Breast Augmentation with Saline or Silicone? Surprise!
Breast Implants Comments Off
American humorist Will Rogers once advised people: “Don’t believe anything you read and only half of what you see.”
If you’ve been reading anything at all about breast implants, you may come away thinking that silicone is the hands down favorite.
Well, to quote many other famous Americans: “It ain’t necessarily so!”
Philadelphia cosmetic breast surgeon Ted Eisenberg, D.O., begs to differ about silicone and put his opinion into a recent issue of the American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery. Dr. Eisenberg claims 4,000 breast augmentations to his credit.
The quick take? Dr. Eisenberg’s patients prefer saline over silicone.
(Here’s the breast implant editorial.)
For the record, of the 355,671 breast enhancements counted by the American Society for Aesthetic Surgery in 2008, the most current year for which statistic exists found:
- 53.9 percent used saline
- 46.1 percent used silicone
So breast enlargement procedures officially use about half silicone and half saline. If the silicone breast implants are purported to be so much better, then why all the saline implants?
Let’s drill down and take a look at what is going on in Dr. Eisenberg’s practice.
He grants that if you hold a saline and silicone breast implant in each hand, you would say the silicone is softer, but according to Dr. Eisneberg, only four of his 709 breast augmentation patients have asked for silicone during a two-year period from November, 2006 to October, 2008.
Of course surgeons’ experiences vary widely and that’s just one example.
He doesn’t say, but the cost of breast augmentation may be the deciding factor. Saline usually costs about $1000 less than silicone.
Another factor: Scarring. Because saline implants are empty and are rolled up like a cigar for filling after implantation, the incision is only three centimeters (about one and one-half inches.)
But the silicone breast implants – which are pre-filled – require average incisions of five to seven centimeters (about two to three inches) long.
Of course, in the first place, the scars are hard to see. In the second place, they lighten and fade over time.
Long story short: If you have enough breast tissue to cover the implant and do not go too large for your body type, saline can appear just as natural as a silicone implant. Ask your surgeon which will look more natural with your body type.
admin @ June 30, 2009
