Breast implants

From Make Me Heal

Breast implants are medical prosthetic devices that are implanted either under the breast tissue or under the chest muscle to enhance the size and shape of a woman's breasts (breast augmentation and breast lift) or for breast reconstruction, for example after mastectomy (surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely). There are two major types of breast implants: silicone gel-filled and saline-filled.

• Silicone gel-filled implants are silicone shells prefilled with silicone gel.
• Saline-filled implants are silicone shells that are either prefilled or filled with saline during surgery, and some of these allow for adjustments of the filler volume after surgery.

Both silicone and saline implants have their pros and cons which need to be discussed with the surgeon before the surgery. Implants vary in:

• profile (low or moderate or high projection)
• optimal fill volume (overfilling/underfilling)
• size (specified in ccs)
• shell surface (textured or not)
• shape (round or anatomical)