had done the biochemistry aspect of what is uh, you know, the chemical composition of what is uh silicon implants and saline implants. So I saw firsthand uh the many patients who came to us with silicon mastitis, which is inflammation of the breast tissue as a result of silicon, and they were hurting ruptured silicon implants. The patients with implants that had ruptured and silica was in their lymph nodes, patients that had fluid around the implant that was concerning for that rare lymphoma, which is the breast implant associated anaplastic larcin lymphoma? Remember, these are not lifetime devices. So the patients ultimately were having trouble sooner or later. And every seven to ten years, um, you know, they need like a replacement or and if a problem does arise, they certainly need to be managed and definitively managed.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Well, then what led you to focus on X-plant surgery in particular? Because my understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that of all the ways you could be using your skills, that's not the most lucrative of all the different things in your line of work. But for some reason you've picked that as your specialty. So what led you to focus on that uh specifically?

SPEAKER_02:

So a very good question. So initially, plastic surgery has 3,000 operations, uh, from cleft palate to pediatric to burns, uh, to skin cancer, big flaps. Uh, you also have the world of cosmetic hand reconstruction, you have nerve amongst many other congenital problems, and uh, the list goes on and on, and many other creativities. So, for example, uh, you know, when I got started in my practice, I said, I'm not gonna do something that I don't believe in. And so I only did one set of uh implants on a patient that had breast cancer, she actually had, um, and so young 35-year-old lady, and so she and I consented, and I did that one case, and this was in order to get board certified, because when you do apply for the oral boards, like you mentioned very early on, they want to see one breast, one hand, they want to see one skin cancer, so just so that they can question you and see what the thought process was. Uh so you basically um uh spread into like the different uh groups that they could uh test you on. And so you have to have a breadth of cases during your first year so that you can discuss what and how safe of a surgeon, how professional of a surgeon you are. So my same patients that I was doing hand, skin cancer, they came to me and said, Doc, I want you to go ahead and replace my implant, or I want you to go ahead and place implants in me. And so I said, No, I do not want to go ahead and replace, but I will just remove. And the next thing you know, the two and two put together, I said, I'm just gonna go ahead and remove. And then I saw the pathology, the capsule, and I said, I'm only gonna explant. And believe it or not, I explanted one. Six months later, I explanted another, and then another uh patient. And the next thing you know, someone posted on uh Facebook as to why and how I was doing it, because I will tell you, my personality is I use the word not to go on social media. I never had a Facebook account back then, no Instagram, no nothing. Um, and so one of my patients, believe it or not, from Arizona, came and she said, you know, she worked for Google, she worked for the UFC fighting uh specifically. Uh she was one of the uh marketing people, uh very nice, smart, wise lady. And she said, you know what, I'll take it upon me that I'm gonna just start showing what you're doing, because what you're doing uh is uh unique, and not many uh of the uh the surgeons are doing it in the manner that uh it should be done. And she was a very smart, wise uh lady. And so the next thing, you know, she managed it, and I didn't even know what my Facebook passport or account was. And the next thing, you know, two to four, eight, ten, twenty, two hundred, now we have fifteen thousand members. And believe it or not, uh I have I had a phone call last week from Spain uh two days ago, two days ago. Uh, I talked to a patient from India. We have patients uh literally were blessed to have patients coming from all over the US um and Europe um and South America, the Caribbean. And so uh the the message has certainly spread. And now when I started, which is the whole uh interesting fact, I could never imagine in my wildest dreams that this is how big it was gonna get this fast. 10 years ago plus minus uh when it started. Remember, when I started, the first, and yes, you very clearly said the most financially rewarding surgery that's done is augmentation. Within 20 minutes each site, less than an hour, a surgeon can do the surgery. It's relatively very straightforward. Um, Dr. Yoho was mentioning when he interviewed me, he would do 10 minutes each site. That's how proficient he was. Um in is approximately a 45-minute process, start to finish. Taking the numb, taking the implants out, it's approximately four hours plus or minus, depending on the size of the implant. And so this is essentially how it literally has spread. And now I will tell you, more than half of the surgeons in the United States are offering explants from the many celebrities, and many patients who have come forth on social media are sharing their journeys and that breast implant, unless truly as of uh 2019, when the FDA black box warning came out, a lot of patients uh uh were aware as to the detrimental effect of the implants. And as you can imagine, this is where we are now. And ultimately, if you ask me, the momentum is set up such that in the next few months of hopefully the next few years, uh, there is going to be another ban uh that I strongly believe is only gonna come inevitably. Um, and this time hopefully a permanent ban, not only to the silicon, but the saline implants as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow, that would shake things up, I bet. Well, uh what great background to just understand how you got there and wasn't even you weren't looking for it. It just came to you because you successfully helped somebody and she took over and managing it, and here you are. And yes, fantastic. Okay, well, before we zoom in on breast implants in particular, let's just zoom out on the concept of foreign bodies being implanted into the human body. Because I'm imagining there's people listening to this who don't have breast implants, but may have some other things implanted. So, where might there be some similarities of symptoms from breast implants to other types of implants that people maybe hadn't thought to correlate with that?

SPEAKER_02:

So this is a very good question. Uh the the single most important thing here is to ask what is the chemical composition of the implant that's being put in? If you look at the many devices, you have teeth, i.e., dental uh implants that are basically uh utilized. You have implants like the pacemaker uh to regulate the heart if someone has an enearrhythmia. You have the chemo ports, for example, you have hip-knee devices, for example. Uh, you have uh polypropylene mesh that's utilized for hernia reconstruction. So you have many different products, chemical compositions from titanium to stainless steel. Now, what's interesting is I was talking to a cardiologist who I invited on my Facebook group page. This was around the time of COVID, 2025, and you should one should listen to that so you can hear a very smart, uh, born-certified cardiologist right here in town who sent me a patient and said she needs her implants out because her implants are causing her the harm, and you she needs to get the implants removed. And then when I brought him on, he told me he took care of a patient once that had an implant in the hip. And that implant made up of metal was putting out zinc or this chemical metal ions that was diffusing into the body and causing this patient to get some uh uh cardiopulmonary edema, specifically fluid around the heart. Um, and so the patient ended up needing removal of the hardware only to prove that it was indeed the hardware that was the underlying culprit, because it was known to leach out these metal ions from it, and just like anything over time breaks down. And lo and behold, now this is coming from the cardiologist who basically showed a before when the patient was having this uh fluid around the heart and the pericardial window that needed to be done. And now, with the implant removed, the resolution of the symptoms of the patient. And obviously, she had what was hardware in the hip that was causing this underlying problem. We hear of many other meshes that the gynecologists have used that have posed a problem for pelvic flow reconstruction. Now, I'm not an expert in that, I'm not an expert in hip implants, and neither am I an expert in uh pacemakers uh or other meshes, but I know for a fact that the implants have caused harm. Now, let me go ahead and say this because that's a very good, smart, wise question. I'm gonna say this definitively. These are not my words. If I may, this is the black box warning. If you will, this is the yeah, if yeah, the the this is the the mentor advertisement, if you will. And as you will see, this is the the top part is the advertisement itself, the modern high uh profile, the moderate, excuse me, the moderate high profile implant, and you can see this is the black box warning. And I'm gonna read breast, so this is these are not my words. Breast implants are not considered lifetime devices. The longer people have them, the greater the chances are that they will develop complications, some of which will require more surgery. So this is tells you that if you had them plus minus 10 years, you're gonna have a problem. Now they say patients receiving breast implants have reported a variety of systemic symptoms such as joint pain, muscle aches, confusion, chronic fatigue, autoimmune diseases, and others. Individual patient risk for developing these symptoms has not been well established. Some patients report complete resolution of symptoms when the implants are removed without replacement. Complete resolution of symptoms means cure of symptoms when the implants are removed. Then you will see the breast implants have been associated with the development of the cancer of the immune system called breast implant associated anaplastic larcell lymphoma, B I A L C L. This is the warning that the FDA put out several years ago. Textured implants, they were basically the allergones. Then it says, quote, the this cancer occurs more commonly in patients with textured breast implants than smooth implants. Although rates are not well uh defined. Some patients have died from BIALCL. So as you will see, this is in itself a big warning to anyone who has implants that if you get them maybe three years later, five years later, ten years later, fifteen years later, plus minus ten years, you're gonna run into this problem. And so this is where if you ask the vast majority of the patients, they are not aware that they were told that these were not lifetime devices, meaning they were made to appear, they were sold as once you get them, you're gonna have them for life, which is incorrect. And again, these are not my words. And now, as you will see, those implants that were replaced in 2007 when the implants were reintroduced into the market, now approximately 18 years, 15 years later, these patients are having ruptures. If you look at the same same uh advertisement, the top half part talks about the nice qualities, the mentor memory gel boost, breast implant portfolio. Connect with the representative about the about the full lineup of mentor memory gel boost, breast implant options. Look at the bottom. Important safety information, coat. MRI screenings are recommended three years after initial implant surgery, and then every two years after to detect silent rupture. So they're telling these patients who are getting implants. So if a nice 25-year-old student or a young lady who uh wants to get implants, wants to get implants at 28 years of age, she needs to get her first MRI, and then 30, 32, 34, 36 every two years. And I'll tell you how many of the patients uh do get these MRIs, less than 5%, if at all, right? And this has been studied uh by the American College of Surgeons. There, Dr. Frank Lewis mentioned this at one of his meetings a long time ago. And the bottom line here is no one is aware of these hard facts, not my words. I did not create disinformation. This is the black box warning, as you will see. That's written again, another black box warning printout. Burbiatum, copy paste. This is like the same warning you see on a cigarette box on all cigarette boxes. This is that black box warning that's written on the box itself. Unfortunately, on the day of the surgery, no one's going to see this black box warning because they're not going to have access. The surgeon has access to the implants.

SPEAKER_00:

And I imagine the same thing would apply to like potentially to cheek or calf or chin or pec implants or anything. Anything people are inserting, there there is potential for the body to attempt to reject something that's not human origin. Is that a fair assessment?

