I know we’ve been harping away at this big news story about the french company that sold thousands of faulty implants many of which were unfortunately implanted in a lot of patients. But this stuff needs to be aired out so it can ensure that no other companies will be able to pull off such a widespread scandal and hurt so many women potentially as this has.

The governments of the countries where women are most affected by the dangerous implants have actually offered to pay for women to get the implants removed if they choose to do so. However, on of the government bodies, Venezuela’s in fact, is saying they will pay for their removal if patients are worried, but they will not pay for their replacement.

In other words, the women who had the implants can get them removed, but they have to pay for the implants to be put back in, which may amount to just as much money as it did anyway had they paid for the entire thing themselves.

To remove the implants costs one amount, but it is a whole ‘nother procedure to get the implants replaced, and I think that is where the government is stopping short.  I can see why, as they cannot send the message that they will pay for plastic surgery to improve one’s appearance, but they can pay to remove something hazardous from their citizen’s bodies.

However, I can also see this from the patients end as well. If I had these faulty breast implants in my body, I’d sure as heck want someone who is responsible (there are also companies that sold these to women as middle men) to actually pay for a replacement as well.

You get used to having breast implants, and it’s not all that fair if suddenly because some manufacturer screwed up, you have to have them yanked out.  It becomes a matter of equity – they should be “made whole” by the wrong that was done to them, and this offer is really only doing half the job.

Sure, it’s all legal ease, but I guarantee that’s the angle these women’s lawyers will be taking, and that they should in order to make their clients whole again.

The arm of the government in France that deals with health and medical devices, sort of like our FDA here in the US, has issued a warning to French women who received a particular brand of silicone breast implant recently that they may want to get screenings.

They even said the women may want to get the implants removed as a precaution due to the health issue these particular implants may cause. And what is that issue you ask?  These implants were illegally manufactured with a grade of silicone that is not surgical or medical grade, but rather manufacturer grade.

In other words, the silicone used to make them was not considered “safe” for human consumption or contact.  This means that it could potentially cause cancer, possibly some sort of immune response or nervous system response, or other yet-unknown interactions with the human body that we don’t know about that would become evident if they ever leaked – which they often do as they break down in the body over time.

Silicone is typically an industrial grade material that makes everything from sealants to car parts.  It is a very flexible material that feels soft and pliable, which is the reason it was used as both the shell and filling for breast implants for women who wanted a softer feel to them than the saline ones that are on the market and widely available.

The problem arose of course, when women started to report back in the late nineties that they were having problems with these types of implants. Silicone was implicated in autoimmune and nervous system health issues.

Women claimed that their implants essentially caused their ailments, and this prompted an FDA review and subsequent ban on this type of implant from the open market.

Silicone was still allowed to be used in certain reconstructive surgeries though, and continued to be available for women who needed reconstruction of one or more breasts because of its extremely flexible pliability and realistic appearance and feel.

Regular silicone has been allowed back on the market, but of course only cosmetic grade can be used in implants, which is why these French implants are not safe nor healthy.

Health officials have told women that have them they may want to get them removed, but it is not necessary nor cause for immediate concern, just as an FYI since removing breast implants is a very costly procedure. The company that made the commercial grade silicone implants is now insolvent.

I must admit, I had never heard of this breast implant complication before happening across it while reading about other information having to do with breast augmentation surgery.  It’s pretty astounding to see pictures of symmastia, I’ll tell you that. It looks almost like one uni-boob, if I may be so vulgar.

What symmastia is, is when the breast implants in the chest wall actually touch eachother, giving the illusion of very tightly packed cleavage, or as I said before, a sort of “uni boob”. Obviously this is not an attractive look, and it is a problem if it occurs after breast augmentation surgery.

But why would symmastia even happen in the first place? Well, it does make sense, because breast implants are known to have a tendency to migrate, meaning they can move from their original position within the chest by the doctor who put them there.

Usually, because of gravity though, they move down on the chest or may move slightly over to the outside of the body, rather than in together. So symmastia is a fairly rare complication, but it does occur and it’s rather dicsoncerting for the patients that experience it since it is so alarming in appearance.

