Saline Breast Implants- Advantages & Disadvantages For Breast Augmentation.
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 breast 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.
Unlike other types of implants such as silicone implants, there are not restrictions on the use of saline breast implants; and women do not need to enter any specific national breast study to be eligible for their implantation, as they do for the implantation of Silicone Implants.
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, or the ability to be felt. Although rippling occurs in all saline breast implants, filling them according to the manufacturer’s recommendations, submuscular placement of breast implants, and the existence of thicker breast skin and tissue minimizes a person’s 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.
The second potential disadvantage of saline breast implants compared to silicone breast implants is the difference in how they feel to the touch. Outside of the body, silicone implants have a more natural consistency. In reality, this difference becomes less noticeable when implants are felt underneath the breast and muscle tissue.
Dr. Sean Younai is a Board Certified Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon (http://www.beautifulself.com)with experience in all aspects of breast enhancement surgery, including breast augmentation with saline or silicone breast implants, breast lift or mastopexy, correction of breast asymmetry, breast implant revision surgery, breast implant exchange, and capsulectomy. Dr. Younai practices at the California Center for Plastic Surgery (http://www.beautifulfigure.com) and recieves patients from Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Burbank, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Pasadena, Glendale, Valencia, Palmdale, Fresno, Bakersfield, and Oxnard.
Tags: breast augmentation, breast enlargement, saline breast implants, silicone breast implants