SPEAKER_02:

Right. Exactly. So the underlying problem here, um, Christian, is this this is the problem. And I'm gonna go ahead and read this. So this is again not my words. I'm gonna go ahead and share the title so the the viewers and listeners can see this. Breast implants, certain laboring recommendations to improve patient communication by the Food and Drug Administration guidance issued September 29, 2020. So I'm gonna go ahead and turn to this one page. This is where the surgeons must discuss with their prospective patients who are interested in getting implants. As you will see, page 14. I understand that silicon can migrate from my implant into nearby tissues, for example, chest wall, lymph nodes, under the arm, and organs, liver, lungs, where it may not be possible to remove. I understand that all breast implants can interfere with mammography and breast exams, which could delay the diagnosis of breast cancer. Mammography can also cause the breast implants to rupture or leak. I should tell the mammography technician if I have breast implants. Now, if you look at this heart effect, one out of eight or nine women, one out of eight or one out of nine women are gonna get breast cancer. And that you're gonna affect how mammography is gonna screen for breast cancer. So if you have a stadium full of 80,000 patients, 85,000 patients, for example, 10,000 of them in their lifetime are gonna get breast cancer, which is a huge number. And now you're telling me that mammography is gonna interfere with screening for breast cancer, which is the second most common way of picking up on breast cancer. And you're being told that silicon can migrate in from my implant. So let's go ahead and read the next line. I understand that all breast implants contain chemicals and heavy metals. I understand that most of these chemicals stay inside the shell of the implant, but small quantities have been found to diffuse gel bleed through the implant shell of the silicon gel-filled implants, even if the implant is intact and not ruptured or leaking. A list of the components, chemicals, and heavy metals is available in the patient information booklet brochure. And just to be complete, on bottom of page 18, heavy metals found in breast implants, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, magnesium, mercury, nickel, platinum, selenium, silver, tin, titanium, zinc, vanadium. Now, what I've just read, Christian, here is this alone in itself is convincing and real evidence that the FDA should step up, or the plastic surgeon should step up and put a permanent band to the implants. Because why are you letting silicone leak into the lymph nodes or the surrounding tissues, the chest wall, lymph nodes, and believe it or not, other biopsies have been done in the lung, liver, and I show silica, you're affecting how mammography and self-monthly breast exams potentially, how mammography is altered, correct? Uh and now you have the many other problems that we have not even discussed, Christian, uh, that affect the patient. And the bottom line here is you know, when it comes to at least the silicone implants and the sealing, believe it or not, as well. The problem is very defined, as I just read. I did not make this up. Now, the other thing I want to mention here before I forget, they should have banned the sealing implant too, in addition to the silicone implants. Because the saline implants cause the same hurt because that shell is made up of silicone, and that shell of that saline implant diffuses away these small silicone particles that the body recognizes, as you very well said, as foreign. And now this immune response, the body goes haywire because it's trying to fight this enemy from within, that foreign object that's being inserted into the chest.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, one of the things that jumped out to me as you were speaking, I have a podcast interview I did on it was uh thermography versus mammograms. And one nugget that jumped out to me as I was researching that was just the roughly 45 pounds of pressure they put against the chest just to create the image on the mammogram. And I can imagine that compression on an implant is just more or less heightening the risk just of squeezing that fluid out or creating other problems. Does that make sense to you that that would also be a risk factor?

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely, because remember, you have to move, put pressure on, you have to get the right image. This is why if you go and one looks, you can get ukland views. Uckland views are defined, modified views where the technician can get good representative mammography without hurting and disturbing and potentially harming the implant. Now, I will tell you, there is force. If a patient has a capsular contracture or a large implant, you will inevitably end up applying force that will hurt. And they're telling you you might rupture, you cause harm to the patient. And so this has happened before. And the bottom line here is that uh, you know, just like you very well said, there are unpleasant forces. It's not a pleasant experience sometimes for some patients. It's a painful experience. And believe it or not, there are a lot of patients that I've talked to over the years that have chosen not to get implants because it was a very painful experience.

SPEAKER_00:

I can imagine. Okay, well, let me just make sure I understand a couple things. So there's basically two types of implants. There's silicone and saline, is that right?

SPEAKER_02:

That's correct.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, there's only two companies that, as far as I know, that make this material. So it's that the studies or the what evidence you're pointing out. It wasn't typically that hard to know what to study because there's only two companies and there's only two types. And so that's come from a fairly well-defined uh situation. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so there are more companies. Uh, the major, two major ones in the United States are Mentor and Allergan. Okay. Um now you have Centra, it went belly up and they sold uh because of uh COVID, um uh as I understand, and they sold it to another company, uh Tiger, I believe. Uh that's like one of the, I do not know exactly the name. Then there is another uh European company that just got last September, believe it or not, 2024, a new micro-textured implant, uh the Motiva uh establishment uh got reintroduced uh basically into the market. And you would think this is micro-textured. Remember, whenever you have a textured implant, you have more inflammation. But you know, the data in Europe is supposedly, I use the word safe. Now remember, any implant, this is very similar to you smoke a cigarette, you smoke a cigar, it's the same hurt, some less, some more, whatever delivery of the nicotine, but the carcinogens are there, if you will, when it comes to the smoking the cigarette or the cigar. Silicon or signaling implants, be it the motiva or whatever, it's the same problem because it's the silica, the heavy metals, right? And that leach into the periphery, and this is what is ultimately causing the hurt and the harm.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so no matter which company we're talking about or what type of implant, there's known documented harms. And what how would you rate the level of informed consent in your industry in terms of making patients aware that these are the risks? How many people know that black box warning preemptively?

SPEAKER_02:

I will tell you, majority of the patients anecdotally, more than 90% of the patients have no idea what this black box warning even means. Most of the patients do not know what it means that they are not lifetime devices, what is B I L C L. And if I may, you know, and again, not my words. I'm just right now, Christian. What I'm doing right now is I'm just very innocently, without any bias, I'm just reading to you the risks that are related to breast implants as published by the FDA, right? So this is not even my now, this is guess what? Reproduced by the many thousands and hundreds and millions of patients worldwide. And they're telling you right here risks of breast implant surgery, not my words, breast pain, skin or nipple areola sensitivity changes or loss, asymmetry, impact of aging or weight change on size and shape of the breast, infection, swelling, scarring, fluid collections, hematoma, tissue death of breast, skin, or nipple. You have inability to breastfeed, complications of anesthesia, bleeding, chronic pain, damage to surrounding tissue such as muscles, nerves, and blood vessels. And then, if you look at, and then they want you to initialize right here that your surgeon, my my physician, has discussed the potential use of other uh this my physician has discussed these risks and has provided me with the patient information. Then the black box warning. I understand that the long-term risk of breast implants may include painful or tightening of the scar tissue, which is a capsule or contractor, rupture or leaking of the implant, wrinkling of the implant, visibility of the implant, so it's visible, it does not look ideal, shifting of the implant, which is malposition, or need for reoperation. Now, I will tell you if you are this patient who's considering implants, and if you're the patient who has implants, and if you just read this, you would be like, number one, I'm never gonna get implants. And number two, if you have implants, you're now just made aware as to what are the detrimental effects of implants. Now, we live here in the motor city, Christian. We sell cars, you know, between Chrysler Fort and GM, right? If I make a car here and I tell you it's gonna have an XL problem or engine leak, or it's gonna basically uh the radiator is gonna require flushing every two years, or you know, and the axle is gonna break down, or you're gonna have electronic problems with the dashboard. I'm gonna say this to you, you're gonna be lucky even if you sell one. But this is unfortunately, you said it at the very beginning, those two heavy words, informed consent, which means the patients have no clue about what they signed up for. It was sold to them as safe, and unfortunately, it is catching them by surprise. And the most unfortunate situation is what happens, Christian, is when the patients go, they've had the implants 10, 15 years, they go to a reputable, nice, good surgeon, and the surgeon takes that first implant, 10, 15-year-old implant, and then puts another one in. And now you basically are saying 10, 15 years later, you're gonna have to come back maybe sooner, maybe later, with this problem. Now, whatever I read, I did not type this. This was already published, written, and well accepted by the medical plastic surgery community. What we need to do, and Christian, this is what you're doing, is a very wise, smart, elegant job in a sense that you're reaching the masses, you're letting them know if you have implants, and this is what my message is to anyone if you are hurting and you have these symptoms of what is suggestive of what is breast implant illness, or you have a ruptured implant, you have a capsular contraction, you are in pain, you have malposition, that there is help out there for you.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, it's okay. So I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of the listener here, and I'm imagining if I'm a woman hearing this and thinking some of those symptoms are mine. There's there's plenty of people who have symptoms that don't have breast implants. And so, how would is there some way that women can know or a test or something that can help them identify if their symptoms are actually coming from that or maybe from something else?

SPEAKER_02:

This is a very good question, uh, Christian. So let me tell you exactly verbatim what happened uh 6 o'clock in the morning, not yesterday. I talked to one of my patients from India, nice 36-year-old lady, all the way in India, no HIPAA violation here. So she and I get started, and she's telling me she got her implants uh done uh in New Delhi, the capital, uh in 2009. And then she said her symptoms started, and she started reading off those symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, joint pain, GI disturbances, her rashes. She went to the dermatologist, allergy immunologist, cardiologist for the palpitations, and all of them said, I do not know what you're talking about. You got a clean bill of health. You look good, your numbers are good, your EKG is good, your echo is good, you have no lupus, you have no rheumatoid arthritis. And then they said to her, which is very typical, there's a nice psychiatrist who will help you out because you're too stressed out. And she's only 36, as smart as smart can get. Software engineer, the real guru, if you will. And you can tell just by talking to her, she's very eloquent, she's very smart, and she's very wise with her words and hurting. And then she reads off to me, these are my symptoms that the patients present that I have them check off. So she said she has 44-00 symptoms. Now, this is the diagnosis of exclusion. She said she has fatigue, brain fault, muscle aches, joint pain, dry eyes, weight gain, uh, low uh let me autoimmune phenomena, rashes, she has vision with problems, ringing in the ears, uh, anxiety panic attacks, uh, anxiety, headaches, GI disturbances, uh, symptoms of fibromyalgia. Now, this is the classic pattern recognition. She went to all these doctors, subspecialists, they all said A plus, A plus, clean bell of health, you're, you know, got flying colors and you when it comes to your health. Imaging was not done. She's too young to have had any imaging. And labs, all are unremarkable. Now she says to herself, I'm not crazy, I know this. Something is wrong. And this is where she goes online and she does, and this is my typical patient, by the way. She is their the the patients are their own advocate. And then she researches. One patient, her husband put everything on Google, and the Google said, Well, you should look into breast implant illness. One patient, she put all her symptoms into Chat GPT, and Chad GPT said, you know, you should consider this as a differential diagnosis, you know, including Lyme and uh, you know, and then breast implant illness. And now the patient started reading, and she said, Well, that's exactly me. This one patient is me. This is exactly what my complaints are. Clean bill of health, normal labs, and a lot of complaints. And the patient got explanted done correctly, and she improved remarkably well. And when I asked her, Christian, what percent chance do you think you have breast implant illness? You know what she told me, quote unquote, 120%.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I don't doubt it.

