subject: Breast Implant Exchange – Important for the emotional and physical appearance [print this page] Breast augmentation is one of the most requested plastic surgery procedure available today for many reasons. The surgery is relatively safe, predictable, and can produce significant changes in a woman's appearance. Most women that receive breast implants are extremely happy with the results due to improved self-confidence, a fuller and proportionate body contour, and better fitting clothing. Every year more and more women elect to undergo this surgery.
One of the most frequent reasons for implant removal and replacement is the woman's desire to change the size of the implants. The majority of women who have breast augmentation surgery are extremely happy with their new size. Some women, however, decide later on that they would be happier with a change in size. In such cases, women request to have their implants removed and replaced with larger or smaller implants.
Another reason women choose to exchange their implants is due to the implant material. The most common implants consist of a silicone implant filled with saline solution. These implants look excellent in most women, however, some patients are concerned that the implants feel firmer or are less "natural" appearing than they would like. Others complain of "waves" that can be seen and felt along the sides of the breasts. This can be changed by switching the saline implants to silicone filled implants, which are typically softer and more natural feeling than saline implants. An exciting new innovation is the cohesive gel silicone implant (sometimes referred to as a "gummy-bear implant"). Cohesive gel implants have the feel of a liquid silicone implant, but if they rupture the silicone maintains its shape much like a gummy bear.
Both saline and silicone implants may experience leaks and ruptures of the external shell, which is another reason that would prompt an implant exchange. This is usually due simply to "wear and tear" of the implant over time. When a saline implant leaks, the result is a deflated appearing breast, which requires an implant replacement to resume a normal appearance. Silicone implant ruptures are less obvious physically, but should also be exchanged for the best emotional and physical results.
Although an eventual breast implant exchange should be anticipated as a part of breast augmentation surgery, the amount of time is very small relative to the total time that the implants are in place. Sometimes the reason for an exchange is purely requested, whereas other times the exchange is less optional. Either way breast implant exchange is important to the look and feel of women who currently use breast implants. You should speak to your plastic surgeon more about implant exchange as it is an integral addition to the breast augmentation process.
