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How do I determine if silicone- or saline-filled, or any implants are right for me?
It is your right to have breast implants, just as it is your right to accept any form of medical treatment. Research and the media should not influence your decision. They merely provide you with information. Be cautious of where your research is gathered, and who may be influencing the information you obtain. Information does not come with instructions, so here are some guidelines for using all the information you obtain and for making a decision about breast implants that is right for you. Use media as a source for questions, but not answers. Obtain your answers from a board-certified plastic surgeon and review the results of research published by unbiased patient advocate groups, such as the U.S. FDA, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), and recognized medical specialty societies such as the American Society of Cosmetic Surgeons (ASPS). Visit the Web sites of breast implant manufacturers or ask your cosmetic surgeon for specific data on the breast implants you are considering, published by the manufacturer of that breast implant.
All public information published or advertised by a pharmaceutical company or a medical device manufacturer is subject to U.S. FDA review. These companies can be fined or have their products pulled from the market if they release false or biased information. Now, take all of your research and all of your questions with you to your office visit, and have a discussion with a qualified, board-certified cosmetic surgeon with whom you feel comfortable and confident. Also, talk with your personal physician if you wish. Gynecologists see only female patients, including those with breast implants. It is useful to talk with other women who have breast implants. If you don’t know someone who has breast implants, ask your surgeon or gynecologist for references to patients who do have implants, and talk to these women. If you truly have the desire for breast augmentation or reconstruction using implants, make no decision until you go through the process of informed consent with your cosmetic surgeon. It is your right to choose to have breast implants. Make certain your decision is purely your own.
Can breast implants cause breast disease or negatively affect my health?
There is no proven link between any form of breast surgery, including surgery with implants, and breast disease. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the time of publication of this article had no statement linking breast implants or breast cosmetic surgery to breast disease, nor did they report data linking women who have undergone breast cosmetic surgery for implants to breast disease. In 2000, the U.S. Institute of Medicine reported that breast cancer is no more common in women with implants than those without implants. In addition, in April 2001, researchers at the NCI issued a report stating that, “women with silicone breast implants were not at increased risk for most cancers.” Their study specifically stated that no increased risk was found for sarcoma, Hodgkin’s or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, or multiple myeloma. With regard to illnesses other than breast cancer, the U.S. FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health reported in 2000 that most studies of the illnesses believed to be linked to breast implants, “have failed to show an association with breast implants.”
Further, the same report offers that there is no information that breast implants may be damaging to children born of mothers with implants (silicone gel or saline filled), who breast-fed or did not. However, studies do suggest that breast implants in some cases can impede the ability of a woman to breastfeed. How often this occurs is not known. More importantly, research reported by the U.S. FDA in 1998 found that silicone levels in breast milk of women with silicone-gelfilled breast implants were the same when compared with breast milk from women without implants. Capsular contracture is the only breast condition unquestionably linked to breast implants. Capsular contracture is not breast disease, however, but excess scar tissue that forms around the implant. The condition can occur with any type of implanted device in the body, and it can be minimized and corrected in nearly every case. Having breast implants, in fact, can have advantages that reach beyond a woman’s own confidence with her body image. Women who have had breast cosmetic surgery of any kind are more likely to practice breast selfexamination (BSE) and to be more in tune with the feel and form of their breast tissue. In a report by the Mayo Clinic, women with saline breast implants found it easier to do breast self-exam. The implants separated breast tissue from the body, making changes in breast tissue more apparent. Therefore, you should not base your decision for breast implants on the unproven notion that having breast implants can impair your health.