General Breast Implant Facts

• Breast implants don’t last forever. You WILL have to deal with more surgeries in the future. It is estimated that implants should be replaced every 5-7 years.

• Thousands of women have reported symptoms and have been diagnosed with serious autoimmune and connective tissue disorders and diseases after receiving breast implants.

• FDA studies indicate that the risk of developing a connective tissue disorder or related disorder due to having a breast implant is low. However, these studies have not been large enough to resolve the question of whether or not breast implants slightly increase the risk of CTDs or related disorders. Researchers must study a large group of women without breast implants who are of similar age, health, and social status and who are followed for a long time (such as 10-20 years) before a relationship between breast implants and these diseases can conclusively be made. ¹³

• A preliminary FDA study found an association between self-reported fibromyalgia and extracapsular rupture diagnosed by MRI. ¹³

• Many women are sick from the hundreds of chemicals found in silicone and saline implants. Nobody really knows what affect silicone has on the body because solid, long-term research has not been done. The FDA is currently conducting this research, but we will not know for many years what the true effects are of breast implants on the human body.

• The FDA reports that there are two concerns associated with the effects on children:

                1.  The safety of the milk from mothers with breast implants for breast feeding children.

• The FDA says that it is not known if a small amount of silicone may pass from the silicone shell of an implant into breast milk. If this occurs, it is not known what effect it may have on the nursing infant. There are no current methods for detecting silicone levels in breast milk. ¹³

• Silicone leaching from the elastomer shell of a breast implant 
• The rupture of a silicone
• A gel bleed ³

• Implanted women have triple the risk of committing suicide as women without breast implants. This is possibly due to the complications that breast implants cause. ⁵

• Deformities such as holes or cracks were found in 41% of 1,717 breast implants after 6 years of use and in 95% after 12 years of use. ⁶

• Silicone elicits antibody responses and immunological abnormalities in the human body. ⁷  

• The activity of natural killer cells is "significantly suppressed" in at least 50% of women with silicone implants observed in a study; this puts the women at a higher risk of developing cancer. ⁷

• High levels of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANAs), immune markers associated with lupus erthematosus, were observed in 10 of 11 women with implants reporting autoimmune symptoms. ⁸

• In 2006 there were over 400,000 breast augmentation surgeries performed. However, not all of these breast augmentation surgeries were new implantees. It is estimated that nearly 50% of the over 400,000 were replacements due to rupture, deflation, capsular contracture, infection, migrating silicone, patient requesting size change, etc.

• The FDA also states that, for studies involving both silicone gel-filled and saline-filled breast implants, the capsular contracture rates were 36-81% for silicone-gel filled breast implants and 8-41% for saline-filled breast implants. ¹³

• The FDA reports that women of childbearing age should know that they may not be able to breast feed after breast implantation. An FDA report said that women with either silicone gel-filled or saline-filled breast implants showed lactation insufficiency (not enough milk) ranging from 28-64%.¹³

Silicone Implant Facts

• The new silicone implants are NOT a safer then the old silicone implants that were taken off the market.  The new silicones are the same as the old silicone (silicone is silicone and the chemicals are the same,) just remanufactured and put back on the market.  Women are having the exact same symptoms and diagnoses as 10 and 20 years ago. The FDA let these back on the market with only 3 years of testing, and said that they were “reasonably safe.”

• The shell surrounding a silicone gel-filled breast implant is a silicone polymer that can break down due to disruption of the shell or a time-related lipolysis reaction. Silicone gel from the filler can travel into the surrounding tissue. It can migrate to distant organs after it escapes from the capsule. Also, chemicals including silica and platinum can leach from the shell and migrate into the capsule surrounding the implants. Cells in the immune system called macrophages pick up these chemicals, then travel through the lymphatic system, and distribute them throughout the body to the peripheral nervous system, central nervous system, and organs. A chronic illness may develop that can affect every organ system in the body. ³

• When a gel bleed occurs in a silicone implant, the silicone gel in the implant slowly leaks through the semi-permeable membrane envelope. The gel then migrates to the capsular area around the implants. Cells in the immune system called macrophages pick up the gel, break it down into Silica and Silicon, and then distribute these chemicals throughout the body. The result is immune dysfunction. ³

• The FDA has made it clear that patients with silicone implants will need a breast MRI after three years, and every year after that for the rest of their lives. ⁴

• The FDA reports show that silicone gel that escapes the scar capsule surrounding the implant may migrate away from the breast. The free silicone gel may cause lumps called granulomas to form in the breast or in other tissues where the silicone gel has migrated, such as the breast tissue, chest wall, armpit, or arm. Silicone gel may also migrate to distant organs such as the liver. Migrated silicone gel may be difficult or impossible to remove. ¹³

• According to an FDA report, the diagnosis of rupture of a gel-filled breast implant is important because the release of silicone gel and fluid into the tissues may result in local complications. An intracapsular rupture may become extracapsular, and both are generally agreed to indicate the need for removal of the implant. The rupture rate over time (both intracapsular and extracapsular) of modern silicone gel-filled breast implants is currently not well characterized. The silent rupture rate over time is not known for modern silicone gel-filled breast implants. ¹³

• The FDA also reported that shells from removed silicone gel-filled breast implants were considerably weaker than shells before implantation. ¹³

Saline Implant Facts

• Saline implants are NOT a safer alternative to silicone.  The outer shell and valves of an implant slowly weaken, letting bacteria and mold into your body, causing many health problems. 

• Saline implants are encased in a silicone shell, making a whole new generation of women sick from the toxic chemicals that silicone is made from.

• The shell surrounding a saline-filled breast implant is a silicone polymer that can break down. Chemicals can leach from the shell and migrate into the capsule surrounding the implants.  Cells in the immune system called macrophages pick up these chemicals, then travel through the lymphatic system, and distribute them throughout the body.  Silica has been reported in lymph nodes in saline breast implant recipients who have never had silicone gel implants. A chronic illness may develop that can affect any and every organ system in the body. ³

• Studies have shown that saline breast implants are still not a perfected science. The valves in implants are faulty, the implant manufactures know they are faulty and they have not done anything to fix the problem. ⁹

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