SPEAKER_02:

I said to her, You're like, if I get a flight nonstop to India, it's probably 25 hours, 20 hours away. I said, I'm sitting in this part of the world in the US, and you're all in the in in New Delhi. I have not even examined you. I've just listened to you. And I said, 1 million percent you got brace and plant illness, because what else would it be?

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

I've never seen a doctor in 20 years, and I got lupus and rheumatoid, and I can tell because this is the pattern recognition. Now, am I wrong? I will tell you one day when she gets her ex-plan, which is going to be very soon, you will hear from her own words like the many thousands of patients, just like Danica K. Patrick, just like all the celebrities who are coming forth. And every patient is the celebrity, if you will, because there is every patient's voice is important, and you will see this is that revolution, this is that tsunami of patients that are coming forth and basically warning uh the the implants out because they know that their good health awaits them once the explantation is done in the proper manner.

unknown:

Oh.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I can just I can picture that doctor's visit. It's the yeah, you get all your lab tests came back clean, and they the best they've got, there's no real test for this. It's just a collection of symptoms, and they use throwaway diagnosis like fibromyalgia or anxiety and send you out the door to go see a psychiatrist. That's that sounds like I'm maybe oversimplifying it, but that sounds like a common experience.

SPEAKER_02:

And then the the the one of the features of breast implant analysis is anxiety, panic attacks, depression, some small selective patients, suicidal ideation. Now, the bottom line is they have to come up with the diagnosis, and this is fibromyalgia, and anxiety is a very nice, good diagnosis for billing purposes because there is no official, and that is the sad part, Christian, there is no ICD-10 code for breast implant analysis, even though they mention it and the risks, right, and then the complete resolution, right, and all that, but they do not want to put this as a diagnosis because guess what? All these patients will come forth. This is the problem. Unfortunately, look, there are many 17, 16-year-olds who are doing dual cigarettes, right? And they go about vaping every single day. There are millions of patients who have abused NORCO and Vikud and all these narcotics. Unfortunately, this is being overlooked and disregarded. And now, this is, Christian, a social media phenomenon. Look, here you are spreading awareness and letting and educate the other patient. And again, all what I have said today is not my opinion. These are hard facts, objective. I picked this paper up and read it, read it, and I want you to fact check each and everything, and you will see it's a no-brainer. Do no harm. That's the oath I took. Do no harm. Ultimately, it's like playing musical cheers or a Russian roulette, if you will. You know, if you're playing with uh the B I A L C L that, very rare of rare to date, only 1300 patients who have had this, but this is relatively speaking underreported. Maybe it might be 2600, maybe it might be 1500. But the bottom line here is going back to this is what you said is the diagnosis of exclusion. You've gone to the doc, the doc says you're in excellent shape and health. The patient looks at her checklist and she says, What are you talking about? 20, 30 symptoms, uh, 10 symptoms, 15 symptoms. This is young and old, and you will see the many patients on my Facebook group page. If you go to the private breast and plant illness support group page by Dr. Khan uh or my YouTube channel, Khan Plastic Surgery Academy, you will see the patients specifically talk about this, and you will see the patients literally uh uh postoperatively speak about the many uh relief of symptoms that they have. And well over 90% of my patients anecdotally have sought relief of the many symptoms of what is uh suggestive of breast implant illness, capsula contraction, or rupture, or the hurt that they had from the implants.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, it seems not just is it a mockery of informed consent, it's you could almost argue it's malpractice to do this at some point. And I've I've heard you talk about in other videos like the malpractice of um implants in people who already have other illnesses. So mention some of those in case some people are not aware of other comorbidities that are relevant.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. So let me let me go ahead and again, I want to mention this. Uh so the let's go ahead and uh it's just so that we know this is again, where am I coming from, right? Remember, this is not my words. Uh just this is a very good and smart question that you asked me, uh, Christian. Um if you look at this one. If you look at this list, it says over here.

SPEAKER_00:

You're reading the black box morning or the FDA warning again?

SPEAKER_02:

This is on page 10. Um considerations for a candidate for successful breast implantation. I understand that I'm not a candidate for breast implants if any of the following situation applies to me. I have an active infection anywhere in the body. Obviously, that's a no-brainer. I have an existing cancer or pre-cancer of my breast tissue that has not been adequately treated. So let me go ahead and expand on this. Now, when some patients who have had auxillary lymph node dissection, they unfortunately end up getting implants. And then if they do need radiation, the problems arise. And this is what they're trying to say. Meaning, if you have cancer, existing cancer or pre-cancer of the breast that has not been adequately treated, and then you need chemotherapy. So I myself, I've seen patients in my training, again, the general surgery part of the training, having seen a lot of patients, remember in the breast center, these patients who had breast cancer confirmed on their lymph nodes later on, and now they had implants and now uh tissue expanders, excuse me, and now they cannot get chemotherapy because they have an open wound. Chemotherapy slows down the wound healing or affects the wound healing. Sometimes when you have an open wound, you cannot get radiated. And now the aesthetics is overriding or taking precedence or importance over treatment of the cancer, right? That's what they're trying to prevent. So a small subset of patients that you're pregnant or nursing, they're telling you if you're nursing, look how many PA patients get implants and then they nurse, right? So this is a big question mark. Um let me go in and uh I will jump to this nursing part in a second. I understand that if I have any of the following conditions, I may be a high risk for poor surgical outcome, medical conditions that affect my body's ability to heal, diabetes, connective tissue disorder. My neighbor had a kidney transplant, and she got ended up getting breast cancer. Despite the kidney transplant, and you are on very strong immunosuppressive medications, she ended up getting implants. A big, if you ask me, problem with that because this is unethical to put in, because remember, you have wound healing problems if you're on pregnancy or these strong immunosuppressive medications. Remember, you can have problems, and they're telling you right here active smoker or former smoker. How many patients who have uh who have been actively smoking and get implants? Currently taking drugs that weaken the immune uh body, uh the uh that weaken the body's natural resistance to disease such as steroids or chemotherapy, like pretinoso and a tachrolimus. This is the transplant medications I was talking about. History of chemotherapy or planned chemotherapy, uh, history of radiation therapy or planned radiation. So almost 30 to 50 percent complication rate in patients who have had radiation, conditions that interfere with wound healing or blood clotting, hemophilia, uh, blood clotting problems, reduced blood supply to the breast tissue. For example, an 83-year-old patient getting implants. I've seen this unfortunate 78-year-old, this is not SMART. Patients, I understand the following conditions have not been adequately studied to determine whether the conditions put me at higher risk, autoimmune disease, clinical diagnosis of depression, have other permanent implants, have other products permanently implanted in the breast. So if you look at the recommendation, now what is interesting is if you see over here, um, and I just want to go ahead and read this so that um the patients uh understand that again, Netrell implant, the number one manufacturer, allergan, 50 built on a 50-year legacy of excellence and innovation in breast aesthetics. And they're telling you from 1974 to 2021, they're telling you important safety information contraindications. Neutrelle 133, a smooth tissue expander, should not be used in patients whose physiological conditions sensitive over or underlying anatomy, obesity, smoking, diabetes, autoimmune disease, hypertension, chronic lung or severe cardiovascular disease, or osteogenesis imperfecta, or use of certain drugs, including those that interfere with blood clotting, uh, who are psychologically unstable. So they're see the the point here is if you have an underlying problem like diabetes, immunosuppressive estate, patients who have decreased blood flow, patients who have these underlying autoimmune problems should not be getting these devices. And unfortunately, they're being put in right and left nonstop without any consideration to these elevated risk. And again, the informed consent. Many patients uh were not made aware that this was a contraindication, that they got a tissue expander and then implants, and then ultimately later on, or maybe when they had the tissue expander, they needed radiation. They were made aware it's a higher risk, but how much higher? I will tell you statistically, anywhere from 30 to 50 percent. So the point here is implants in general are not safe even in a healthy patient. So if I am a patient, 25, 22 years of age, I will not even think twice about getting implants from what I have just read alone. And the point here is if you have implants and you're hurting, please get the attention you need so that you get the surgery you need and the surgery that needs to be done in a very defined systematic manner.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. Well, let's we'll we'll transition to that. But I think what we've done so far is thoroughly establish the problem. And if the industry was actually giving real informed consent, they'd put themselves out of business. This would quit, this would end. Is that fair to say?

SPEAKER_02:

You know, I will tell you this is gonna inevitably happen just like it did with Dow Corning, right? Because either whatever I just read, I just made up. No, it is it is at the back of the journal that we read, right? This is this is the FDA right here. This is the advertisement. So this is the manufacturer's advertisement, and by law, they're supposed to write down the real risk. Now, I wish this was given to the patients, uh, you know, when they got implants. This is the guidance for industry, uh, food and drug administration staff. I wish this read guidance for the patients, right? And it says contains non-binding recommendations. You would think they would uh write down guidance for uh patients wanting to get implants, right? That would be more uh of a informed consent, right? And if you ask Christian to sum it up, listen to what the FD is saying, okay, listen this one, listen to what the manufacturers are saying in the advertisement in the back with the risks. Most importantly, listen to the many patients who have gotten implants and then ex-planted successfully. You will see how well and how much they benefited from getting the explant because their symptoms improved. And this is relatively speaking, 90% of the patients are more.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think I heard you say when you were on Dr. Yoho's podcast that you've never had a woman come and say, Man, I got breast implants in, and my brain fog disappeared, and my digestion got better, and now I'm sleeping well. It's it's always the opposite of that. And they just report feeling better once it's done. So it correct me if I missed something there.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, no, no, you you said it very well. So uh thank you very much for bringing the point up. So all my patients have said maybe uh the uh one or two, for example. They said they wish they had never gotten implants and they wish they had removed them sooner so that they could have reclaimed their life back sooner.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Okay. Well, let's talk about removal because from my research, there's basically it looks like three different types or styles of doing the removal surgery, but you picked N blocks, so E N B L O C as the way you do it. So, why did you settle on that method of removal over anything else?

