Cosmetic Breast Surgery with Implants
Any operation on the breast to improve appearance is regarded as cosmetic breast surgery and using breast implants has been quite standard for over 50 years, when it is required. This is most commonly to enlarge a small breast or to fill an empty breast. But as so many women have breast implants now, a large part of a cosmetic breast surgeon’s job is renewing breast implants.
Which Implant Manufacturer Should I Choose?
Some surgeons or clinics are commercially tied to a manufacturer, and you may not have a choice. So do your research, as you want what is best for you, and not what is best for the cosmetic breast surgeon or his hospital’s finance department. When making a choice the factors that should be considered relate primarily to safety and aesthetic goals. There are many manufacturers of cosmetic silicone breast implants and they will all produce quite convincing sales brochures. We all remember the PIP breast implant scandal, and if you look at their sales brochure, which was distributed by Clover Leaf, it reported that those implants had all the bells and whistles you could want. So you need to ask your surgeon what they recommend and why and you should request a discussion about the different manufacturers. If your surgeon is unable to talk freely and easily about the different products you should seriously question if you are in the right place. The mainstream manufacturers that are used in the UK, include Mentor and Allergan. But there are others such as Silimed, Blite (recently acquired by Polytech), Polytech, Nagor, Sebbin, Eurosilicone, and Motiva. Not all manufacturers are FDA approved but to be distributed in the UK they must have the European CE mark for Class 4 Medical Devices. FDA approval is a more lengthy and costly process so that many manufacturers do not pursue that route. But one of the most useful sets of data available regarding implants is derived from the FDA post-marketing approval studies. There is mature data for Allergan and Mentor in this regard that spans 10-years. Depending on what my patients need will dictate the advice I give towards which manufacturer to use. It is not a case of simply using one and only one. For example, if a patient is very sporty or they had breast sag, they may well prefer the lightest weight implant and choose the BLite product as it is around 30% lighter than the same size pure silicone implant.
So Which Breast Implant Do I Choose?
Each manufacturer will generally have a good range of different silicone implants. This will include a large choice of different profile shapes- this refers to the front to back depth in relation to the width and height. Implants can be a shallow shape often referred to as low or medium projection, or can be much more rounded, referred to as extra high projection (more like an orange cut in half). And with each implant profile your cosmetic breast surgeon will need to choose between the round base and shape or the anatomical base and shape. There are pros and cons to these so expect detailed discussion there. Furthermore, one of the critical choices relates to the type of textured surface the manufacturer makes. These are often quite different from one manufacturer to another, but it can influence potential issues like rotation risk of a tear drop implant, malposition, or capsular contraction risk for a sub glandular implant. It could even affect the rarest risk of implant lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), with the very highly textured (very high surface area implant textures) perhaps being more of a concern, and so this in my mind is a fundamental discussion that must be had in every case. Of course most but not all manufacturers also sell smooth shelled silicone implants, and these are a more popular choice than ever in the huge USA market where over 80% of patients having cosmetic breast surgery opt for that type. It is also a trend that I have adopted where we are placing more smooth shelled silicone implants in the preferred dual plane/behind the muscle position, lowering capsular contraction risk and producing exceptional cosmetic results. The smooth implant is extremely popular especially as these clearly have the lowest risk of BIA-ALCL. Even though an implant lymphoma risk is very rare it is still something that unsettles people, and choosing a smooth shell implant might be the way to go if that is the overriding anxiety. What is vital is that your cosmetic breast surgeon knows in depth about all these aspects, can use a wide variety of different manufacturer’s products as if it were second nature and help choose the right product to match the patient’s desires and their cosmetic problem.
Need To Find Out More About Cosmetic Breast Surgery In Leeds?
Please contact us using the web site contact form to have a one to one with an experienced cosmetic breast surgeon! Find out more about Philip Turton and his expertise in cosmetic breast surgery here. There are many reasons why to choose us, and we are certain that a detailed review of our dedicated web site on cosmetic breast surgery will reveal why we feel we have the essential expertise that separates us from other centres or small clinics, with a safety first approach that is evidence based. Of note is that we only use the two leading hospitals in the North of England that have an exceptionally good reputation for cosmetic breast surgery. In addition they are independently verified by the regulator as Outstanding or Good in their reports!