But apparently you don’t have to have breast implants to have symmastia. You can actually have a deformity of the breasts that causes this to happen naturally as well. Not surprising, considering the range of physical deformities that can occur in both women and men at birth.

Many women choose to have revision surgery if their breast implants move together in this fashion, much like they would have revision surgery if they had any other type of dramatic moving of the breast implants.

Over the muscle implants may have a slightly higher risk of moving together like this since they do not have the muscle pinning them down like with under the muscle implants. If this is something that concerns you, and you are thinking about getting breast implants, ask your doctor what type of placement is best for avoiding migration of the implants.

Even better, check out your alternatives to getting breast implants as well.

Apparently there is still lingering concern around the approved use of silicone breast implants, even though the FDA released them for approval a few short years ago, to be used not only in breast reconstruction patients, but also in women who were seeking breast augmentation cosmetic surgery.

Silicone implants have long been idealized as the more natural feeling, natural looking implant, and also have been coveted because they don’t have the negative side effects of getting the “dented” look, or rippling look on the side of the breast, or even in the front.  This issue has caused concern for many women who have gotten saline implants.

It makes sense, because saline implants are essentially bags filled with salt water, and they may not have as much resilience as the silicone implant. However, if a saline implant leaks out into the body, it is only harmless, colorless saline liquid, which is salt water and a totally inert liquid in the human body.

Even though saline may produce what some feel is a slightly inferior result as far as appearance and feel goes, it is still the safer option when it comes to potential complications.

Breast implant alternatives have become a very appealing option for a lot of women because both silicone and saline have their risks, depending on severity of the situation.  You’ve got appearance concerns with saline, and other more serious concerns with silicone.

Complications that may be more likely with silicone implants include scar tissue encasing the implant, which results in something called capsular contracture which can result in a lot of pain and discomfort, and at its worse, removal of the implant which requires an additional surgery of course.

There is also a very slight chance, or correlation between silicone types of implants and a rare cancer that affects the lymph nodes. This is quite scary, and even though the link is small, you may want to make this consideration as well.

Whether you have silicone or saline though, you need to be mindful that your breast implants are definitely not meant to be kept in for too long, and that since they are a material that can break down in the body over time, they do need to be replaced periodically.

The recommendation is to get them replaced once every ten years currently. The longer you go without replacing them after the ten years is up, the more you risk things like deflation, indenting, rippling and other unpleasant looking things.

In a word, yes, breast implants do wear out. You need to get them replaced every ten years approximately, because like everything else, they will wear down and need to be replaced. They are unfortunately, not at the moment, indestructible, nor are they resilient to everything that comes their way.

Breast implants are made of a silicone shell most times, which is a type of plastic. This plastic, althought built to be very durable and to roll with the punches so to speak, still is subject to a lot of trauma many times.  Women who have implants have even reported ruptures from having blunt trauma to the breast area.

Say, an airbag comes out and hits the chest head on, or you are doing a cartwheel and you land on your chest, things like that can really damage your implants and test their ability to withstand the pressures of being in the body for years and years.

There have been stories where breast implants have slowed down bullets enough to save women’s lives though, so there is also a perception that they are indestructable, but that thought process is not correct. Breast implants are still subject to rupture, burst, deflate and generally lose their shape and their rigidity in the body.

This is why surgeons generally recommend that women who have breast implants get them replaced roughly every ten years, although this is flexible a few years out from that date, and some women may even opt to get them replaced sooner than ten years. Although, it is quite an expense, so I don’t know why some women would choose to replace them before they have to!

Breast implants usually don’t get too much wear and tear as far as bumps, because they are inside the body, but the body itself can be an acidic environment, and this may aid in the breakdown of the plastics that comprise the implant as well.

Some women’s bodies even reject the breast implant, or grow scar tissue around them, causing a very painful condition called capsular contracture, which is where scar tissue constricts over the implant and makes for a painful sensation in the chest.  Good argument for breast implant alternatives, right!?

At any rate, breast implants do need to be replaced, so women who have them must be prepared to pay for them several times in their lifetime. It’s not, unfortunately, just a one time deal, you will need to shell out a few times in your life to go under the knife!

