By Dr. Jennifer L. Walden
- About 383,000 women had breast augmentation surgery in 2006, making it the most common cosmetic surgical procedure among women (Source: ASAPS).
- About 2 million American women have breast implants, with 70% used in aesthetic breast enhancement surgery, and 30% in reconstruction (Source: ASPS).
- The shell of both silicone- and saline-filled breast implants is made of a silicone. The gel inside silicone gel-filled implants is made of a cohesive, natural-feeling form of silicone.
- Silicone is used in many other areas of medicine, such as in heart valves, pacemakers, catheters and joint prostheses.
- Despite the negative press that silicone implants have received, no study to date has ever linked implants to cancer or autoimmune disease, as seen in many scientific studies over the past twenty years.
- U.S. women now have access to implants that are already available as an option in more than 75 countries, especially to the primary breast augmentation patient.
- Long-term data on the safety and effectiveness of silicone implants has been gathered over the years through many studies, by both plastic surgeons and implant companies, with large patient numbers – the clinical adjunct study (which follows women who currently have silicone implants) has more than 80,000 participants!
- Current studies show that patients are highly satisfied with their gel implants whether used for breast augmentation, reconstruction or revision.
- The cohesive gel that breast implants are made of today is more form-stable, with better retention of shape and design to minimize silicone migration.
- Silicone gel-filled implants offer women a soft, natural option for augmentation with optimal aesthetic results!
Dr. Walden is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Austin, TX who performs augmentation with both silicone- and saline-filled breast implants. She is a principal investigator in both Mentor and Allergan’s Clinical Adjunct Studies, as well as in the Post-Approval Study and Breast Implant Follow-Up Study for collecting long-term data on silicone gel-filled breast implants. She has been featured on the CBS Early Show on the FDA release of silicone-filled breast implants, and on ABC’s 20/20 on the safety of silicone breast implants.
