Breast implants:

• Breast implants are artificial devices (prostheses) surgically inserted into your breasts.
• Breast implants are silicone shells filled with saline solution (sterile salt water) or silicone gel that support breast augmentation procedures.

Breast reconstruction

Breast reconstruction is when a patient who has had breast cancer gets breast implants.

Boob job or Breast augmentation

Breast augmentation is when a healthy person receives breast implants to change the shape or size of their breasts. Breast augmentation is also known as a boob job.

Reasons to enlarge the size of the breasts

• Restoring a previous breast size. Breasts can decrease in size after pregnancy, weight loss or aging.
• Correcting asymmetrical (different size or shape) breasts. Breast asymmetry is common, but it may be more prominent if you experience damage to the tissue in one of your breasts before you go through puberty.
• Restoring breasts after a mastectomy (breast removal). In women who have had their breasts removed because of cancer or any other serious health condition, breast implants restore feminine features and help them feel complete.
• Boosting confidence. Breast implants can help improve your self-esteem and body image.

Facts

• **In the United States, approximately 3.5 million people have breast implants.
• About 60% of breast implants contain silicone gel.
• Throughout the world, approximately 35 million people have breast implants.
• New breast implants typically last about 10 years.

US FDA

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a highly cohesive silicone gel breast implant for use in 2012. These implants are commonly called gummy bear breast implants. When cut in half, they retain their shape, similar to a gummy bear candy.
• The FDA recommends that you are at least 22 years old to get silicone-filled breast implants.

Rupture of breast implant

Signs of breast implant rupture may include changes in your breast size or shape, firmness or swelling.

Sub muscular placement

In sub muscular placement, breast implants fit beneath your breast tissue and your chest muscles. As a result, you only feel your natural breast tissue on top of your breast implants.

Sub glandular placement

In sub glandular placement, breast implants fit between your breast tissue and chest muscles. If you have a lot of breast tissue, your breast implants will feel natural. However, if you don’t have a lot of breast tissue, your breast implants may not be wholly covered by breast tissue. As a result, your breast implants may not feel or look natural.

Texture of the breasts

The coarse texture helps the implants stick to the breast tissue, making them less likely to rotate or move. Filled textured shells feel firmer than smooth shells. Breast implants also come in different shapes. Some breast implants may be round, like a doughnut without a hole. Others may look like a natural breast or a teardrop—rounder at the bottom and narrower at the top. As a result, they look more like natural breasts Round breast implants may have a smooth or textured shell. However, teardrop-shaped implants usually come with a textured shell only. Textured shells reduce the chance they will rotate and look unnatural.

Larger vs Smaller implants

larger implants are often necessary for patients with broader shoulders or wider hips. If you have a smaller body structure, larger breast implants may cause health issues, including back, neck and shoulder pain.

Preoperative sizing

Preoperative sizing allows you to try different sizes and shell types to pick the best breast implants for you

Incision made

Once you are sedated, an incision (cut) is made in one of four discreet areas of your body so that breast implant scars aren’t very noticeable. The types of incisions include:

• Periareolar: An incision around the outer edge of your areola (the colored area that surrounds your nipple).
• Inframammary: An incision in the crease between the bottom of your breast and your chest.
• Transaxillary: An incision in your armpit.
• Transumbilical: An incision in your belly button. Your breast implants are then inserted through the incision and placed either under your breast tissue and chest muscles or between your chest muscles and breast tissue.

Recovery phase

On average, your body should fully recover between six and eight weeks after your breast implant procedure.

Complications

Short-term complications may occur during or after surgery, such as bleeding. Long-term complications happen later, and they may include things like hardening of the implants.

Breast lift

Breast implants increase the size of your breasts, but they don’t lift your breasts. If you wish to increase the size of your breasts and eliminate sagging, discuss combining a breast lift with breast implants.

Breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL):

BIA-ALCL is a rare cancer of the immune system. It’s not breast cancer, but it is a type of lymphoma that develops in the tissue next to breast implants. It is more commonly associated with breast implants that have a textured shell, but experts continue to learn more about this association.

Breastfeeding complications:

Many people who get breast implants can successfully breastfeed, but some can’t, or the amount of milk they can produce is affected.

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