The myth of silicone breast implants being dangerous has been dispelled since they were released back into the market by the FDA in 2006. Silicone breast implants are one of the most studied medical devices and improvements in recent years have made them as safe as any other type of implant. Some common, and untrue, myths about them include:
Silicone breast implants can leak into my body.
The type of silicone used in today’s silicone breast implants are made of a thick, cohesive gel that bonds to itself. Even if a silicone breast implant were to break, the silicone would not leak out into your body. It would remain in one cohesive mass.
Silicone breast implants are more likely to break than saline breast implants.
Silicone breast implant casings and saline breast implant casings are often made out of the same material. Nothing in either type of breast implant is more likely to make the outside of the breast implant break.
The silicone in breast implants is toxic to my body.
Your body contains trace amounts of silicone naturally. These amounts of silicone are not toxic to your body and do not cause any form of illness or disease. The silicone contained in breast implants also does not cause damage to your body, and does not seep into the surrounding tissue to damage it.
For more information on the difference between saline and silicone implants, see this entry.
To learn more about silicone breast implants, please contact breast surgeon Dr. Slenkovich today, serving Denver and the surrounding areas of Colorado.