If you’re considering breast augmentation as a way to change how you look and feel, silicone implants are a great choice. Choosing a practice that specializes in silicone implants will ensure that your procedure will be performed with care and expertise. But there are important facts to be aware of before committing to the procedure.
There are some definite advantages to choosing silicone implants. Silicone implants are widely recognized to have a more natural look and feel than saline implants, which can cause ripples in the skin. Silicone implants also weigh less than their saline counterparts, which displace downward over time because they are heavier, making silicone ideal for larger implants. Silicone does require a larger incision because the implant is already pre-filled by the manufacturer, rather than being filled after placement like saline implants. This makes it important to choose size carefully because any subsequent surgeries will potentially be more complicated and invasive.
While augmentation with saline implants can be performed on patients as young as eighteen years old, patients must be at least twenty-two to get silicone implants. This is due to the larger incision and more complicated surgical processes involved with removal or changing sizes, again because silicone implants are pre-filled and require a larger surgical incision. Your body type is also important to consider. For thin women with modest amounts of breast tissue, the cosmetic benefits of silicone breast implants can clearly outweigh the more complicated procedure. Larger body types may prefer saline implants, unless the preferred implant size will be large enough that a saline implant may be heavy enough to displace.
Any breast implant will require increased attention to breast health. Women with silicone implants are advised to get one MRI three years after their initial procedure, then one MRI every two years after that. This is to check more thoroughly for breast cancer, but it is also a means to check for possible ruptures of the implant. To detect rupture, ultrasound is also an effective option for more budget-conscious women.
When a saline implant ruptures, it is very obvious because the implant will visibly deflate. A rupture is less obvious for silicone implants because only a small amount of the cohesive substance leaks, meaning that there is no visible change in breast size or shape. This can be helpful if you don’t want a noticeable breast change in the event of a rupture — it may take a couple of weeks to get it repaired, but nobody will be able to tell during that time. Only a tiny amount of silicone leaks from the implant, which usually gets trapped in the capsule around the implant. Studies have not proven any adverse health effects from the small amounts of leaked silicone during an implant rupture.
By Mark Kanter
Dr. Mark J. Kanter is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Hampton, VA. If you live in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia and you are contemplating breast augmentation, visit www.kanterplasticsurgery.com or call (757) 827-8486 to learn more about our practice and procedures today!