SPEAKER_02:

So, as you will see now uh The let's go ahead and define the term. And what truly comes from what is a cancer term. So for example, someone has a cancer of the head of the pancreas, and you want to go ahead and remove the tissue, the good healthy tissue around it, if you will, uh, quote unquote, because you do not want this to spill out. You see what I'm saying? And so you kind of enucleated it, if you will, or end block so that it's all contained, right? You're not removing it piece by piece. So in order to extend this into this explant uh world, that is removal of the implant and capsule. The goal is anytime you have an implant, be it saline or silicon, 100% of the time, you have what is that capsule that forms around. The capsule forms around anything foreign in the body. So for example, if someone has a pacemaker or hip implant or mesh, there is scar tissue or the capsule that, if you will, forms around it. So in this case, the saline implant, the silicon implant. So as you see, this gel leaching, gel bleed phenomenon occurs. Now, when this, if you can imagine this is the implant, and around it that capsule forms, you want to remove it all as one piece, which is called end block. You do not want even a hole inside that capsule, that scar tissue that's around the implant, because let's say if the implant is ruptured on the inside, you don't want the internal contents to spill out. Remember, this is like slime. Once it gets somewhere, it's then everywhere.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I saw on one of your videos you had you were had the one in your hand that you had taken out, and you're kind of scraping it, and then you squeezed it just a little bit, and it looked like white paint coming out of the thing.

SPEAKER_02:

Liquid in it, and this is like I did a case last Thursday at the hospital for those patients who are interested. Please absolutely watch that as well. This is a patient that had an open uh breast wound for almost three months that came to me that had that fluid and a mass, very similar to what you're talking about, that happened to be like muddy, if you will, and mustard colored as well. Now, going back to, we do not want to break that capsule at all. So that whatever the badness is on the inside, so that white paint video that you're talking about, that was bacteria. So you don't want that to spill into the chest because if it does, then it's gonna spread everywhere, right? So this is where that word or term end block comes in as a description. I stretched out from the cancer terminology because you want to preserve all of this tissue and remove all of that scar tissue and that inflamed tissue. Now remember, as I read to you, there's gel bleed that occurs. The silicon leaches into the periphery, into the chest wall, into the lymph and all. So it then that capsule essentially works as a filter, if you will, in the majority of the cases to kind of block and stop it. And so the whole goal of the surgery is to remove that whole shell, including the capsule, majority of the times underneath the muscle, directly on top of the rib, or in those select few cases where the implant is above the muscle, such that none of the internal contents come out. And this is the end block.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. And you have like a 100-100-0 technique that you use. So tell people what that means.

SPEAKER_02:

So 100% of the time, 100% of the capsule must be removed, with 0% of the capsule remaining behind. And that is what is the gist and essence of true X-plant surgery. You do not want to leave the capsule behind. Because if you leave the capsule behind, you're gonna leave the silica behind, and now the patient will continue to hurt. Now, this is a big deal, what I just said, because this is this one thing that if you were to take a thousand plastic surgeons on one side versus me, they're gonna say we bet to differ. Now it's my word against theirs. Now, I'm gonna say two things as a Christian, because I'm on the spot right now, right? This is a big deal. This is my reputation, this is my career. Here I have, and I'm gonna show you my own patients, pathology reports, pathology reports, my own patients, not all of them. This is remember, whenever I remove something, I cannot look at it with my naked eye and say, Well, this is what I see that it has to go to the pathologist, they stain it, and then they basically look at it under the microscope, hundred times magnification, and then they stay. So, for example, on this case right here, final report pathology, it says left breast implant capsule. Remember, this is that capsule scar tissue and the inflamed tissue around. It says refractile foreign material compatible with reaction to foreign materials. Refrectile foreign material compatible with reaction to foreign materials, and on the back, refrectile foreign material is identified, which may represent breast implant particles. Now remember, this is that leaching of the silicon, right? I just read what the FD is telling us, right? So had this capsule been left behind, the silica would be left behind, and it would be like as if you're leaving part of the implant behind. And that small amount is enough to trigger the immune response. Remember, whenever you get a vaccine, what do they do? They give you one, two cc of like the meningitis vaccine or whatever uh the pneumovaccine or the COVID vaccine. They give you small, and that small amount is enough for the body to trigger your immune response and make antibodies. Now, I mean, and then there's a reaction to the foreign material. So if you leave the the if you leave the capsule behind, you're leaving silica behind. Um, then I always do the C D30 analysis just to be complete. This is ruling out that B I A L C L. So as you will see, patient after patient, fibro, this is the capsule on the right, fibrous capsule, which means scar capsule with foreign body reaction to droplets of foreign material consistent with silicone. Meaning there's silicon, they're telling it silicon gel bleed, it's leaching into the periphery, it's going into the capsule. So it makes only sense to remove it. Now, am I overkill in removing the capsule? No, this is what is required to have the patients heal and recover. Look and look at this. Not in all the patients, for example, you will see on the left, breast implant capsule, synovia-like metaplasia of the wall of the surrounding capsule with focal hystocitic reaction to non-polarizable material consistent with silica. This is what I read from the FDA, gel bleed leaching of the silica into the periphery. It's going into the capsule, and the capsule is trapping it. And this is why it is imperative to remove foreign body giant cell reaction to real drop lips consistent with extravacated silicone. Now, this is where you will see patient after patient, refractile, foreign material present. There is benign soft tissue and skeletal muscle changes compatible with implant capsule, including fat necrosis, dead fat. So anything I see abnormal, looks abnormal, feels abnormal, palpes abnormal, I remove because I don't want to leave that badness behind. Let me read another one. Foreign body giant cell reaction to rare droplets consistent with extra vestigated silicone. Not in all, but as you will see, now you will see. So the capsule has to go because if you leave that behind, the patient does not matter. Now, another subset of my patients have already gone to another surgeon. They remove the implant, but that surgeon, well, like majority of the surgeons, well over 99% of them, do not believe in removal of the capsule.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow.

SPEAKER_02:

Now those patients do not improve. Some of them, believe it or not, even get worse, or they have the same symptoms of breast implant illness that's on that questionnaire, as if they still have implants, but the implants have been removed. And now they come to me for residual capsule so I can remove this silica that was left behind so they can get better. And you're gonna see the same patients go on social media and see we want the capsule removed. We want the capsule removed. And this is where if you go, Christian to any plastic surgeon in the United States who advertise it, and this is well over 50%, you will see total capsulectomy, end block, end block, end block, total, because the word has gotten around end block, total capsulectomy is the king, is the is the is the goal, it's the the the relief that the patient's gonna have so that complete implant, capsule, and inflamed tissue is removed. And number two, in my practice, I always send the entirety of it off so that we can rule out that rare lymphoma, we can know why what the pathologist says, and so that we have the peace of mind, we're not missing anything. And then I take cultures for aerobic, anaerobic, and fungal. So it's a complete thorough meticulous workup.

SPEAKER_00:

That's that sounds involved. Okay, so talk through the process. This like what would a woman go through to have a surgery like this done? What happens on the first phone call, and then where does it go from there?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, so uh so patient calls me and then she says she's interested in a phone call. Very similar to the patient from India, California. Uh, believe it or not, wherever the patient may be. So phone call is very important because I myself, not my assistant, not my PA or nurse, when I talk to them, I tell them, what are you, when did you get implants? What are they? So, first of all, I get objective data as to how many implants some people have had, two, three, four, five, six, seven implants in their lifetime, right? Then I find out one was above or below the muscle, if she had saline or silicone, if her one of the first sets were ruptured or not. So I get a lot of objective information. Then I say, What are your symptoms? So essentially I tell them, please tell me what are your symptoms that you're exhibiting. Majority of them say I have one, three, five. Some of them have half, some of them have all, some of them have none. Then I ask them, why do you want your implants removed? Now, one one someone will say, Well, my implants are from 1996. I said, That alone in itself is a reason. Another patient said, I've got rheumatoid arthritis. I said, that alone in itself is a reason. Some patients say I have like 20, 30, 10 symptoms. I said, those alone individually in itself are reasons. Now another patient called and she said, I don't have any symptoms. It was blank, Christian.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_02:

And lo and behold, I go in and it turns out that the right one was ruptured. And she was smart because she knew in her mind, even though she was asymptomatic, she had no complaints. And this is the silent rupture. So then I make a determination. Now, another patient came to me and said, I've never seen a doc in 20 years. I say, I'm sorry, go see a doc and go see a subspecialist. Another patient said, Well, I I I do not believe in doctors. I said, I'm not gonna manage you because you have to go see, make sure your heart is good, your thyroid is good. You are you don't have, God forbid, uh, you know, uh underlying lupus Lyme disease, you do not have um uh uh scleroderma or uh underlying uh problems, for example, that might be present, like multiple sclerosis. Now, even if someone has rheumatoid arthritis or any of these symptoms and they want to get them out because they want to be mentally free of this potential hurt and poison, because remember they're not lifetime devices, then I say, please come because you want to get them out, just like when she wanted to get them in. But I tell my patients, you're the boss, you decide. Now, sometimes one patient, like the patient that I operated on yesterday from California, she called me literally 13 days ago and she said, I have ruptured both implants and I want you to put me on the table at the next available time. And I said, you know what? When can you come here from California? When can you get the medical clearance? Because I get a clearance on everyone so that when they do come to me, I know their heart's not a problem, their thyroid has been checked, the adrenals have been checked, the other problems have been rolled out. Believe it or not, just before I met you, Christian, there was this one patient who has breast cancer. I'm not gonna operate on someone who has breast cancer and remove the implants underneath the muscle, and she has because I don't want to spread it from one to the other. Sometimes if you have breast cancer, you might have a metastasis to the brain, God knows. And so I don't want to have to deal with a potential seizure or something. So I want to make sure that the patient is sound and up to par. So this is where I myself, I take the initiative and I make the determination, and I am very much hands-on. And this is what I was talking to you about. The hardest part of my job is to talk to the patient and prep the patient and determine if the patient is a candidate for surgery. Believe it or not, Christian, the easiest part of the job is to operate. Then this the hardest part of the job, if you ask me, which is the most cerebral, is to prep and clear and optimize. Now remember, when you do the best inter-operative and postoperative course, is the best pre-operative course, meaning that you've already set the stage, you've made sure that the patient is not a poorly controlled diabetic. Her heart is good, then she meets criteria. You have done the appropriate imaging so that when I do operate, I know there's going to be no turbulence. Yes, some cases are much harder, some cases are very easy, but all of them go through the same phase where the entire implant capsule is removed. So this is where my time with the patient is key. I cannot assign this to another nurse or a PA or a nurse practitioner or a medical assistant or a my respect because I will tell you, they're not surgeons, right? And with all due respect. Um, and the point I'm trying to make here is this is, remember, a very involved process because you have to make the decision to operate. That's the hardest part, even in anyone, right? If someone has a perforated valve from diverticulitis, my surgeon attending made the call. I'm not gonna operate, I'm gonna sit tight because they were able to give antibiotics and cool her down and electively did the surgery versus going in in the middle of the night. And see, this is where that mental and experience, sixth sense, all of that comes into play. There was another patient she called and she literally told me, I have this, this, this. And I said, I'm sorry, I'm not gonna operate on you because I choose not to operate on you, and you're not a safe operable candidate. And I made the decision, just like I did with this patient with breast cancer, that she's not gonna go on the schedule at all till I have that absolute commitment. There are patients, believe it or not, uh, Christian, one patient came to me from Corpus Christi. I looked at her and I said, I don't like how you're looking. And she was, she had a very mild wheeze. And it turns out I called her doctor up on the spot and I said, You cleared my patient. How did you clear this patient? Because she is not optimal. And it turns out she did not want to take a asthma medication that had steroids in it, and she was afraid that she was going to put on weight. And I said, surgery's canceled. She cried and she said, I spent so much money coming here. Two days later, she called me and she said, I had early onset pneumonia, and so thank you very much for not operating. And this is where that whole decision making comes into play to make sure that the patients are optimized and ready and clear for the surgery. And so this screening process is the most, if you ask me, integral part of the process, and this can very definitively and safely be done. So every patient gets their medical clearance. I look at the clearance, my anesthesia team member looks at the clearance independently of me, and my nurse also. So there's like a three checks and balance, so we're not potentially missing anything.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow. That is way more thorough than I was expecting, but it's brilliant. It's like you actually are taking it serious to be a doctor and do all of your homework to check all the boxes to make sure you're doing it well.

