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Silicone Breast Implants

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Silicone Breast Implants

When people inquire about the particular details of breast augmentation surgery they are immediately faced with one of the most important decisions that a breast augmentation patient has to make. This relates to the filler material that is used within a breast implant. During breast augmentation surgery, a plastic surgeon is able to enhance the size and shape of the patient's breast tissue through the use of breast implants. Until recently, the most popular filler material used in breast implants was silicone. Silicone is a family of chemical compounds that are derived from silicon, an abundant element that is found in the earth's crust. Silicone is commonly found in a variety of consumer products and was first used in breast implants in the early 1960s. At that time, the plastic surgeons Cronin and Gerow drastically increased the standard of breast implant safety and effectiveness when they developed silicon breast implants. These early breakthroughs were almost immediately used for commercial purposes and by 1962 silicone breast implants were available.

Silicone implants

Silicone is a primary component found in breast implants. Breast implants contain a silicone shell that contains a filler material, which provides the implant its size and shape. In silicone breast implants, that filler material is silicone and this type of implant is still considered the one that provides the most natural look and feel.

However, silicone breast implants became unavailable to the general public following a ruling in 1992 by the Federal and Drug Administration (FDA) that prohibited its approval as a consumer product. The reason why silicone breast implants were prohibited is based on inconclusive claims. Concerns have been raised that the silicone gel found in the filler material of silicone breast implants may create a variety of diseases if it were to circulate to other parts of the body. Although breast implants generally tend to be stable, there are instances where rupture and gel bleed can occur. Although the FDA were unable to find conclusive evidence supporting these claims, they were also unable to obtain evidence that refuted these charges. For the sake of safety, the FDA imposed a moratorium on silicone gel breasts, as it gathers more information that would provide a conclusion one way or another about the effects of silicone breast implants on the human body if it were to break.

Risks associated with silicone implants

Although the FDA did not find any conclusive evidence that silicone breast implants led to higher occurrences of such illnesses as connective tissue disease, immunological disorders, neurological disorders, increased risk of cancer, and capsular contracture; they also did not find enough evidence to prove that silicone breast implants did not cause a higher incidence of these illnesses.

Even though it is impossible to obtain silicon breast implants in the marketplace, there are still ways that an individual is able to undergo breast augmentation surgery that uses silicone breast implants. To cooperate with the FDA's mandate of obtaining information regarding the effects of silicone breast implants, some companies have set up studies to investigate the effect of silicone. Additionally, it is possible to obtain silicone breast implants for health reasons such as:

  • You are a mastectomy patient that is undergoing reconstructive surgery.
  • You are undergoing a revision surgery due to complications caused by saline breast implants.
  • You are having a mastopexy (breast lift) performed simultaneously with a breast augmentation surgery.
  • You are currently afflicted with a chest wall deformity (ie. pectus excavatum, pectus carinatum, or scoliosis).
  • You have lost a breast due to your history of treatment for breast cancer.
  • You are in need of treatment to solve severe asymmetries of the breast.

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