Choosing the Right Implant For You
What are the many variables to consider in breast implant selection?
|
Implant Size
Implants come in a variety of widths. Selecting the proper width is critical to helping ensure your long-term satisfaction with your breast implants. If the implant is too wide, it can place stress on your breast tissue, leading to complications. If the implant is too narrow, the cosmetic result may not meet your expectations. If you want to discuss cup size, it’s important to recognize that bra-cup sizes are not standard. While expressing your desired result in terms of cup size will help your doctor to understand your expectations, your implant size will ultimately be based on the measurements of your existing breast, the characteristics of your skin and your body type.
|
Pre and post augmentation with Saline Implants, Submuscular
|
Implant Shape
You may decide to re-shape your breast. Some implants give the breast a more rounded appearance, while others create a breast shaped with a gentle slope and fullness in the lower portion of the breast. For example, the anatomical shape of the INAMED® Style 410 Silicone-Filled Breast Implant most closely mimics the dimensions of the natural breast and provides greater shape retention.Mentor’s contoured implants have a so called tear drop shape that is also anatomically natural.
|
Implant Filler
There are two approved options for breast implant fillers: silicone and saline. While each filler has been approved by Health Canada for breast implants, they have distinct features and benefits.Saline implants are made of an outer silicone shell that is inserted into the chest and then filled with a salt water fluid afterward, whereas Cohesive Gel implants are constructed with a gelatinous silicone core. Though the Cohesive Gel implants are newer to the market, both saline and Cohesive Gel have been used safely for many years, There are advantages and disadvantages to both types of implants, and the choice between the two will depend on several factors. Some of these are ;cost ( saline implants are less expensive), potential complications ( saline implants require smaller incisions but can leak, gel cohesive implants have a higher incidence of capsular scarring) and the patient’s body type.
|
Pre and Post augmentation with Gel Cohesive , Anatomic shape implants
|
What is Silicone
Silicones are a family of chemical compounds. They are made from silicon, a naturally occurring element found in sand, quartz and rock. Next to oxygen, silicon is the most common element in the earth’s crust and becomes silicone when it is combined with oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. Depending on the arrangement of the molecules, silicones can be manufactured in a variety of forms including oils, gels and solids.
Silicones have been part of the consumer industry for over 50 years. Because they can be manufactured in various ways, silicones appear in a wide variety of products that most of us use everyday. Hairsprays, suntan lotions and moisturizing creams are just some of the consumer products that contain one form of silicone called dimethicone.
Medical devices utilizing silicone include artificial joints, catheters, drainage systems, facial implants, tissue expanders and breast implants. Silicone products have been shown to be biocompatible, reliable, flexible and easy to sterilize, making them an ideal choice for both implantable and non-implantable medical devices. You may have heard about some controversy several years ago around the safety of Silicone breast implants. Health Canada has evaluated these concerns in light of many detailed scientific studies examining these issues, and has approved the use of silicone breast implants because it considers them to be safe. The National Institute of Health’s Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a landmark 400-page report entitled “Safety of Silicone Breast Implants.” This 1999 report on the safety of silicone concluded “There is insufficient evidence to support an association of silicone breast implants with defined connective tissue disease.” The IOM also stated “There is no convincing evidence for atypical connective tissue disease or rheumatic disease or a novel constellation of signs and symptoms in women with silicone breast implants.”
Companies like Inamed and Mentor produce numerous choices in both saline and Cohesive Gel implants allowing for great surgical flexibility, to allow Dr. Weinberg to give you the result you want. For the woman seeking the benefits of saline-filled breast implants, Inamed offers more than 100 different options in round, shaped, smooth or textured styles though it is fair to say that saline implants will tend to take on a roundish shape once implanted, whereas gel implants will tend to hold their shape better. For the woman seeking the natural look and feel of silicone gel-filled breast implants, there are more than 140 different options of round, shaped, smooth or textured styles, and
the INAMED® Style 410 Silicone-Filled Breast Implant is available in more than 120 different combinations of height, width, projection and cohesivity, to deliver a shaped aesthetic outcome that many women and surgeons feel is the best available today. Mentor produces an ingenious implant that offers the advantages of silicone gel implants with an inner lumen that is filled with saline and can be adjusted in volume for several months post surgically.
Implant Profile
The profile is the forward projection of the implant from the chest wall. Breast Implants come in a variety of profiles: moderate (low), mid-range (medium) and high (full and extra full).
Implant Surface Texturing
Implants can be either smooth or textured. Texturing is designed to help keep the implant from shifting in place and to reduce the rate of capsular contracture.
|
