Silicone breast implants have made headlines lately due to two particular inferior manufactured implants being sold overseas.
While there are precautions that patients can take to be assured of the quality and safety of their breast implants here in the United States, it does raise some important safety points that women considering a breast enlargement procedure should heed.
Breast implants are medical devices that are implanted under the breast tissue or under the chest muscle to increase breast size or to rebuild breast tissue after a mastectomy or other damage to the breast.
Here in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) carefully monitors and inspects silicone implants to ensure purity of the silicone and durability.
FDA-approved breast implants are very safe and the only ones available for sale in the United States.
If you are working with a reputable, board-certified plastic surgeon, the only implants that should be used in your enlargement procedure are those approved by the FDA.
Recently, silicone implants manufactured by Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP) in France and by Rofil Medical in the Netherlands have been withdrawn in Europe due to their inferiority and high rupture rate compared to other silicone gel breast implants.
However, this also points to another concern regarding the high number of Americans who travel abroad for cosmetic procedures that may cost significantly less than here in the United States.
While the procedures themselves may cost a patient less initially, the dangers far outweigh the potential financial savings.
It's important for patients to have direct access to their cosmetic surgeon following a procedure in the event of any problems or concerns.
Follow-up appointments are also necessary to ensure that the body has responded well and is healing appropriately following the cosmetic procedure.
If you have a procedure abroad, you no longer have convenient access to the surgeon to take care of any problems that may appear.
In addition, medical care and products are regulated differently in other countries, sometimes to lesser standards than here in the United States.
This means you could be at higher risk for complications or inferior products when you have cosmetic procedures overseas.
Before undergoing a breast enlargement procedure using implants, talk to your cosmetic surgeon about the implants themselves.
The two types of breast implants approved for sale in the United States include saline-filled and silicone gel-filled.
Both types have a silicone outer shell.
They vary in size, shell thickness and shape.
It's important that you can trust your plastic surgeon and have the confidence that you receive quality medical materials along with quality medical care.
Using overseas physicians and products could increase your medical risk and complicate your medical care experience.
While there are precautions that patients can take to be assured of the quality and safety of their breast implants here in the United States, it does raise some important safety points that women considering a breast enlargement procedure should heed.
Breast implants are medical devices that are implanted under the breast tissue or under the chest muscle to increase breast size or to rebuild breast tissue after a mastectomy or other damage to the breast.
Here in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) carefully monitors and inspects silicone implants to ensure purity of the silicone and durability.
FDA-approved breast implants are very safe and the only ones available for sale in the United States.
If you are working with a reputable, board-certified plastic surgeon, the only implants that should be used in your enlargement procedure are those approved by the FDA.
Recently, silicone implants manufactured by Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP) in France and by Rofil Medical in the Netherlands have been withdrawn in Europe due to their inferiority and high rupture rate compared to other silicone gel breast implants.
However, this also points to another concern regarding the high number of Americans who travel abroad for cosmetic procedures that may cost significantly less than here in the United States.
While the procedures themselves may cost a patient less initially, the dangers far outweigh the potential financial savings.
It's important for patients to have direct access to their cosmetic surgeon following a procedure in the event of any problems or concerns.
Follow-up appointments are also necessary to ensure that the body has responded well and is healing appropriately following the cosmetic procedure.
If you have a procedure abroad, you no longer have convenient access to the surgeon to take care of any problems that may appear.
In addition, medical care and products are regulated differently in other countries, sometimes to lesser standards than here in the United States.
This means you could be at higher risk for complications or inferior products when you have cosmetic procedures overseas.
Before undergoing a breast enlargement procedure using implants, talk to your cosmetic surgeon about the implants themselves.
The two types of breast implants approved for sale in the United States include saline-filled and silicone gel-filled.
Both types have a silicone outer shell.
They vary in size, shell thickness and shape.
It's important that you can trust your plastic surgeon and have the confidence that you receive quality medical materials along with quality medical care.
Using overseas physicians and products could increase your medical risk and complicate your medical care experience.