Breast Implants

With the world becoming increasingly fixated on appearances, plastic surgery for breast implants becomes more and more popular each year. Most women who are dissatisfied with the size of their breasts often undergo breast augmentation or breast enlargement to look and feel better. In fact, The American Society of Plastic Surgeons found that breast augmentation is the most commonly performed cosmetic surgical procedure in the United States and that 329,000 breast augmentation procedures were performed in the country in 2006.

Two types of breast implants are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for breast enlargement, these are saline-filled and silicone-gel-filled implants. According to the Wikipedia, saline implants have a silicone elastomer shell filled with sterile saline liquid, while silicone gel implants have a silicone shell filled with a viscous silicone gel.

In 1992, the FDA ordered the removal of silicone breast implants from the market because data submitted by implant companies were not sufficient to demonstrate the safety of silicone implants. These type of implants, however, were reintroduced in 2005.

Saline breast implants are believed to be safer because if ruptured, the saline can be easily dissolved by the body. However, saline implants are more likely to show ripples and wrinkles through the skin. Compared to silicone implants, saline implants are also more likely to be noticeable to the eye or the touch.

With the world becoming increasingly fixated on appearances, plastic surgery for breast implants becomes more and more popular each year. Most women who are dissatisfied with the size of their breasts often undergo breast augmentation