Author: Dr Barry Eppley
Since silicone gel breast implants have been released back
for commercial use in late 2006, nearly 15 years after they
were initially pulled from the market, they have rapidly
become the breast implant chosen by most women for their
breast augmentation.
I have seen many women come in for breast augmentation
consults that are initially dead set against silicone
breast implants and want saline implants, only to change
their minds once they have accurate information. In talking
to patients over the past two years, here are some of the
most common myths surrounding silicone gel breast implants.
1) SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS CAN CAUSE HEALTH PROBLEMS AND
MAKE ME SICK. The extensive human data that has been
analysed on hundreds of thouands of women who have had
silicone breast implants has failed to ever make the link
to any form of autoimmune disease. This potential cause and
effect has been thoroughly evaluated and been dispelled. It
is the primary reason that silicone breast implants were
allowed back on the market by the FDA. Silicone breast
implants are one of the most extensively studied medical
devices in the history of mankind. Yes it is true that
there have been a very small number of women with silicone
breast implants that developed autoimmune diseases but the
actual rate of this occurrence is no greater than that of
women who have never had breast implants. Autoimmune
diseases occur in much higher numbers in women and occur
mostly in the age ranges where breast augmentation surgery
is likely to be performed.(ages 20 -45) So it would not be
unexpected that the two will occasionally occur in the same
patient. But silicone breast implants do NOT cause
autoimmune diseases.
2) SILCONE BREAST IMPLANTS MAKE LEAK OUT AND SPREAD
THROUGHOUT MY BODY. Today's silicone gel implants are much
more like jello than any liquid. The silicone particles are
gelled together so that they move as sticky mass, not
flowing like a liquid. As a result, if the implant suffered
a large tear, the mass of silicone simply sits there. If
you squeeze on a silicone implant that has been cut with
scissors, you will see that it comes bulging out of the
tear only to be retracted back into the implant when the
pressure is removed. Checmiaclly, we all have silicone
particles throughout our bodies in microscopic amounts due
to a lifetime of exposure to that element. But women with
silicone breast implants today have not been shown to have
substantially higher levels than those who don't have
implants.
3) SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS BECOME HARD OVER TIME. The
phenomenon of 'hardening of a breast implant' is known as
capsular contracture. It is really the natural scar tissue
around the implant which, for reasons not completely
understood, may start to thicken and get hard over time. In
days gone by with old-style silicone implants, which were
placed above the chest muscle, capsular contracture was
common. The reasons were that small amounts of silicone
leaked (known as implant 'bleed') through the implant
lining and the body reacted by forming more scar tissue. In
today's breast augmentation surgery, the combination of
newer silicone implants which have very negligible amounts
of bleeding and the implant being typically placed under
the muscle, have reduced the lifelong risk of capsular
contracture significantly. While that risk always exists,
and it is higher when placed above the chest muscle, the
occurrence of capsular contracture is not common.
About the Author:
Dr Barry Eppley, board-certified plastic surgeon of
Indianapolis, operates a private practice at Clarian North
and West Medical Centers in suburban Indianapolis. He
writes a daily blogs on topics and trends in plastic
surgery at http://www.
