Safety of Breast Implants

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Implant History & Myths about Safety

When breast enlargement surgery was in its early days, complications with implants were almost to be expected: rupturing was common and replacements required often. Nowadays implant skin is much tougher than it was, so rupturing occurs much less than it did.  Its volatile history remains with us though, with many people recounting modern myths about the dangers of breast implants. One such well known myth is the story of women’s implants exploding on aeroplane flights. This is not true; if it could happen, other body parts would be exploding as well as breast implants! What does happen, though, if anything does happen, is that the implant may change shape or size. It will not, however, explode.

Breastfeeding

Another myth that arises from the volatile breast implant history is that breast implants are a danger to your baby when you breastfeed. Implant surgery can affect lactation, but the milk produced is not harmful to your baby.

Scans: X-rays, Ultrasound & Mammograms

Depending on the positioning of your implant, subglandular or submuscular, medical scans can be impeded by your breast enlargement. Both X–rays, ultrasound and mammograms can be hindered. With mammograms this can be a very detrimental side effect. This is because the implants could hide signs of breast cancer. There are methods for avoiding interference, but you must inform your doctor when going for scans. In addition to this, mammograms can be harmful to breast implants. This is because mammograms compress the breast. This could cause a rupture or weaken the implant and therefore increase the chance of rupture.

Silicone Gel

Silicone gel inside the implant has been argued as dangerous to the body. It is important to raise this issue, because women, after an implant rupture, have claimed it to have caused health issues; but, there is currently no scientific reasoning behind such accusations. Admittedly silicone fluid, if it leaks from the implant, can cause siliconomas or granulomas which cause pain and discomfort, but, on the whole, most professionals maintain that silicone is no danger to the body or that there is unsifficient evidence to say otherwise.

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