Upgrade! Moving from Saline to Silicone Breast Implants

Friday, February 12, 2010 11:24 AM

Many women and physicians prefer the look and feel of silicone breast implants, however, many women had their implants before the FDA approval of the current silicone options.

In the battle between saline and silicone implants, many patients are deciding that they prefer silicone over saline. In fact, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) states that the percent of women choosing silicone over saline increased by approximately 1/3 between 2007 and 2008. There are many potential benefits to silicone gel over saline, however full FDA approval for silicone gel implants only became available in 2006 and so many women have implants that pre-date the FDA approval. Fortunately, these women are not stuck with their saline implants and upgrading is reported to be relatively easy.

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Dr. Allan Parangao, the author of A Woman’s Guide to Cosmetic Breast Surgery and Body Contouring, provides a solution to women with older saline implants who are eager to upgrade their breasts. Parungao reports that surgery to replace older saline implants with newer silicone gel implants can take 45 minutes or less. Because a pocket already exists in the breast to accommodate implants, only local anesthesia is required and many women are able to return to work the next day.

Until the FDA approved the new silicone gel implants, women having breast augmentation surgery had no options, saline was it. While these saline implants could improve your figure, they could also cause a "rippled" look to the breast and many women were dissatisfied with the feel of the breast, reporting that they felt like water balloons. This, and other problems, may lead many women to consider whether replacing their existing implements is the right choice for them.

Despite the minimal downtime, many women who have saline breast implants may be wondering whether the differences are really worth an additional surgery. According to Dr. Parungao, the difference could be significant. Parungao reports that “silicone gel implants feel more like natural breast tissue than saline implants do. Especially for women with relatively little natural breast tissue, silicone gel implants can give much more natural looking breast enhancement.”

Patients seem to agree. 41-year-old Patty had saline implants that she got before silicone gel was approved. She reported that although the “saline implants improved my figure 100%... they were hard. They looked great but they didn’t feel natural.” After having her silicone implants replaced with saline, she states, “My silicone gel implants feel much better… If I put on a Wonderbra before, my breasts wouldn’t go together. Now I can actually push my breasts together and get cleavage. I wasn’t able to do that when I had saline implants.” Furthermore, Patty goes on to say, “With the saline implants, my breasts didn’t move at all when I worked out. When I work out now, my breasts have a bit of ‘bounce’ to them. They look and feel more like natural breasts.”

The new silicone implants are also safer than traditional silicone implants from 1990 and earlier. The new FDA approved silicone gel implants have the consistency of a jellybean and, since they are designed not to run when ruptured, there is a much smaller chance of silicone leaking into the body. In addition to the relative ease of switching the implants, making the switch may not be as expensive as some patients would fear. In fact, saline implants offer a warranty and if your existing implant ruptures, you may be able to upgrade for free. Even without warranty coverage, Parungao reports that the upgrade fee may be less than $500 for both breasts.

Thus, if you have saline implants that you are dissatisfied with, it may be worth a consultation with your plastic surgeon to determine if an upgrade procedure is the right option in your situation. Make sure to select a board certified plastic surgeon with experience in breast implant upgrades and silicone gel breast implants if you do opt to make the switch.

Related Topics: Breast Augmentation | Breast Implants | Boob Job | Dr. Allan Parungao | ASPS | Silicone Breast Implants

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