SPEAKER_02:

Do no harm.

SPEAKER_00:

We don't want turbulence in the air. Do no harm. Fantastic. Okay. Well, talk about then. So that's the prep phase.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, is there any particular mentioned, you know, believe it or not, once I was flying and they had us on the taxi bay for four whole hours. And I thought that's crazy. We would have been there uh long I was actually going to California. And I said, we could have been there for the time we were taxiing. And they said we don't want turbulence in the air. I said, I like this pilot because we would rather be on the ground for another eight hours. I could care less because we don't want any drama upstairs, uh when we're in the air. And so this is where this whole check and balance and wisdom and whatnot else comes in. You know, I will tell you, it's a mindset. It is has to come from the heart. It is like your sixth sense, it's your training, it's your experience. All those years that you mentioned very early on, the general surgery, the two years in the burn unit, but basically doing the bronchoscopies and making sure that uh the patients were well ventilated on a ventilator and the three years of plastics. And believe it or not, even today, you're learning from conferences like next month. I'm going to the plastic surgery conference. You're learning from your colleagues and you're learning from your experiences, you're learning from your patients. See, Christian, if I may, I will summarize to you what is the problem.

SPEAKER_00:

Please.

SPEAKER_02:

No one is listening to the patients. Their complaints, their symptom complaints. Everyone is disregarding them. Go to the psychiatrist. Oh, you look healthy. I do not know what you're talking about. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You know, one of the patients, if I may mention, uh, you know, from a little while ago, she said, I want, and she requoted my words. She said, I want to take care of a small fire now versus the whole house is on fire, right? And so I want to take care of this badness before this ruptures, right? And this is why they're telling you get an MRI at year three and then two every two years. Because are you gonna wait for a rupture and they say, hey, I'm gonna now get my implants removed because now I have a rupture? No, you don't want to wait for a rupture because who knows, it might have gone more now to the lymph nodes because now it's now less contained, it's ruptured.

SPEAKER_00:

Fantastic. And so I can appreciate just how the thoroughness, but then the fact that you that pilot saying, sorry, too much turbulence. Your surgeries are four hours. You had to sit on the tarmac for four hours. You're like, you know what? It's better this way, it's it's worth the effort. So there's the surgery itself, and then there's the recovery after that. So tell people about what they can expect post-surgery, what kind of recovery window are they looking like the day after or the year after, etc.

SPEAKER_02:

So, what I want everyone to do is go to my YouTube Shorts, so YouTube channel, and then under shorts, and you will see that videos from the operating room. So, as you will see, these are very invasive surgeries, involved surgeries, four hours. Remember, if you get 100 plastic surgeons, Christian, 97, 99 of them will not want to do the surgery. They don't want to even hear it. And then the two, three, four who do not want to lose the business of the patient of going, sorry, patient going elsewhere, they will say, We will do it. Then when the going gets tough and the tough gets going, and the capsule needs to be removed off of the rib, this is where the surgeon's integrity, professionalism, honesty, and the physical mechanical ability, the surgeon's experience, the commitment gets tested. And this is what I've said before. One free soldier who's gonna fight from his or her heart is better than 10 hired ones who you pay to fight for you. They will never fight like you. And this is where the surgeon's belief comes into play, and this is where the entire capsule is removed directly off of the ribs. Now, just like after a tummy tuck, you're looking at six weeks before you gently start working out as I direct, and I as I tell uh my patients. If you have had surgery today, you will see two-thirds of my patients don't need much of pain meds, maybe past two or three days. So that is definitely very well established. If you go to the Facebook group page, you will see and hear that directly from the patients themselves. Within five, six, seven days, the patients are driving. So that in itself is a lot of freedom. If you have a desk job at week three, with confidence you're going to be able to work on your desk job. And if you have a job that where you are a nurse at the hospital where you have to lift 200 pounds, you're looking at easily three months because remember, you have to let that muscle settle underneath which the implant was. Because you cannot go about moving your arms and the muscle now may get pulled or bleeding, other problems can occur. Just like after a knee replacement, you have it 50% of the job is getting the best job done by the surgeon. The other 50% is done by the patient to get the best recovery. So if you have a surgeon who does the perfect job and the patient does not go for therapy after a knee replacement, or the patient starts walking on it prematurely because he was an immature 18-year-old kid who said, I'm gonna play basketball on it, you're gonna see that the best surgery goes down the drain and the recovery goes down the drain and problem complications arise. So my patients, I tell them, listen, you come in here with your heart, I pour my heart and soul into the surgery, and you pour your heart and soul into your recovery. And you're gonna see and you're gonna notice that those patients who are well read, who tied their arms for not moving the arms, because remember, if you start moving your arms, you're gonna start moving that sod on top of the soil that you just planted. You don't want to disrupt that. Same thing, you don't want to move after a tummy tuck right and left your sit-ups. Just like after the surgery, you don't want to be doing your movement of the arms. Um, you know, I like to say the trump dance, right? Um so you want to be very limited in your arm movements. You want to let that heel and do want to let that muscle settle or the breast tissue settle back on the chest. And this is where then I tell my patients at week six on average, 90%, 80% of my patients, I have them working out. So if someone has an 800cc implant below the muscle ruptured and it's all contained, that person's recovery is very different from a patient who has 200 CC implants and they were above the muscle, where the muscle was not cut by the initial surgeon. So I dictate and I direct my patients post-op because I only know, and no one else talks to them except for I, because I only know what happened in the war. And I do these surgeries regularly, and I know all my patients personally because I spend a lot of time with them. I treat each and every single patient as if they're like the president of the US, meaning 100% attention. Each one of them has full access to my cell phone, and it's one-on-one, so that I hear and I tell each one of them what to do, what to expect, and I basically kind of hold their hands in the post-hob recovery phase. So it's integral for their recovery that they will have the best recovery possible. So give me, give you an example, like you asked me, Christian, if they are sleeping on the bed, you want three pillows so that you're already half halfway up. You're not gonna twist and turn in bed and use your arm muscles underneath which the whole implant was sitting. You're not gonna twist and turn, you're not gonna use your arms to get up. And so this is where the compliance of the patients who buy wedge pillows is good. Now you don't have to buy a wedge pillow, but if you're asleep on two, three, four pillows, you're gonna be good. If someone is a restless sleeper, they can put a gentle scarf around their arm to kind of remind them that not to move their arm out because when they're sleeping, sometimes they don't realize how much they're moving their arms.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, that brings up another question because I'm fairly well studied in fascia or the myofascial system, and I understand anatomy trains, and I've I'm aware of the problem of scar tissue and how sticky it can get post-surgery. I even have a friend or two who have had the surgeries and just have major complications post-surgery because they're so stiff everywhere. One even had to go to the ER because she had obstruction in her bowel because this scar tissue spreads as you cut one part of the body. It's not like it stays where the incision is. It builds a web to rebuild this integrity of the structure. So talk to me a little bit about the scarring that can happen, whether it's breast implants or just any sort of surgery, talk about the how do you rehabilitate or account for even just moving tissue around in the body. Sometimes people take fat from one place and move it to another. What is that doing internally? What would informed consent look like to accept that surgery and then recover from something like that?

SPEAKER_02:

