Saline And Silicone Breast Implant Options

There have been varying viewpoints throughout the years about the best kind of implant to use for Breast Augmentation, and health controversies about one kind of implant that dominated news reports in the 1990's.

Many women who were interested in having fuller breasts were fearful to do so because of these reports. The following describes the different kinds of implants that are available, and addresses some of the concerns regarding differences between breast implant fill material, shape, surface texture, size, manufacture, and use of implants.

Breast Implant Fill Material:
Although all breast implants do have a solid silicone shell (bag), they are filled with different substances such as: saline and silicone.

Saline Breast Implant
While there are a number of implants available for Breast Augmentation, currently the most commonly used is the saline breast implant.

The saline implant has an exterior sack made of solid silicone, which is filled with a sterile saline solution like the salt-water solution that is administered for intravenous fluids. One of the advantages of this solution is its safety. Should the implant for some reason leak, the saline just gets absorbed by your body, as would the intravenous fluids used during, and after surgery. Yet another advantage of the saline implants is a very low infection rate, which is usually less than one to two percent.

Another advantage of the saline implant is that it is filled with fluid after being inserted in the breast, therefore requiring only a small incision. This is in contrast to silicone implants which are pre-filled. Also, because saline implants are filled after insertion, their final volume can be adjusted making it easier to correct for existing breast asymmetry.

Widespread media reports that saline-filled implants can contract fungal contamination were discredited when it was learned that the Canadian laboratory that released this finding relied heavily on implants that had been mailed. As such, there was no guarantee of sterility in the transport of these implants.

There are two main disadvantages of saline breast implants, when compared to those filled with silicone. Because of the liquid nature of saline, saline filled implants tend to have a higher incidence of rippling. Although rippling occurs in all saline implants, filling them according to the manufacturers recommendations, submuscular placement of implants, and the existence of thicker breast skin and tissue minimizes a persons ability to see or feel rippling of saline implants. Because silicone gel has a thicker consistency, it tends to ripple much less, but sometimes happens nonetheless.

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