Check out a new breast enhancement cream that can help you get larger breasts naturally.

A woman recently showed off her gigantic, ridiculously large, I’m sure record-setting breast implants to the media, claiming she had gotten them through multiple operations (duh).  Thank goodness the type of breast implants that she got which allowed her to expand to such epic proportions, called “string” breast implants, which we discussed here first several years ago.

String breast implants are another alternative in breast implants, unique in that they contain an absorbant material, which allows the implants to keep expanding and expanding, so that after the breast augmentation surgery, the breasts literally never stop growing.  This means that you could end up with breast implants that are so large they could endanger your health, and literally keep growing for the rest of your life.  OUCH! 

This woman, who is a stripper, has breast implants that are now a whopping fifty pounds.  That is just crazy ridiculous, and I’d imagine that it has to be pretty darn painful too.  Each of her breast implants weigh about 26 pounds so she clocks in actually a little over 50 pounds of implants, which makes her most likely a record holder!

The Food and Drug Administration actually banned string breast implants a few years ago because they are so dangerous and it is really largely unknown what type of long term effects they can have. I can’t imagine having implants that just keep on endlessly expanding and expanding, and am glad they made these types of implants illegal. 

I saw the picture of the woman, who is a really cute, petite dirty blonde, and they actually look freakish. It’s hard not to stare at them and wonder how she can stay upright. They are so big that you’d think she be constantly face-planting on the ground.  They are roughly the size of two large sized beach balls. Not the soccer ball size, the big, actual beach balls that you use to play with when you were a kid! 

To me, that sounds like a nightmare, and something that only dancers or someone who wants them as a novelty act would want. I imagine you would probably be a spectacle everwhere you went as well, which certainly doesn’t float my boat. But hey, to each their own!

We’ve got a new page for ladies who have been thinking about, or have ever been curious about, what the best breast implant options are that are out there right now.

You know that we have put forth quite a few great breast implant alternatives on this site to give you the options you want, especially if you want larger breasts but you want to be all natural – 100% you without any implanted devices. However, sometimes you just want to know what your options are in the surgical world of cosmetic enhancement.

We’ve put together a very informative article together with some partners in breast implant sleuthing about the best breast implants.

This includes features of implants like their appearance, how they feel, what the chances are that they can migrate or cause complications, and in general, which types of breast implants have the best reputation in which categories.

There is no perfect “all in one” implant yet, but they are working on getting them there. If they look and feel great, then sometimes thier complication risk is higher, and on the other hand, if they have very little risk and complications, then they may not feel or look quite as natural.

In other words, you usually have to give and take a little and ultimately decide what your highest priorites are when you are thinking about getting breast augmentation surgery. Again, here is our page on the best breast implants. Enjoy!

So I kept reading a little more about this “Awake” plastic surgery that’s being marketed now, and the more I read, the more I became a little more disenfranchised with the whole concept and that marketing angle used.

I also found that a lot of the doctors who are performing many of the plastic surgeries here in the US are actually not licensed and schooled as actual plastic surgeons.

Instead, they are general practitioners, or doctors from other backgrounds other than plastic surgery, who get certified to perform plastic surgery with a schooling that lasts not more than a few days for a hefty price tag.

From that little bit of schooling, and of course their background in what ever other medical field they started in, they are able to say they are “board certified”. That’s why it’s important to find out your doctor’s specific schooling and credentials.

Also, ask your doctor how many actual plastic surgeries he or she has performed, more specifically, what types of plastic surgeries and how many.

You should be going to someone who actually went to school and was board certified in plastic surgery, and also has years of experience in the field, and in the specific type of plastic surgery you are looking for. In other words, how many breast implant procedures has the doctor performed?

What kinds of reviews have patients given them? You can actually find this info online, and that way you can often see how they interacted with other patients as well as how happy the patient was overall.

In regards to getting surgery for much much cheaper than it usually goes for, such as with the Awake procedure, be very cautious if anything sounds way to good to be true when it comes to invasive surgery such as breast implant surgery.