So this is a very good point. Now, let's look at this. Anytime you do any surgery, be it the appendix that was ruptured or the gallbladder or small bowel, or be it the hand or the face, and in this case the breast, you're always going to induce or form scars because that's how the body heals. Now, let's look at the belly. Because the belly was entered and now there is scar tissue healing, these adhesions form. So that bowel, for example, this is what happened to your friend. The bowel gets entangled in this web of adhesions, and sometimes you can get a bowel obstruction. It's very rare, it does happen. But now the bowel gets strangulated, and now the surgeons sometimes have to go and release the scar or the bowel because they don't want it to die, if you will, because it's going to suffocate the blood supply and the oxygenation to it. Likewise, on the chest, when the surgery is occurring below the muscle, this is where vast majority, 95% of more of the implants, 90% or more of the times the implant is below the muscle. That area directly below the muscle and on top of the rib is where the scarring occurs. And I want that scar to form so that the muscle now sticks back onto the chest. Case close. Because what was normally there to begin with? Really nothing other than pec minor and the uh and the ribs. And so the layer of that fascia on top of the serratus anterior was removed in order to do the end block or 100% total capsulectomy. The fascia of the intercostal muscle, the fascia of the serratus anterior, the fascia of the pectoralis minor, the periaostium, that's the layer directly on top of the rib, and the uh the bone part of the rib, and the pericondrium, the layer directly on top of the cartilage part of the rib. All of that fascia is removed in order to do a complete total capsule removal. So if you can imagine you have like a balloon filled with water, and that's the implant, if you will. And then you have it resting on like a chair, like a leather chair, for example. And that is stuck. You have to remove that leather part of the chair in order to completely safely remove the whole capsule. Because if you try to remove that capsule off of that leather part of the chair, it the the the water is gonna leak out, the implant, the capsule, the whatever, if there's fluid, that white paint, or whatever, it's gonna the internal contents are gonna leak out, right? We do not want that. Now, guess what? Every single day, surgeries are done on kids, right? Uh surgeries are done on adults in a very defined systematic way. Tamitaka is done in a similar fashion, right? Arm lift, thigh lift, and how does it heal? The scars form and the belly then sticks back onto the abdominal muscles, and now the patients are happy and going about their business. In this case, we have to remove the capsule. That is the single most important take-home message for this talk. And in the matter of removing the capsule, the fascia has to go. And you're not losing anything by removing the fascia off of the chest wall because now that heart, that stickiness that you're talking about is going to cause that muscle to stick back back onto the rib cage. And this is exactly what we want, and that is that six-week process that we're talking about. Look, we take here once one day I was operating next door, I see my pediatric plastic surgeon colleague, he's doing a rib harvest on a 10-year-old to basically reconstruct the nose. Rib from that kid, that spare part, if you will, and reconstruct the nose. Done every day, right? Or you take the palmaris longus tendon that's right here, it's a spared part tendon, and we do a tendon reconstruction. The point I'm trying to make here is that it is relatively very safe for the implant and the capsule and that fascia of those respective muscles that I said, and the periosteoparicondum to be removed, and then that stickiness would allow for that muscle to settle. And then when you start working out, you will build on that muscle and you're not going to have any deficit. So if you see now six weeks, you're not going to get a frozen shoulder because you're Moving your arms around and remember people with the rotator cuffed here and they have a frozen, like literally, they're put their arms put in this special uh device such that you're not gonna even move it a centimeter. They bounce back as if they didn't have that three-month restraint, right? So after six weeks, plus minus, the patients bounce back better than ever before. No one has a frozen shoulder. The only patients that have a frozen shoulder issue is that they had it to begin with.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Wow. Well, thank you for answering that because I've always wondered how the what the impact of mobility would be post-surgery, regardless of the type of surgery, just that in particular for breast implants. So thank you for answering that. Well, just with, I guess use the proper disclaimers and talk about individuality, et cetera. But um, what kinds of health issues have you seen resolved post-surgery? What are some of your your favorite stories of women that have been transformed?

SPEAKER_02:

Believe it or not, you you I request each one and every one of your listeners, don't listen to me, listen to my patients themselves. Because this is the magic of Facebook. And I use the word logic because I never believed in Facebook till my patient told me. You hear the patient's stories themselves. Go to Google Images, type in before, after ex-plant, and you will see the patients' own faces, no makeup, before explant and after. You go to my Facebook page, you will see the many patients who have high energy, relief of the dryness of the eyes, migraine relief, heart palpitation relief. Uh, these are patients, the 22-year-old to the 89-year-old patient that have sought relief from the X-Plant. The capsular contractor pain, the ability to basically sit up straight and relief of the fibromyalgia issues, the many symptoms of joint pain, neck-back pain problems, the hallmark features are the rheumatological joint problems, weight loss. Some patients now because they're depressed, they're in bed, they slept eight, 10 hours, and now they slept another two because they were still tired. Now, because their joints are not hurting, they have more energy, they're outside, they're now less depressed, they're working out more, they're losing 37 pounds, 15 pounds, 10 pounds. Their faces are looking more refined and less inflamed. And you see this yourself. You will see the patients, believe it or not, some patients have even called me and said, now I finally got pregnant. There has been reports that it does alter the reproductive system. Clearly, so many of my patients have said they were driving back to Missouri or back home, and they said their cycles have come back, and they were without cycles, their monthly cycles for like years. Not my hopes. I did not make any of this up, right? And that is the beauty of the Facebook. So you hear the patients. This is a movement by the ladies for the ladies, and I'm just enabling this information so that the patients are hearing that there is the relief. And these are patients who have nothing to gain. And I just want to go ahead and, Christian, say this clearly. I have no disclosures, I have no financial commitments with any companies or any Facebook group owners or any person, except for the fact that I want to help the penny patients realize that if they're hurting, that they have this relief that certainly awaits them, if that is what you ultimately need. And this is where going through the single most important thing one needs to do is go to the YouTube page and the Facebook page primarily. Now, Instagram is more like fun, like five second to 20, 30 seconds, one-minute videos. TikTok is more fun, like you know, it's not, it's a very serious topic. If you look at all my videos, they're very serious. I, you know, the the closest I got was that Trump joke, I guess. Uh, but the point I'm trying to make here is that the you have to be, these are patients' real lives.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

You have not only a patient, but the significant other. You have the kids that are hurting, the grandkids that are here seeing it, the jobs that they are not able to perform, the disability that these patients are going on. And remember, this is just history repeating itself. I didn't make any of this up. To be honest, sarcastically, I say, I wish I was putting in implants. You know, life would be so much better. I just want to mention one thing. A true, genuine surgeon who believes that explantation is only explanting and not augmenting, which means that not only me, i.e. the surgeon, but my partner who's sharing the same office space, is also not augmenting. I hear of many surgeons, and believe it or not, one of these surgeons wanted to buy my practice. I just, for the fun of it, said, let's see what he has to offer. He said, in my practice, I have me, myself, the face of the practice, I go out there, show my face that I'm the king, I'm the best, and I'm the this, and I only explain, and I believe in your stories, and I do this, this. Whereas if someone calls and says we want an augmentation, he says automatically we divert the traffic to this other co-u-surgeon that works with them so that we don't want to lose this traffic. And so we capture now people who are genuinely interested in getting an ex-plant, and they see they only want someone who explants, so now we can market myself better, and we have the other surgeon who will take all augmentations. So you have to be very careful in the world that we live in that your surgeon and the practice as a whole that building that structure is not capitalizing on augmentations and certainly also capitalizing on explants, because you cannot go both ways. Uh the earth is not round and the earth is not flat. You have to accept which one it is, and you cannot have it both ways. And your practice, your financial gain cannot come from augmentation, period. Because the moment you do, if I put in one implant, automatically my practice goes down the drain, right? All whatever I send goes down the drain. And likewise, in a similar fashion, you have to, as the patient, you have to be very careful. There are some surgeons who talk, but then send the patient to another surgeon who basically has no idea as to how and what is going on, you know, and the the ultimate way is to have the high definition pictures and videos. And this is what I was alluding to earlier. On the YouTube shorts, you will see high definition videos that I give. Every surgeon should and must have their own Facebook page where his or her previous patients are now freely with direct messaging, private texting, talking and checking and authenticating the surgeon, be it myself, whoever it may be, and this is where ultimately, Christian, this is what it boils down to the surgeon, the personality of the surgeon, the integrity of the surgeon, the belief of the surgeon, and the honesty of the surgeon, because this is a surgery where if you were to get a gallbladder out, small bulb resection or thyroidectomy in California, in Texas, in New York, it's going to be done the same way. When it comes to explantation, you go to 10 different plastic surgeons, you're going to get 10 different answers. And within their practices, you're going to get 10 different ways of doing it. If it's an easy surgery, the surgery is done in the way where they describe in the heart surgery, they cauterize the capsule. Remember, that is not good enough because you leave the badness behind. It has to physically be removed. And in my practice, it takes four hours, plus minus.

SPEAKER_00:

And I can see why so many women are drawn to your particular method. I don't know any doctor that spends that much time with people. And I've got some doctors I really respect. That is a remarkable amount of time and a very admirable level of conviction behind what you do and how you do it. So I'm I'm honored to have you and amplify your message. Uh, I've got a couple other just tactical questions, and then I really want to get just finish up with the emotional end of this with you. So, do you have any particular uh detox protocols you recommend before or after the surgery for people that are going through this process?

SPEAKER_02:

Excellent question, Christian. So the only detox is where the surgeon removes the whole capsule and the implant and all inflamed tissue.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so that's what the part you're doing then. Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

No chelating agent, no product, no demethylating or methylating agent or anything that one needs to buy or invest in in order to detoxify. Because that is pure, utter, trendy, not scientifically proven. If that was the case, these patients who have the hurt should be taking it and be benefiting, right? And so the body in itself takes care of the recovery. The only detox is where the surgeon is removing the whole capsule along with the implant and as one system, as one entity.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Do you have any other adjunct therapies that you recommend post-surgery?

SPEAKER_02:

