Park Ridge, IL (PRWEB) November 17, 2011

Dr Sam Speron states that breast augmentations are undoubtedly one of the most common cosmetic procedures. Women are given the options of choosing either silicone or saline for their implants. Previously banned for use in the United States, silicone breast implants are now considered safe and have become the most popular option for breast augmentations. The Food and Drug Administration has recently done another study on silicone implants and determined that they are still safe to use and has not changed it's position.

?The FDA re-approved silicone implants on November 17, 2006? says Dr. Sam Speron, Chicago breast augmentation expert and consumer advocate. ?Even though I was involved in the silicone implant studies, even up to the last few years around 80% of women chose to go with saline implants for their cosmetic breast augmentations. This year, it has completely turned around with about 75% of my cosmetic breast enhancement patients choosing silicone breast implants.?

Dr Sam Speron says that women usually choose to go with silicone breast implants due to a more natural look and feel of the implant. Silicone implants have a lower risk of wrinkling and rippling but a higher risk of capsular contracture. The FDA also recommends patients that get silicone implants get routine MRI exams. The current breast implant manufacturers, Allergan and Mentor, charge almost double for silicone breast implants (compared to saline implants). In spite of all this, silicone breast enlargement is definitely on the rise and now the preferred choice of patients.

Dr. Speron is the founder and medical director of Dr. Speron Plastic Surgery, SC. He is board certified with the American Board of Plastic Surgery and an active member of both the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS).

For more Chicago breast augmentation surgery or Chicago cosmetic surgery information, please visit our website at http://www.prplastic.com, call us at 847.696.9900 or email us at prplastic(at)yahoo(dot)com. To order physician-strength skin care, anti-aging or herbal supplements, please see our website at prskincare.com.

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Although each culture has its own idea of what is erotic and beautiful, in the United States and other western countries, as well as many other parts of the world, a woman's breasts are undoubtedly her most prized physical asset. One need only to turn on a television, go to the movies or flip open a magazine for proof that cleavage and breasts reign supreme in America, Europe and most of Asia.

Unfortunately, a very large number of women are dissatisfied with the size and shape of their breasts. This can be extremely frustrating, particularly because the shape of the breasts can be difficult to alter.

If a woman is unhappy with her legs, she can exercise and change her diet. If she is unhappy with her breasts however, she may feel that her options for changing them are out of her control. However, that is not true - today's women are in a position to take control and enhance both the size and the shape of their breasts.

There are basically two effective options available to women today for enlargement and enhancement of their breasts:

1. Breast Augmentation Surgery

2. Natural, Herbal Breast Enhancement Pills

Other methods, such as massaging with creams or gels and exercises, are not really effective and do not produce significant results by way of enhancement of the breasts.

Breast Enhancement through Surgery

When people think of breast enlargement today, they most often think of surgery. In the 1950s, they may have thought of exercise or push-up bras. In centuries past, they may have thought of herbs like fenugreek and hops flower when thinking of breast enhancement. Today, most women think of implants.

The most common implants these days, of course, are filled with saline. Years ago, implants were usually filled with silicone. Silicone is now considered by most doctors and patients to be too dangerous to use. If a saline implant bursts or leaks, the salt water will be absorbed into the body without great harm.

There are four different surgical options for inserting breast implants:

1. They can be inserted through incisions in the creases underneath the breasts.

2. They can be inserted through the skin in an incision made around the nipple.

3. The surgeon makes an incision near the armpits, and inserts the implants through that.

4. The newest and most expensive technique is endoscopic surgery. In this procedure, an endoscope enables the doctor to insert the implants through a tiny incision in the woman's belly button. That breast implants can be inserted through a woman's navel is amazing, but true.

Problems with Breast Enlargement Surgery

Despite the widespread prevalence of surgery as a means for breast enhancement, there is no denying that the results are often less than satisfactory. Not only do implants frequently leak, necessitating further surgery, but they often just don't look very good. Capsular contracture frequently sets in, squeezing the implant and resulting in a hard, fake-looking breast.

After breast enhancement surgery, some women experience loss of sensation in the nipple and breast areas. Loss of sensation results from damage to nerve endings in the breast and nipple. This loss of sensation may be temporary, but it can also be permanent. The surgical technique used plays a role in this factor.

Another disadvantage of breast augmentation surgery are the very high costs, together with the potential risks of any form of surgery.

Alternative Methods of Breast Enhancement - Natural Herbal Pills

Herbal breast enlargement options are now becoming more widely available, as women seek alternatives to surgery. A variety of natural breast development products can be found on the market, including pills, powder supplements, and creams.

The popular herbal breast enlargement solutions are mostly in pill form, making them both portable and easy to ingest. Women who have tried natural breast enhancements have reported that their breast size has increased by up to two full cup sizes. Although initially met with skepticism, these pills are actually producing some excellent breast enlargement results in women. There is a reason for their increasing in popularity and recognition - they work, and they work well on most women.

The reality is that there thousands of women out there who have successfully enlarged their breasts anywhere from half to two cup sizes (and even more in some cases), by using a breast enhancement pill.

Modern Breast Enlargement Pills

Today's breast enhancement pills use sound science, along with some ancient ingredients, to help enlarge and enhance women's breasts naturally, without side effects. They are much less expensive than surgery, as well as being much safer.

These pills are usually made of non-hormonal plant estrogen, or phytoestrogen. The phytoestrogen activates the prostaglandins in the woman's breasts. Prostaglandins, first discovered in the 1930s by Swedish scientist Ulf von Euler, regulate and communicate with glands. The phytoestrogens encourage breast gland growth, similar to the growth which naturally occurs during puberty.

