Breast Implants: Saline or Silicone?
Your Introduction to Saline or Silicone Implants
When considering breast augmentation, the choice between silicone and saline breast implants may initially seem very difficult. Both provide great results, and both are safe for the body, but they are not identical in either of these concerns. Silicone breast implants have a slightly better look and feel, but some people are more comfortable with saline breast implants than silicone due to historical controversy about the safety of older generations of silicone implants. On this page, we give some basic information to help you clarify your thoughts on the two types of breast implants.
Breast Implant Quality and Research
Whether you want saline or silicone breast implants, both today have never been of higher quality or have been so thoroughly researched. Past controversies have resulted in a great emphasis on safety and knowledge about silicone implants, their qualities, and their limitations. For example, in 2016, there was a voluntary recall of some textured implants due to the risk of anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. Since then, those implants have not been used, and that knowledge has gone towards creating safer implants. At Gayoso Plastic Surgery and MedSpa, we only use smooth surface implants to put our patient’s safety first and reduce the likelihood of any complications.
Breast Implant Differences and Complications
Both types of implants consist of a solid silicone rubber shell that is filled with either saline fluid (salt water), or silicone gel. Both breast implants function well but are subject to the same potential problems. These include future shell breakage, capsular contracture, rippling, wrinkling, or malposition. None of these problems appear to cause illness, but they could require future revision surgery. The biggest difference between saline or silicone implants, is that silicone may feel more natural, especially for very slender, or smaller-breasted patients, and may have less chance of rippling, wrinkling, or visibility through the skin.
Another difference is that a ruptured saline implant will rather dramatically deflate, but a silicone implant will not. It’s even possible that a broken silicone implant shell may cause no symptoms at all because of its more solid nature. However, to be on the safe side, the FDA recommends MRIs to check silicone implants after the first five years and then every two to three years.
What Gayoso Plastic Surgery and MedSpa Can Do For You
For all our patients, we only want the best results, which is why we only use the safest implants that produce the best results. To learn more about your options with breast implants, don’t hesitate to contact us and schedule your consultation. Your provider will discuss how we make your breast surgery customizable to you based on the characteristics of your body and your appearance goals for safe and satisfactory results.