So post-surgery, I say to my patients, eat smart, eat healthy. You are what you eat, because you want to have the right protein building blocks. That's very important. True for any surgery, right? Number two, you one when the muscle is cut, the pectoralis major, to put the implant underneath the muscle in itself gets compromised because now you're not able to. So if you have like a professional athlete who lifts heavy weights and you cut his muscle, the that same second you cut his muscle, his career is over. If you look at the shoulder right here, it has the anterior, this is the pec major, right? And the whole neck back shoulder comes into play, like a football player, right? This is a very strong muscle, pec major, pectoralis major. You can Google this. You got the pec minor, you got the serratus. This is the anterior muscles. Then you got the muscles, the deltoid that move the arm up, that abiduct the arm away. That's right here, the deltoid. This is the tripod camera that the camera is on, right? So one leg is this anterior, the other one is the deltoid that goes up and down, and then the third one leg, if you will, is the posterior, like which is going backward. So they all work in unison. So if you have to lift something heavy, you have to balance, you have to lift something over your head, they all work in unison. Now, the moment you cut the muscle in the front, all of a sudden there is unopposed posterior movement and lateral. So you destabilize the shoulder because you're cutting this muscle. So now let's say if you have to lift a gallon of milk or something heavy like a backpack, and then you flex your peck, guess what? You're gonna flex your implant. This is in the vast majority of the patients where the implants are below the muscle. Now, once I remove this implant, six weeks go by. I then tell my patient and I direct them, each one individually, you get the two-pound weights and build not only on that pec minor that's underneath, but the pec major, the deltoid serratus, the neck back, shoulder, latissimus, all the muscles of the neck back, and do gentle yoga, and then you build your muscle better than ever before, than when you had the implants. Just the weight of the implants can in itself limit your movement. If someone has a capsular contraction and then this this restricts and limits the arm shoulder movement, that will limit arm movement. The inflammation from the implant in itself can cause these fibromyalgia issues that you were talking about. So, with that gone, you're gonna see the patients only improve. And I start them on this regimen, not through a therapist. Because remember, when you go to the therapist, they tell you, let's do therapy protocol, the Colorado protocol. Like uh, you don't want to follow that protocol. You want to follow the protocol of your sixth sense because if your right implant was ruptured, that's gonna take a little bit longer than the left. You see what I'm saying? And so you follow your internal sixth sense physical therapy, and the best physical therapist is the patient. So you look at the YouTube videos, type in upper neck, back, shoulder exercises a month and a half after, that's three months after the surgery, and as directed by me, you will see you're gonna be better than ever before. So eating is smart and good. This is what you and I should be doing to begin with. And exercising, you will see that alone is required. You don't need any detox protocol, you don't need any three months or two months of whatever special rehab, because that's starting to be blunt, pure, utter garbage. It's don't waste your money, don't waste the sometimes you do not even know what's in it. Believe it or not, one patient had this special detox bottle, and it turned out that she was getting some abdominal pain. Another patient before had high potassium because God only knows what's made in it. It's not regulated by the FDA. You could make it Christian in your backyard or in your garage or in your kitchen and have a nice label and sell it on eBay. And unfortunately, people will buy it, and especially when you put the name MDA behind your name, it sells a lot. Um, believe it or not, one there have been at least five groups that have come to me and they said, We will give you literally, I'm not exaggerating, a lot of fraction of the money that we're gonna make if you just touch our product and you promote it, because all of your patients will end up buying it. And I said, shame on you for coming to me like this. And they said, You will make a lot more money, you're gonna have a nice beach vacation. And I said, I don't need any of that. So this is waste of money and ultimately hurting your body because God only knows where this product is made in, be it the backyard or China or South America. And this is not scientifically proven.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I I know a bit about detox, and I can concur that there is a ton of waste and stuff that just does not work in that world. My next episode is gonna be all about the uh, I guess we could say the shady pharmaceutical world of supplements and all the stuff that goes into them. So that I I'm familiar with what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, yes. No, I will tell you, Christian, you know, just what we have talked about, if you put that on dateline or you know, 60 minutes, I promise you you're gonna be the best investigative reporter that they would have seen in a while. Because not my story. The story of the manufacturers, the uh and I warn you, you know, this may be a first of three-part series. Next time, if you want, bring your audience and have them ask me questions because I will be more than happy to answer any of those questions that any of your listeners, viewers might have. And you can certainly create a big movement because, you know, this is not going anywhere. No one's gonna shut this industry, uh, meaning this X-plant world uh down. And if anything, this industry will certainly, and it's feeling the hurt, by the way, because the patients are realizing, you know, at the end of the day, the truth will always prevail.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, we're gonna need plastic surgeons for burns and glass pallets and so many things, but we don't need to be poisoning and harming people. And to just have that the people redirect their energy to something helpful would be a great change. So all right. Well, what let's shift gears a little bit. One last topic I want to ask you about because I don't know anybody better to ask this. I've I remember hearing Dr. Yoho, who, as you know, did a lot of plastic surgery as well. He I'm kind of paraphrasing here, but he more or less said what he realized over the years doing all these plastic surgeries was that a lot of people and our patients would were kind of just almost trying to overcompensate for an emotional issue or an identity issue, and they somehow perceived that they would view themselves differently or they would improve their standing with other people's if they had a plastic surgery. So I guess to the extent that this is in your wheelhouse, talk about what's potentially a heart issue that drives women to be interested in implants in the first place. And where might a plastic surgeon or plastic surgery be kind of more of a way of addressing an emotional symptom rather than getting to the heart issue that plastic surgery would never be able to fix.

SPEAKER_02:

See, this is a very good point. It comes, you know, uh let me go ahead and go. This is a very, very nice question. And let me answer it in a very kind of defined way, but like a very systematic way. One of my own nurses, a long time ago, who's done a lot of explants, she herself got implants, and she has removed a lot of my implants ruptured, patients in pain. And the driving force was her significant other fiance who said, I want you and I'll pay for it. Right. Another patient who said, I want to get an explant. I said, Why are you coming to me now? Because you knew about this rupture from this MRI. She said, My husband is dead now, I can make my own decisions. Now, these are hard facts, right? Another patient, because remember, uh, the patient who wants to be hurting, right? Okay, now another patient came to me and she said, I just want him out like now. And I said, You lived through the Dow ban 1992. You could got in the out, and Dow Corning was gonna pay this. Was a class action lawsuit. She said, I actually did a waiver. I said, I love them so much, but now I'm in pain. Now, I will tell you how many times I I, you know, this is real life situations, right? I talked to a friend of mine who got a nice big fancy car. A month and a half later, he said, you know what, this was the biggest mistake of my life that I got this. Now, getting an implant, getting a car, or having voting for someone and having voters remorse, right? We go through, and this is what life is, right? Now, going back to this question where number one, the system is telling you it's safe and you deserve the best, and you need to get implants because it's going to hand enhance your physical profile as you get older past kids, right? So the message here is here you are. Now remember, big picture, plastic surgery. I go to the card. If someone goes to the cardiologist, they're having a heart attack or they're having arrhythmias or palpitations. Someone goes to the rheumatologist, they're having joint problems. Someone is a goes to the pediatric, pediatrician, they're having like sore throat or got no shots that they're gonna get or you know, abdominal pain. Someone goes to the allergy immunologist having allergy immune problems, right? Whatever it may be, kidney, kidney problem. When someone goes to the plastic surgeon, they're like excellent shape and health, meaning they're like, they're now going, and something's gonna be done, be it a facelift, that's gonna supposedly enhance their emotional state of, hey, I can go now and I'm gonna look younger and I'm gonna look better, I'm not gonna get as many wrinkles, uh, or I'm gonna be more presentable. Or now I worked so hard my whole life, now I'm gonna do something for myself. Like this is what the patient she went to Korea and she got her implant and she said, uh, my kids are in college, now I said I want to do something. The bottom line here is it's okay and healthy to do, but the whole goal here is do no harm. So, number one, the system tells you that they are safe, right? If a 25-year-old college kid uh who just graduated from a PhD school, or a 22-year-old college kid who graduates, or 35-year-old young mom who's had kids now, 40-year-old who wants to have implants, they go into the doctor's office and they say, This is excellent, you're making the right decision. We actually have a cancellation, we'll put you on next week, and you deserve the best. And there is no highlight of the risks. Now, remember, this is a Western phenomenon, too. Meaning, if you look at implants in the rest of the world, the U.S. by far has the maximum number of implants that as any country has 400,000 plus-minus. That's how many people get implants in the United States. This is an affluent factor as well, because people in the U.S. have a lot more money than any part of the world. Now, going back to the point where in the world that you see, where you have style, you have young, you have shows, you have Hollywood, you have the stars, you have the Cosmopolitan magazine that's showing there is a certain expectation that one has, how they want to look and how and what. Now remember, this is the whole take-home message. Informed consent. Those two big heavy words that you used very early on in this. The bottom line here is you need to, as a consumer, know what you're signing up for, what your expectations are, what your realizations are. If you know that you are gonna get something that you're gonna be able to track and follow, and you want to, I say go for it. But my point here is as a physician, don't do something that's ultimately only gonna harm you, which is consistent with that black box warning. Life, they're not lifetime devices. They might be associated with lymphoma and all those other problems that are in. Yes, someone might have a I don't want to use the word self-esteem, but these are the exact words that my patients mention. Or I'm concerned about my looks. Now I will tell you, I'm concerned about how I look too. Now I will tell you, it would have been better, Trishan, had I shaved. Because you know what? I want to look better.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for bringing that up. I've been meaning to tell you about that.

SPEAKER_02:

It would have been better. Remember, I moved about five minutes because I said I want to have a good background, right? I don't want to have a big background, right? I I want to look good too. I will tell you, I will never get a facelift in my life. And I can tell you, I can tell ten of my friends, and they will say, just get on the plane and they'll cover for everything. They'll say, Don't pay us anything because they'll they're my close friends, right? I will never gray, my gray hair, I will never die them because you know what? I like to be natural, organic, and this is who I am, right? Now, this is my take, my philosophy, my personality. Do no harm because I don't want to get those godmoths from those dyes, something. But I don't want to change who I am. I want to get as many wrinkles as I want. Now, if I get wrinkles where I'm going to get lateral hooding and shading, I'm going to get a blaphroplass because I want to be able to see it. And that's what insurance covers. The point here is we live in the world of Instagram and you have images and you see yourself on so many millions of pictures on Facebook and YouTube. Oh, oh, I could look better. You know, look at this other young person. And we it is normal and human, right? It is natural. I got these new frames, and I say, you know what? I could do better, but I say, you know what? It's go, it gets the job done, and I'm okay. Yeah, I'm not too excited about it. You know, I could have been a lot picky. But, you know, let me give you an example. I I got my eyes tested in March, and I needed to get the frames done, and now just Monday, they called me and said your glasses are ready. Because so for me, it was not a big deal. Now, for someone, it's a big deal. Time and money. The overall point, and this is a deep, heavy question, you want to do whatever you want, but you need to know what you're signing up for so that if you do get it, you need a face peel. You want to know what the risks are. If you want to get implants, you don't want, and you deserve the best, you want the best, you have earned it. You reward yourself, but reward yourself with something that your mind tells you absolutely don't do it. And your heart tells you, absolutely don't do it. Because you know what? If you just listen to all what this said and what the FDA said, and what the patients are saying, and what I am saying, kind of putting it all together, the message is a big fat. No, don't take the chance, it's not worth it. Because sooner or later later, a Russian roulette or the musical cheers, your time will be up, and you'll be caught by surprise, and you don't want to feel the hurt.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, thank you for that. So um, how how can a woman's partner best support her through a process like this? What would you say would be something that would be meaningful that you may have seen?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so I will say just listen to the many other patients who have had implants so you can see what the risk versus benefit because what could be a better example than other patients who have been hurt? Ultimately sooner or later, they will be hurt, right? Uh, and because now there are a lot of patients, for example, who live happily. There are supposedly 35 million people on earth who have implants. Now, there are a million who have and who will say that this is the best thing that has ever happened to them and good for them. And I want them to enjoy. But God forbid that rupture occurs, God forbid the capsular contraction occurs, God forbid they got this fluid around their implant, God forbid they got pain or malposition and all those symptoms that I read. Um, and you need to know that you have to scream them, you need to know that you have relief available. Sometimes you see, well, uh you know, you you and if I just may mention, and again, I do not know if this is a good analogy, but you'll get it. You're gonna get a high-rise condominium uh in Tampa, you need to know you're gonna get a hurricane maybe next year or 10 years, or the biggest one maybe 25 years from now. God knows, hopefully never, right? But the time is gonna come, right? Do you want to be in this uncertainty? Because there are patients of mine that I talked to who removed the implant within 10 weeks. I talked to one patient uh almost four weeks ago who was in that situation, that patient from Korea. She got implants three months ago and she said, I want him outright tomorrow. And she's gonna come her way. Because she said, I don't like this, uh, I don't like how I look. I don't like how it's sitting on my. I said, You might be, I believe it or not, I told her this. I said you might be going through more, so don't make a quick decision, sit on it. Maybe you might see in three months this is the best thing you did. So I told her this, you know, genuinely, I said, don't rush into a judgment. So let it sit. Maybe you're kind of doing so much social media, but let it sit. And maybe this might be something. Now, this is where I don't want to cause fear in her. I want her to get that. I told her, listen, go to see my Facebook live and what I read about the lymph nodes being laden with uh silica, right? That's now that's real, right? That's I didn't make that up. That heavy metals that's leaching into the so she got the message. I told her if I were her, I would take him out tonight, you know. But she's gonna make the decision, and I told her all the options so she herself has that freedom to decide. And so the patients themselves, one patient I talked to, if I may, and this is gonna kind of these examples help patients, because I talked to my patients. One patient got 47 years of age, had a ruptured left breast implant on an MRI. She sought me out, phone consultation out of state from the Carolinas, and she said, What should I do? I said, It's a no-brainer. If you have a ruptured implant, you need to take it out. That's why they wanted to get an MRI, that's why they're screening, and we don't want this to kind of go into the periphery. She said, I went to a local surgeon, and my local surgeon said, he's board certified too, that your exam's unremarkable. So what you have a ruptured MRI that show uh ruptured implant on an MRI, you're gonna be okay because it's not truly broken, live heavily ever after or till a problem. I say that's wrong, right? Now, these are two different messages. And the point here is, and the going back to the question that you asked, you as a consumer, as a patient, as a human being, make the decision on your own, and you learn from the hard objective facts that are really out there, that really define for you what is it that is reality, what is going to likely happen, and the preparation for what is gonna be the obvious. Sooner or later, maybe never. Maybe someone might die from a heart attack and they never got to see the ruptured implant. Remember, they're not lifetime devices. So, on average, let's say if you look at the the patients, they're happy, right? But this is where if you're signing up for something that will give you that esteem that you're looking for, but at the same time, you're looking for physiologic recovery. Um, I will end with this one thought that the patient said, I don't care about how I look, I just want to feel better. That tells you a lot. And I said, No, I'm gonna make sure that you're gonna look the best I can make you look given your circumstances, such that you get the symmetry that I'm gonna aesthetically achieve that balance you're looking for, minus removal of the implants. If God made you to be a cup A before surgery, you're gonna end up being a cup A because that's what God intended you to be. You cannot be uh back to where you were. Uh, the point being you have to I use the word accept that this is your baseline given your genetics from mom and dad. So there's a lot of emotional slash um uh input that one will have. I Think I will summarize it best with this example, Christian, because I think all these examples kind of help formulate the thought as to what you need to do. There was two patients I can think of. One had melanoma of the thumb, cancer, the worst cancer one can have melanoma, skin cancer. The textbook says amputated the joint before, because that way you don't want a recurrence. I will tell you that you know, if I was the patient, and we know what the patient said, can you go a little bit before so cut more of it out? There is less of a chance. Another patient had necrotide. No, and this is because there was spread. And this is where it was closer to the joint at the base of the nail. And he said, maybe do you think if you went a little bit more proximal, there will be less of a chance for it to spread? Because the textbook says if it's more than two millimeters depth, you have to go two centimeters or the joint. Now remember, melanoma is a different issue. You have to look at many factors. Um that, but ultimately the the depth and satellite lesions, whatnot else. These are the patients' own words. If one of the patients that I took care of myself had necrotizing soft tissue infection of the leg. And believe it or not, that nice young gentleman, 27 years of age, ended up losing his leg, and he was smiling the next day. And he said, Doc, you saved my life. The point I'm trying to make here is if someone got a mastectomy because of breast cancer, and I will never know, neither will you, Christian, what it is to have breast tissue, right? Right. And what it is, but this is where do no harm, right? Do no harm. Many patients have told me that the trauma of going through the cancer and the chemo and the radiation was one, but the trauma of having to go through the multiple reconstructions over 10, 12, 14 years was much worse and prolonged misery. And for them, they don't even remember the cancer part, they remember all these. And then remember, this is where you, as the patient, you have to do your homework, your research. Look at all these examples. These are real life examples. My goal and your goal, Christian, and anyone who's listening is the same. And I'll end with this your goal, Christian, and my goal is the same. To live to 120 without a trip to the doctor.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. A future free of doctor visits sounds wonderful.

SPEAKER_02:

I would say healthy, no medications, no visit to the ER, no visit to the doctor. I'll tell you, I'll I will do anything for that to be a reality because I know I know as we all get older, we got problems, right? That is do no harm. And that's what the oath I took. That's what the studying and all the hundred hours per week that I did for 20 years that I still do to an extent 80, 100 hours a week, maybe more. The bottom line here is do no harm, keep the smiles. So when I got 10 wrinkles on my face, Christian, I haven't good.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. Very good. All right. Well, last question. So I guess if you could just give one message of hope to uh a woman perhaps suffering with breast implant illness, who's probably felt unheard or dismissed, or maybe even been gaslit by the medical profession and told that's not really real. It's just in your head. What would you say to encourage a woman in that situation?

SPEAKER_02:

Joy talk to your fellow friend, fellow sister, fellow neighbor who's gone through this, who's going through this, talk to your husband who is the best support you're gonna have, talk to your significant other, talk to your daughter, talk to your neighbor, best friend, talk to whoever. It really helps mentally that you know there's relief out there. How many patients have I talked to, Christian, on the phone? And they said, just talking to you made my day, and now I have a target, I have relief, I have a diagnosis, I mean I have the symptom relief that I'm looking for, like this one patient from India. You should have seen how excited and how happy she was once she found out that, and she said 120%, right? Yeah. Now she knew from and I'll tell you, if you look at her pattern, it was like the perfect rubber stamp, you know, with the name change. So talk to someone, read on the YouTube, talk and connect with the Facebook next member who has gone through, who's heard him, whose only interest is to help you teach and educate so that you know deep down within, you know, the relief is there, resolution of the symptoms are there that they're awaiting you, right? 90% statistically. There's the Utah plastic group of surgeons that said they remove implants, 90% of their patients got better. Dr. Metzinger out of Louisiana, who did uh 110 patients, 90% of his patients got better. This is what they're talking about, right? The black box warning, complete resolution means cure, right? Now, not in all patients, but at least we're giving it the best shot. And done in a very thoughtful, systematic way because the whole capsule implant and all what is removed, number one, is tested.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, well done. Okay, well, I got what I love about what you said is there's hope in there. And it's that is really good fuel for the heart. And it's finding other people who've maybe a few steps ahead of you on the process who can give you some perspective and lessons from the road and partners who can support you and empathize and really wrestle with who you are and what it means to be human, and that maybe you're you're good enough the way you are, the way God made you, and and to lean into that and not try to paper over or plastic surgery over heart issues with surgeries you maybe not maybe didn't need in the first place. It's it's um it's a fun paradigm to explore. And thank you for taking the time to explore it with me today. So um tell people where they can go to find you or any other last words you have, what kind of anything else about your online support and and so on.

SPEAKER_02:

Please go to Executive Plastic Surgeon or Executive Plastics Surgery.com. That's my website. Over there, you will see the YouTube channel, the Con Plastic Surgery Academy. You will also see the Facebook Private Breast Implant Illness Support Group page. Talk to the you talk to the other patients, go to the Instagram, TikTok. You have go to my uh YouTube live, YouTube shorts, YouTube videos, go to my Facebook page, see what the patients are seeing, learn from the patients. The best advocates are the patients. And certainly your surgeon who from his or her heart cares and is genuinely interested in providing you the relief that you need, and who's transparent, who really has had that, you know, uh that social media uh attestation. Because remember, you're talking to me, all my patients are talking, and they are all talking about it that validates, that authenticates, and that spreads the good word that you know what is the relief, what is the process? Knowledge is power, that knowledge is that uh that support, that excitement that you know that you're not crazy. Believe it or not, I will say this, Christian. One of my friends said, I am crazy and my patients are crazy, and that I share. And I said, Thank you very much. Uh my good friend that you told me that. And so, you know, as you will see, the many patients who have that anxiety, depression, panic attacks, or like this patient from India who was referred to as psychiatrist because they thought that she was trying to malingering or trying to take advantage, or believe it or not, the many patients uh who have reached out to me and they said their surgeon said that I was fear-mongering. Uh, you know, I was uh, you know, the the this was uh not the case, but you know what? The the truth is gonna rise. Uh and I tell this if I was fear-mongering, I should be uh not doing that because uh I should be augmenting. And augmentation takes one hour, whereas explantation takes four hours, not only financially, but physically to do the surgery. It is tough. It is it is an invasive surgery. That in itself will be relief. So any surgeon who's only explanting, that word fear-mongering would not be used. But this is what unfortunately the world we live in, everyone's trying to dismiss you, including myself. So I want my patients to know that you're not in this alone. Uh, that, you know, the the the relief is there. And if you put the two into together, you will have that. And I used my patient again, that 120% diagnosis that this is what it is.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, right on. All right. Well, I'll have links for everybody in the show notes where they can find you and your work. And uh from the bottom of my heart, thank you for what you do. Thank you for the extended time. I know you just came from a surgery, so I know you are a busy guy with a lot going on, but the fact that you would spend the time to get this word out and do it so thoughtfully and methodically says a lot about who you are. So thank you so much for coming on the show today. And I'll have to have you back in the future.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, my pleasure, Christian. I say this to you and anyone who's listening who has this platform, whoever it is, like Dr. Yoho, wonderful man, good doc, uh, good heart, good heart. And he seems to spread good. Um, you know, the uh I want you if you want to interview me, I'm more than happy. And Christian, if you ever want me to answer any of your questions again, I'll be more than happy to come on. A pleasure. I I I admire that you not many people know about this, especially the men that you went and did your homework, did your research. You were well read on this uh breast implant analyst. So you asked very good questions. It was a pleasure to discuss what is a very important topic that I will tell you because of your words, you're gonna touch literally, I will say, hundreds of thousands of lives, because it's not only the patient, but the patients, uh, the friends, the relatives, like we were talking about, that you're gonna touch. So good, good job there.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, thank you very much. I appreciate the kudos. I do put a lot of thought into them. So we'll talk to you again soon. Thank you so much.

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Christian Elliot

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