One of the breast implants of a woman in the US was 'swallowed' by her body when she was exercising.
One of the breast implants of a woman in the US was 'swallowed' by her body when she was exercising.u00a0The 59-year-old cancer survivor was doing a Pilates stretching exercise known as a Valsalva maneuver when she reported that her 'body swallowed one of the implants'.
She attended Baltimore's John Hopkins hospital but did not report any pain. Surgeons retrieved the implant and placed it back where it had been.u00a0Cosmetic surgeon Dr Anthony Youn, who did not treat the woman, called the accident a 'freak occurrence'.
"What likely happened in this instance is that the breast implant was placed under the chest muscle and on top of the ribs, an extremely common practice in breast reconstruction," the Herald Sun quoted Youn as telling MSNBC.
"When the patient Valsalva'd, the pectoralis [chest] muscle likely contracted and pushed the implant through the space between her ribs," he said.u00a0"The weakened scar tissue was easily torn, and the strength of the pectoralis muscle pushed the implant deep into her chest," he added.u00a0The woman's account was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.