BREAST IMPLANT SPECIALIST ORANGE COUNTY
As an Orange County breast augmentation surgeon, many patients are curious about the differences between saline and silicone implants.
I want to focus on the life span of these implants. It is important to accept the fact no implant will last forever. When the implant will leak is unknown. Fortunately, with the current generation of breast implants, many patients will have intact implants for many years.
As I stated in a previous blog, although both implant manufacturing companies have a life time warranty on breast implants, the company provides financial assistance towards the procedure only up to ten years from the time of surgery. This means if your implant should fail after ten years, the company will replace the breast implant free of charge, but no assistance will be provided to cover cost of surgery.
Since silicone breast implants contain silicone gel, when the implant fails, the gel is unable to be absorbed by the body. As long as the breast shape and feel is unchanged, therefore, a patient with a leaked silicone implant will not be aware of it.
For this reason, I always recommend this group of patients to obtain a MRI, which is the gold standard currently for silicone breast implant leak, a few days before their ten year “warranty” has expired. Yes, it is a nuisance and yes, it will cost money. However, what if at 11 years post breast augmentation, you should find out one or both implants have leaked? Since there is no proof when the leak actually happened, the company is under no legal obligation to provide financial assistance towards your surgery.
Of course the safest way is to follow the current recommendation by FDA regarding silicone breast implant. The FDA recommends a MRI three years after surgery, and every other year after the initial study. This is not mandatory, and it is up to the patient to follow this suggestion.
Michael A. Jazayeri, M.D. is a board certified plastic surgeon with over 10 years of experience. His office is located in Orange County, California. To schedule a complimentary consultation, please call (714) 834-0101.