Breast Cancer Survivors have Implant Preferences

Breast Cancer Survivors have Implant Preferences

For breast cancer survivors, breast augmentation is a practical solution to restoring one's natural figure and today's technological advances provide women with options.

Many women who underwent a mastectomy wish to have some form of breast reconstruction.

Women can choose not only the type and magnitude of the surgery, but also the materials used for breast implants. The main material choices for women are saline or silicon implants, or existing tissue- generally abdominal fat- from the patient's body.

How does one choose which type of material? A recent study shows that women prefer silicon over saline implants.

The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City conducted a survey of 472 patients and reported that women with silicon implants conveyed higher levels of post-surgical satisfaction than those with other types of implants.

The questionnaire addressed areas of touch, feel, shape, overall appearance, and integration into self.

Women who chose silicon implants were slightly older than those who opted for saline implants, averaging at 53.7 years versus 51.3 years, respectively. Of those with silicon implants, 66% chose immediate reconstruction after mastectomy while 74% of the saline patients opted for immediate reconstruction.

The women with silicon implants had significantly higher levels of satisfaction with their breast augmentation.

Silicon implants are filled with a thick, sticky silicon gel said to resemble the feeling of human fat. Saline implants, filled with saline, have a harder texture but when placed further behind the chest muscle give the breast a softer feeling. Both types of implants are FDA approved.

In voicing a preference for silicon breast implants, one researcher referenced the "softer, more natural-feeling breast with less visible and/or palpable wrinkling."

Breast augmentation is becoming increasingly popular with women worldwide and provides a solution for breast cancer patients to revert back to their pre-cancer figures.

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