Nicole's Breast Augmentation Recovery Journal - 18
Months (Contd.)
There have been many heated debates on Breast Augmentation & Breast Implants Information
Web by Nicole and other websites about implant placement (under vs. over) and incision
sites, to name just a couple. However, despite the views any one surgeon may hold, no one
can argue with a good result. If a surgeon has a preference, it is most often because the
surgeon has had excellent results with that particular method and, as a result, feels that
is the best way to perform the surgery for him or her and for the patient. If you have a
preference for a certain technique for whatever reason, find a surgeon who uses that
technique or, in many cases, question why you think that technique is so important to you.
If you have no preferences for implant placement, incision site or
implant type, then be sure that you find a board-certified plastic surgeon
(board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, Inc.) in your area and go for a
consult. On Nicole's Website are listed some
wonderful surgeons, most of whom have been recommended by the women who visit that site.
In many cases, the surgeons were recommended by other plastic surgeons that know their
colleague's work and reputation. Because finding a good surgeon is the most important
decision you will make in this process, take your time. Use the resources there to
do a background check of your own.
Since the start of my website,
I have been frequently harassed by women who feel that their implants have caused them any
number of autoimmune or other illnesses. Many refer to these women as "silicone
survivors." I sympathize with any woman who suffers from an illness that is
debilitating and difficult to diagnose or cure. However, my opinion about the lack of a
correlation between implants (whether saline or silicone) has been strengthened, rather
than weakened by an additional year of research since I started this website. The studies
that have been conducted have overwhelmingly found that the risk of contracting any of the
claimed illnesses after having breast implants is no greater than the risk for women
without implants.
You can read more about the comprehensive study of the Institute of
Medicine at the FDA website. Silicone survivors (and other critics) claim that many of the
studies that find no link to disease are sponsored by implant manufacturers and,
therefore, lack objectivity. I personally find it difficult to believe that all plastic
surgeons, manufacturers and now the Institute of Medicine, commissioned by the U.S.
Congress, are all in a conspiracy to conceal from women that such insidious diseases are
caused by implants. Nevertheless, consistent with my goal that each visitor to my site
leaves my site with as much information as possible, I link to the Silicone Survivor sites
in my resources section. The recent findings of the FDA, which resulted in the
approval of continued marketing of saline implants in the U.S. should be given pretty good
weight, in my opinion.
Studies that I have read since I have started the website, as well
as stories women have submitted, have also strengthened my view that you cannot overlook
the real short-term risks of implants. Women do get infections requiring removal
(sometimes without replacement) of their implants. Implants can rupture and do not last
forever. Women can lose (or have too much) sensation after surgery. Some women will have
unacceptable scarring, rippling or capsular contracture. Learn the risks and then
decide.
