Saline Breast Implants
1. Breast Implant Fill - Saline breast implants or silicone breast implants?
Saline Filled Breast Implants
A
saline breast implant is a sac (implant shell) made of
silicone elastomer (rubber), which is surgically implanted under your chest tissues and/or muscle, and then filled with saline, a saltwater solution, through a valve.
Breast implants have been used for
breast augmentation for more than 40 years.
Saline breast implants were long considered an inferior alternative to
silicone gel-filled implants, which may look and feel more like a real breast than
saline breast implants. Silicone breast implants were removed from the market by the FDA from 1992 to 2006 and saline (salt water) filled shells became an accepted alternative to silicone.
Saline implants were approved by the FDA in 2000 and have always been available to women in the U.S. and worldwide.
Because of the FDA's ban on
silicone breast implants for approximately 15 years, women had to be enrolled in clinical trials to get
silicone breast implants. Read more about
silicone gel-filled breast implants here. As a result,
saline breast implants have been the most frequently used
breast implants in the U.S. for
cosmetic breast augmentation. With the availability of silicone as of November of 2006, those statistics may change.
Saline breast implants vary in
shell surface (smooth or textured),
volume / size (number of cc), shell thickness,
profile and
shape (round or anatomical), and are even available as expandable
implants. Most
saline implants are single lumen (only one chamber), and are filled during
breast augmentation surgery.
Pre-filled saline implants were available for a short time but are no longer on the market.
Pros and Cons:
Saline implants are more likely than silicone to cause
visible rippling and are generally firmer to the touch and less natural in appearance than
silicone gel breast implants.
Saline implants are filled during surgery and allow the surgeon to make adjustments in the fill during surgery.
Overfilling past recommended manufacturer's guidelines can cause too much firmness. Not filling the implants sufficiently can cause the implant to have a fold which could lead to a failure of the implant know as crease fold failure. In the event of a rupture of a saline breast implant, saline is released and the empty implant can be removed and/or replaced.
Breast Implants: The Full Roadmap
- Saline
- Silicone
- History & Controversy
- Studies about Silicone Gel Breast Implants
- Who Qualifies for Silicone Breast Implants
- Cohesive Gel and Gummy Bear Silicone Breast Implants
- Methods of determining ideal breast implant size choice
- Using Nicole's photo gallery to help choose size
- Choosing from breast implant manufacturer specifications
- Choosing Breast Implant Shape and Profile
- Breast Implant Shapes: Round vs. Anatomical (teardrop/contoured/shaped)
- Breast Implant Profile: Low, Moderate, High
- Textured Surface Breast Implants
- Smooth Surface Breast Implants
- Moderate profile breast implants (regular/standard)
- High profile breast implants
- Low profile breast implants
- Moderate "PLUS" profile breast implants