Breast Implant Types
Breast Implant Types
Before undergoing breast augmentation, it would be best if you could research, read, and know more about what you’re about to undergo. Having breast implants is a permanent thing. Sure it is a reversible procedure but you may risk permanent damage to your body through scars and other possible complications from the surgery.
By knowing more about breast augmentation such as the breast implant types, you will be able to weigh your decisions better as well as expect only realistic results from the surgery. Preparedness is something that should be done before making any final decisions and for this we want to help you figure out which breast implant type is the best choice for your upcoming breast augmentation surgery.
Different Factors to Consider for Breast Implants:
- Size
One of the most important factors you need to consider for breast implant types is the size of the implants themselves. Always remember that the smaller your breasts are and the bigger the implants you choose, the more unnatural you new breasts will be. Some women opt to increase their cup size by two sizes but for others, they’d rather have the bigger the better outlook for breast implant types.
- Shape
There are two shapes of breast implants, the teardrop-shaped and the round shaped. The teardrop-shaped implants are said to be the contoured and the anatomically-correct implants thus they will look more natural on you. Round shaped implants are the most commonly seen breast implants on women who have undergone breast augmentation. They may look unnatural but they give women fuller breasts as a result.
- Surface
Breast implants come in different “packaging” as you may call it. The implants have are cased in shells that may come in either smooth or textured surfaces. Smooth implants are said to have thinner shells and they are more prone to rupture but they are less likely to cause rippling or wrinkling on the skin surface.
Textured implants, on the other hand, have rough surfaces that almost feel like sandpaper. If you have a thin skin or a small breast, you may feel slight prickling from the inside when you have chosen implants with textured surfaces. However, textured implants have thicker shell walls as compared to their smooth counterparts thus preventing possible rupture after the surgery. But they are likely to cause the wrinkling of the skin if they have not been placed properly by the plastic surgeon.
- Type
There are mainly two breast implant types – the saline-filled and the silicone gel-filled implants. Saline-filled implants contain sterile salt water fillings which makes it the best choice if a rupture of the implant shell is to happen.
Silicone gel-filled implants, on the other hand, are the traditional implants which were banned a few years ago because of their high health risk complications. However, they were back in the market not long ago because plastic surgeons argued that silicone gel-filled implants nowadays are much stronger than those which were used in the earlier decades.
- Incision
There are a lot of incision types available for breast augmentation procedure. Before choosing the incision type you like, you have to consider the breast implant types you have chosen, their size, texture, and also your plastic surgeon’s expertise. The last thing you’d want to do is choose an incision type that your surgeon is not comfortable to perform because this may result in unwanted complications after the operation.
- Risks and Complications
Just like any kind of surgery, undergoing breast augmentation also poses possible risks and complications which may depend on several factors such as the type of incision you have chosen, breast implant types, your surgeon’s expertise, and other factors that interfere with the operation.
The risks and complications include implants flipping over, excessive scarring, delayed healing, possible infections, breast tenderness, loss of sensation on the nipple, areola, and breast skin, rupture and leakage of the implants, wrinkling of breast tissues, and a whole lot more. Make sure that you discuss with your surgeon about these things before undergoing the breast augmentation procedure so that you can prepare yourself from the possibility of these risks to occur.
The Different Breast Implant Types:
- Saline-filled implants
Saline-filled implants are the safest choice when it comes to breast implant types because it uses sterile saline or salt water. If rupture and leakage is to happen, the salt water is absorbed by the body without causing any health risks for the patient. The saline-filled implants can also be inserted either pre-filled with saline or deflated which will then be filled with the salt water solution after it has been properly placed by the surgeon.
However, saline-filled implants are said to look more unnatural as compared to its counterpart, the silicone gel-filled implants. If leakage is to happen, it can be noticed right away by the patient because one of the breasts will look deflated. Noticing the leakage right away will help the patient to schedule a follow-up surgery to replace the deflated implant.
- Silicone gel-filled implants
Silicone gel-filled implants are the traditional implants which were used in the past several decades. However, they were banned a few years ago but have been reinstated after finding out that the silicone gel-filled implants used nowadays are safer than those used in the past.
Silicone gel-filled implants have become the norm since the texture and look they offer the patient’s breasts imitate the real thing. If you wanted to have naturally looking breasts as much as possible, then silicone gel-filled implants are the way to go. Your surgeon can insert these implants using all the different incision types available for breast augmentation.
One of the biggest disadvantages of silicone gel-filled implants is that they may rupture and leak inside the human body. If this happens, the silicone leaked may pose a possible health threat to the patient and often times, leakage is not noticeable instantly.
- Cohesive silicone gel implants (Gummy Bear breast implants)
Cohesive silicone gel implants are the newest addition to the different breast implant types. However, this implant type is still in the clinical trial basis and it is not yet available for general use. Cohesive silicone gel implants are invented to primarily avoid the risk of leakage that has been reported to be the number one complication with the traditional silicone gel-filled implants.
The gel fillings used in the cohesive silicone gel implants are different from the usual silicone because it has the gummy bear texture hence calling it the Gummy Bear breast implants. If rupture is to happen, the implant silicone gel will not leak into the body. Instead, it will retain its normal shape. To see how this gel fillings work, try squeezing a gummy bear candy and notice that once pressure is taken off, it will return to its original shape.
The only disadvantage of cohesive silicone gel implant is that it will require longer incision type which is typically done in the inframammary fold, the closest incision that can be made when inserting breast implants.