Some time ago a patient consulted me, not about breast augmentation or liposuction but about hormonal regeneration and also showed me – more or less incidentally – her breasts. 20 years ago she had begun with a small 100 ml implant and after several implant removals she now had huge implants of 800 ml on each side. And she is not an isolated case!
Through their hardness and weight, silicone implants stretch and cause wear in every breast to such an extent that after several years either a surgical tightening or a much bigger implant becomes necessary in order to prevent wrinkles and sagging. At some stage there is then a balloon, which in this case does not float but instead pulls the breasts down even more. This is where there needs to be some rethinking in cosmetic medicine. Plastic surgeons must tell their patients what they can expect in the years following the implantation.
They can expect a breast that is a major construction site with several follow-up operations. As the complication rate with implant operations is said to be 8 to 10 % even with experienced plastic surgeons (which means that it is probably higher than admitted), you can work out what the probability of undesirable complications in 5 operations will be: 1/10 × 5 = 50 %! I can only appeal to your common sense – avoid plastic surgery for cosmetic problems whenever possible! Do not make your breast a silicone problem zone!
If you wish for breast augmentation, please use the more gentle methods of the New Cosmetic Surgery, breast augmentation with stem cell enriched body fat. This is of course somewhat more expensive than silicone, but consider the fact that you will need only one more injection at the most if your breast was originally too small for an adequate augmentation in one treatment. The complication rate is also much lower. With silicone, on the other hand, you are set up for about 5 replacement operations plus at least one tightening operation in the next 20 years, and you have a “good” chance of complications. And to be honest, who today thinks artificial balloon breasts are sexy? It is a known fact that George Clooney left his girlfriend because of 280 ml of silicone…
DDr. Heinrich, MD