What Breast Implants Can Do to You
Before considering breast implant surgery, you should first weigh the benefits and the side effects that can occur. Breast implant surgery is a major surgery that comes with complications; some of which can be serious.
Why do women choose to get breast implant surgery? Every woman has their own reason for wanting implants. Some may want increased confidence with having a more womanly feminine figure. Some may have one breast that is noticeably larger than the other and want to balance them out. While others opt for implant surgery so their clothes will fit them better.
Breast implants were first sold in the 60s but did not become relatively popular until the 80s came. It was not until the year 2000 did the FDA require that implant manufacturers provide proof of any saline implants to be safe. Silicone breast implant was first approved in 2006 and can only be approved in women over the age of 22.
Breast implant surgery has had a number of complications reported, with three out of four breast cancer patients and nearly half of the first time patients of an augmentation experienced some sort of problem with their implants. Some of the problems encountered are pain, hardening, infection or needing more surgery.
Along with the anesthesia risks in the surgery, there are risks of hematoma occurring as well as infection. Also reported are loss of sensitivity of the nipples or very sensitive nipples that are painful when touched. Some women have accounted that their breasts do not feel natural, and they can hear a "splashing" like sound with their saline implants.
Scar tissue has also been known to form around the implant which becomes hard and tight. The scar tissue is located inside the body with the implants that harden causing the woman to experience mild to severe pain.
Breast implants will eventually break at some point. Studies that have been done point to a silicone implant lasting between 7 to 12 years and others lasting more than 15 years. Of course this is just an average. Some implants have been known to break within a few months even. To detect if an implant has ruptured a doctor will examine the woman by using magnetic resonance imaging to determine if a rupture has happened.
Breast implants have been known to make women sick. One study of 95 women who had silicone implants found that once their implants were removed their joint pain had improved. Another study of Danish women who had implants for 19 years reported more fatigue, Raynaud-like symptoms, along with memory loss and cognitive symptoms. It has also been reported there is an increased chance of cancer among women with breast implants as well as reported deaths of women who had implants for more than 12 years with brain tumors, respiratory diseases, lung cancer and suicide.
Women with breast implants may find it more difficult to breastfeed as well since their milk supply might not be adequate. It is also more difficult to detect breast cancer since implants are known to interfere with mammograms.
