What are Saline Breast Implants made off? Saline Breast Implants that are manufactured by Mentor or Inamed/ Allergan Corporations are made of a Silicone shell Prosthesis which is filled with sterile saline (salt water) solution by a plastic surgeon after insertion into the breast.
What is the difference between smooth and textured breast implants? Textured breast implants are made from the same material as smooth implants, with the exception that they have a rough surface texture. Scientific studies in the plastic surgery medical literature have demonstrated that textured implants are less prone to form heavy capsules or to get hard. The disadvantage of textured implants is that they might be more palpable and may cause more rippling (wrinkles), which means that you might be able to feel and see the boundaries and irregularities of a textured implant more than that of a smooth implant. Because submuscular placement of implants reduces the risk of capsular contracture of smooth implants to nearly that of the textured implants, I often use smooth implants in the submuscular pocket in order to minimize the risks of capsular contraction as well as rippling. In patients that have had a history of capsular contracture, I would instead use textured implant in the submuscular pocket.
What is the real difference between round and "teardrop" or "anatomic" implants? Anatomic implants are usually narrower and longer. Their projection peaks not at the center of the implant, but towards the bottom of the implant. Esthetically speaking, a woman who has had children, breast feed, and has lost breast fullness in the superior aspect of her breasts would benefit from a round implant that compensates for this loss of fullness superiorly. On the other hand, a very thin woman who does not have sagging breasts will have less superior breast fullness with a teardrop implant. In addition, anatomic implants are more challenging to place, and run the risk of turning onto their sides which will make one of your breast look like a horizontal loaf of bread. MRI Radiographic comparisons of round and teardrop implants in women that are standing do not demonstrate any significant difference between their shape and appearances.
Who would benefit most from High Profile Breast Implants? The standard breast implants are round and have low to moderate profile. Women who want to have very large and protruding breasts, but have small and narrow chests would benefit from high profile implants that have relatively small diameter but a much higher profile that standard implants. In certain types of cases, when breast augmentation is combined with breast lift or reconstruction, high profile implants might also be of advantage.
What happens if a Saline Breast Implant Ruptures, leaks, or Deflate? Unlike a Silicone Breast implant, the content of a Saline Breast Implant is only Saline or Salt water. Unlike Silicone implants, leakage of saline implants results in a relatively rapid and noticeable reduction in the breast size. Therefore, it is easy to know that your saline implant has ruptured. The released Saline is harmless and is excreted from your body through urine. On the other hand leaked Silicone accumulates in the breast tissue, without any noticeable change in the breast size, which makes its difficult to detect leakage.
Do Breasts Implants come with a warranty? Both Saline and Silicone breasts implants that are manufactured in the United States come with a warranty. Mentor Breast Implants have a standard 5 year warranty, with an additional 5 year purchasable option. Allergan breast implants come with a standard 10 year warranty which covers the implant and pays $1,200 towards the surgery cost.
Is it better to have the implant placed under or over the muscle? Numerous national studies have pointed the benefits of submuscular placement of breast implants with respect to lower rate of capsular contracture, rippling, and sagging. Some plastic surgeon do prefer subglandular breast implant placement because the implants settles faster and therefore reaches its natural shape sooner.
What activities can possibly cause breast implants to rupture? Saline breast implants are designed not to rupture under much force, trauma, or with squeezing. I have had patients that were kick boxers, gymnasts, athletes, and bodybuilders. None of these women ever experienced implant deflation. Saline breast implant deflation is not caused by direct force or squeezing, but rather by the formation of small cracks in the implant wall that occur at the site of wrinkles in the implant wall. To minimize this manufactures direct plastic surgeon to "over-inflate" saline breast implants. Squeezing of the breast during Mammography does not either harm breast implants. Placement of the implants via a trans-umbilical approach (TUBA) can also potentially harm the implant. Finally, closed capsulotomy, a maneuver that is designed to break the breast implant capsules, can also weaken the implant wall. Because of this the American Society of Plastic Surgery advices against closed capsulotomy by plastic surgeons.
What are the most common reasons for breast implant removal or exchange? The most common reason for breast augmentation revision or exchange of breast implants (37%) is dissatisfaction with breast size! And in almost all cases women want to go bigger!! In order to avoid this expensive misfortune, I usually have my patients try on breast implants several times before breast augmentation in order to get a realistic idea of how the implant is going to look on them. The second most prevalent reason for implant removal/ exchange is implant leakage, and the third is capsular contracture or hardening of the implants. Although there is statistical prevalence for all these complications, there are steps that each plastic surgeon can take to help minimize them.
What are the Potential Risks & Complications of Breast Augmentation with Saline Breast Implants? Every surgery carries potential risks and complications. Although the rate of these complications is usually very low, never the less, they can happen. These are the potential risks and complications for breast augmentation with Saline Breast implants: Infection, Hematoma, Seroma, chronic pain, scarring, capsular contracture, skin wrinkling or rippling, alteration or loss of nipple sensation, implant displacement and tissue stretching, asymmetry, Symastia, bottoming out of breasts, implant rupture, implant extrusion or tissue necrosis, damage to deeper structures, inability to breast feed, change in ability to detect breast masses on Mammogram, and delayed wound healing.
Are small breast implants safer than large one? Although there is no difference between the complication rates of small and large implants, in general there are more complications associated with very large breast implants. For instance, very large implants tend to stretch the breast skin and sag more, thus increasing the need for future breast lift procedures. Because they tend to stretch and thin out the breast skin, breast implant ripples or irregularities become more visible. Finally, they have a slightly higher chance of becoming displaced over time. Therefore, what should you do, considering that the most common reason for women's dissatisfaction after breast augmentation is having had gone too small? I recommend that you try on the implants and to choose the implant that looks proportionate with the rest of your body. Furthermore, if you have extensive breast sagging and poor skin elasticity, avoid going too large.
How small or how big of an implant can I get? You can have a saline filled breast implant as little as 120 cc or as big as 850 ccs. If you are flat the 120 cc implant would make you a size A, and the 850cc implant would make you DD. The size of the breast implant is not the only determining factor in your bra size. Obviously, it also depends on the size of your existing breast tissue. As the size of breast implants increase, their width increase relatively faster than their projection. Therefore, the larger the implant size you choose, the wider the breast implants get. While larger or wider implants create a strong cleave there is a limit on how large of an implant can fit on your chest. Your plastic surgeon with make chest wall measurement and will usually recommend a range of breast implant sizes that you can choose from. In my practice, I have the patients also try on different size breast implants in order to see how it looks on their figure.