Silicone v. Saline Implants

During a breast augmentation consultation we spend time discussing the pros and cons of silicone v. saline implants. I think there are distinct pros and cons to each one. The advantages of silicone are the look and the feel. In general silicone implants feel better and usually rate higher in appearance than saline. They have fewer issues with wrinkling and rippling. The disadvantages of silicone are that they are slightly more expensive and also have MRI’s recommended for surveillance for silent ruptures. The old silicone implants if they ruptured they had a tendency of leaking out. The newer silicone implants are much more cohesive. We show ladies implants that have been punctured and demonstrate how they do not leak out of the shell. The MRI’s are recommended for detection of ruptures that cannot be otherwise noticed.

The pros and cons of saline are the exact opposite. The advantages are that they are a little less expensive and they are very easy in detecting ruptures; they go flat. The disadvantages are the look and the feel. They have more problems with wrinkling and rippling.

The shells of the implants are actually both the same. From a safety point of view I feel that they are both very safe. There has been exhaustive studies done showing that silicone implants are in fact safe.

How much of an advantage silicone is over saline for the look and the feel depends on the lady. The thinner the lady with smaller the breasts the more advantage there is to silicone. A lady who is very thin with very little breasts tissue will offer little nature “camouflage” with her own tissue to conceal the fact that she has an implant. Ladies that have a great deal of breasts tissue or subcutaneous fat will benefit less from the silicone in terms of look and feel.