Researching Breast Augmentation, Breast Implants
and Plastic Surgery
Prior to any of my consultations, my husband and I researched the
risks of breast augmentation thoroughly.
Initially, it was a quest to be sure we knew all of the issues to
bring up during consultation with my plastic surgeon. The more research we did, however,
the more information we became concerned about obtaining. As you may already know if you
were concerned enough to come to this website and to this part of it in particular, there
are risks associated with breast implants, whether silicone or saline-filled. Some risks
are insignificant and others are worth thinking about long and hard.
Historically, silicone breast implants hit the market in the early
‘60s and saline-filled implants were used in augmentative or reconstructive surgeries
even earlier than that. The appeal of silicone was the fact that the look and feel
was more like that of the natural breast. Since the advent of silicone implants and until
1992, over a million women were implanted with the silicone-type implant. In April of
1992, after widespread reports of adverse health reactions in women with these implants,
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered that the devices be removed from the market
except for certain women—primarily those seeking post-breast cancer reconstruction.
Saline-filled implants, which had recently been used with some
frequency at the time, remained on the market for all women as their use and risk was not
in question. In addition, women in Europe and the UK have not been limited in their
ability to obtain silicone implants.
