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Know the rules

The NHS, your implants, and going private

Learn the rules before you spend months discovering them: what the NHS will and won't do about implant problems, and what the private routes really cost.

Cosmetic complications — contracture, malposition, rippling, size

NHS: not funded, whatever the discomfort — commissioning policy treats it as private. Private: the only realistic route; the question is where and with whom.

Confirmed rupture with clinical problems

NHS: removal may be funded after imaging and referral — typically removal only, no replacement, with long waits. Private: removal and replacement in one planned operation.

PIP implants

NHS: committed to removal (not replacement) where original clinics wouldn't help. Private: exchange to modern implants in one stage — the route most women who act choose.

Emergencies — acute infection, bleeding

NHS: treated as any emergency, always. Private/abroad: honest clinics tell you plainly: emergencies at home go to A&E, and your documentation from here makes that safer.

The practical conclusion

If your problem is cosmetic-functional, the NHS chapter is short. The real decision is UK private (commonly £8,000–£15,000+) versus a verified specialist in Istanbul (typically 50–70% less, all-inclusive, ~4 hours away). Both are legitimate; only one leaves the difference in your account. Either way — start with a named diagnosis, which costs nothing here.

Skip the six-month 'no'

Get the diagnosis and both sets of numbers first — then decide with the facts in hand.

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