It often means the doctor cannot command higher prices because of lack of experience or education. It also can be a red flag as to their integrity or reputation. It’s usually a sign to do a lot more homework on what you’re getting in to.

As far as the Awake surgery goes, it may be that some patients have had good experiences with it, but there is a growing opinion that it’s not safe and can definitely lead to physical pain and more trauma from a procedure. Definitely read up on this one if you plan on trying it out because of reduced cost or fear of general anesthesia.

Many women who receive breast implants are pleased with them. Some are not, but those are the ones who usually get revision surgery to make them bigger (often times women get them smaller, trying to be conservative, but then find they actually would have liked larger ones after the surgery in this bigger is better world), or they ultimately may have their breast implants taken out if they really just don’t like having them at all.

For women who keep their breast implants, and intend to keep them for the rest of their lives, a curious fact often escapes them until they are informed in their surgeon’s office (they should be, but I know women personally who have implants and their surgeon never told them this!).

This curious fact is that you do not just get breast implants once and you’re done for life. They actually need to be replaced roughly once every ten years because they wear out, just like any other piece of man made material.

The danger with not replacing them as they start to age and lose their integrity is that you may be more susceptible to breakage, leakage, and general deterioration of the implant, which means the walls of them are weaker and more likely to give way, leading to a dented or deflated appearance in the chest area.

You can usually go a little more than ten years though, and most surgeons will tell you that if you get them when you’re 26 or 27, you can usually wait until you’re forty years old to get replacement implants.

I’m not sure if the newer breast implants are made any more practical or lasting, as I have not really read or heard anything to that effect, but it would make sense knowing how indestructible they can make things these days.

With the cost of breast implants averaging about $6,000 now, it can be a considerable expense to add this surgery to your budget for every ten years or so, so most women usually will set money aside or plan to get another small loan out around the time they become due to be replaced again, so that they are not strapped financially when it comes time again.

I know I don’t usually have five or six grand just laying around, and I imagine most people don’t, so this is another consideration to make when deciding to get breast implants instead of going for a breast implant alternative.

Well, if this doesn’t sound like a supremely bad idea, I don’t know what does. There is a newer form of plastic surgery being marketed as “awake” plastic surgery, where the patient is not fully anesthetized into a twilight sleep, which is the most common way to get cosmetic surgery.

Especially very invasive plastic surgery such as liposuction or breast augmentation, where cannulas and scalpels are actually going into the skin and causing localized trauma to the tissue.

Of course, if one were awake, the pain would be almost too incredible to bear, so the twilight sleep anesthesia helps patients just sleep through the whole thing, minimizing the pain and trauma, until the anesthesia wears off.

Then, a very strong prescription pain medication like Vicodin, Percocet, or Darvocet is usually give to help minimize the pain that often accompanies the healing from the surgical wounds for a few days or weeks, depending on the individual and their rate of healing or their tolerance for pain related to such a traumatic event.

Well, the Awake plastic surgery is marketed as a cheaper version of harsh plastic surgeries like lipo and breast implant surgery, because the cost of anesthesia often makes up a fairly decent part of the cost of the whole surgery.

You still get anesthesia for the Awake plastic surgery, but you only get it on the parts of your body that are being worked on, instead of being put under completely. Well, some patients are saying that they feel everything when doing this type of surgery, and you should hear some of the horror stories coming out about it.

It’s like something out of a horror movie. You can feel everything that is being done to you apparently, in some cases. There are some very rare cases where some patients, even in the twilight anesthesia during traumatic plastic surgeries, feel everything, but technically still look like they are sleeping.

This one may be even worse than the awake one, because you cannot express to the doctor that you are in pain. That one is very rare, and only a small fraction of people have experienced it since you probably have to have some sort of predisposition to resisting anesthesia and pain dulling.

The Awake procedures have been met with much criticism, as some say that it is a way for Doctors who do not have access to anesthesiologists to get patients in at a lower cost and perform the work in their office, instead of in an outpatient operating facility which has certain safety requirements.

In other words, I’d stay as far away from the Awake procedure as you can – I’d pay the extra price for the normal procedure. Even better, look into these breast implant alternatives.