Herbal breast enhancement can really be an excellent natural, non-surgical option for women desiring breast enlargement. Not only that, the pills can help put some extra padding on women who currently do have implants, to create a more natural look, feel and contour.

If you are one of the several thousands of women worldwide who are unhappy about the size and/or shape of their breasts, today you have a real non-surgical option available – Breast Actives by Breast Gain Plus

Public opinion and recent scientific studies have once again swung the pendulum in favor of breast implants in the United States. After the FDA restricted the use of silicone implants in 1992, plastic surgeons experienced a precipitous drop in the number of breast augmentations they performed. The government's concern at the time were reports that silicone implants were causing generalized symptoms in some women (Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other auto immune diseases).

In the years that followed multiple large studies were performed at leading medical centers yielding consistently favorable data. In 1997, the Institute of Medicine independently reviewed this data for the US Congress and found conclusively that there was no evidence that silicone implants were responsible for any major diseases of the body and that these devices did not increase the risk of primary or recurrent breast cancer. Since then, many other studies have solidified these conclusions reassuring the public that silicone and saline implants are indeed safe.

With this increased confidence in implant technology, more women chose to have breast enhancement in the year 2004 than ever before. In fact, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported that 254,140 American women underwent the procedure in 2003 compared to 32,607 in 1992. This number continues to rise steadily and Charlotte is no exception. Breast Augmentation has become one of the most commonly performed cosmetic procedures in the US.

Improving breast contours and unevenness may seem trivial and vain at the surface, but the emotional implications are far reaching. The boost in self-confidence that we witness in our patients makes this procedure extremely rewarding. A significant number feel a lack of femininity and have an altered body image similar to our mastectomy patients before their reconstruction. Those that are severely underdeveloped avoid bathing suits and instead wear bulky t-shirts to obscure their flat chests.

Their gratitude after the surgery is unparalleled and they invariably become an important source of referrals to our growing practice. These days, once women have decided to undergo augmentation they are faced with a plethora of options: silicone vs. saline, round shape vs. contoured, smooth surface vs. textured, pre-filled vs. inflatable, under the chest muscle vs. over, in the hospital vs. the office, sedation vs. general anesthesia; not to mention the different size implants and manufacturers available, as well as which incision to use and whether or not other procedures are required. It can become overwhelming?

First, the issue of silicone vs. saline implants. Although the Institute of Medicine unequivocally ruled out the association between silicone gel implants and systemic diseases, local problems with the breasts such as silicone leaking and hardening, while not life-threatening, were concerning to this committee. My personal preference is to use saline implants. These can and do eventually deflate but the salt water used to fill them is completely harmless to the body and gets reabsorbed, making them safer than silicone implants.

Furthermore, unlike saline deflations where the patient soon notices a decrease in size and seeks attention, the ruptured silicone implant can go undetected for years until the breast starts hardening and becomes painful.

The next choice to be considered is smooth vs. textured (rough) surface. My bias has changed in the last decade from mostly textured to mostly smooth implants. Research in the early 90's indicated that textured silicone implants hardened less frequently than smooth ones. It may not be the case for saline implants however. Some studies show a small difference, others no difference.

When it comes to choosing pre-filled (fixed volume set by the manufacturer) or inflatable implants (inserted empty into the breast and then inflated in-situ), I prefer the latter. Using an inflatable prosthesis allows fur a much smaller incision to be made and more flexibility in choosing the final size, especially when the breasts are uneven to begin with.

Placing the implant behind the chest muscle (pectoralis major) or in front is another intensely debated issue. More surgeons, as I do, feel strongly that behind the muscle is better. The major advantages is a lower rate of hardening, better preservation of nipple sensation, improved breast contour (the edges of the implant are obscured by the muscle) and improved visualization on mammogram.

The disadvantages are that there is more pain after the surgery, the breasts look fuller at the top the first month and the implants occasionally "bounce" when the chest muscle is contracted forcefully (as in some body builders). Despite these inconveniences, behind the muscle is definitely the way to go.

Which incision to use for placing the implant, by contrast, is much less important. Excellent results can be obtained with all four approaches: under the fold, in a crease of the armpit, through the areola (nipple) or the belly button. I generally prefer the armpit crease incision as it is a more direct route behind the muscle and leaves no scar on the breast itself Nipple sensation and breast feeding potential remains intact.

The two dominant manufacturers of implants in the US, McGhan and Mentor, are equivalent in most respects. As to the size of the implant, the majority of our patients are conservative: wanting simply to restore fullness after having children or slightly enhancing underdeveloped breasts. The width of the chest, how much breast tissue exists, and what the target cup size is desired, are the major factors in choosing the volume in "cc's" of the implant.

The aesthetic "norm" in the US appears to be a full "c" cup unlike Europe and South America where B/small C is more common. Although not an exact science, the majority of patients are content with their final volume. In our one year post-op survey that patients fill out, 91% of women are happy with their size. 6% would have liked to have gone bigger, and 3% smaller.

Be knowledgeable about the complications that can arise. No surgery is without risks. but these should be minimal.

Finally, take your time to do the research. Don't rush into the surgery. Know that it is safe and ever-more popular, but do it for the right reasons: mainly to feel better about yourself.

If you are considering breast augmentation surgery, your most important decision is selecting a plastic surgeon with a record of good safety and results. Next, you have to make decisions about whether you want to have your breast augmentation with silicone gel or saline breast implants. This decision will affect your health and your results, so it is important to take care when making it and gather as much information as possible.

Using Informed Consent Documents

In order to receive FDA approval, all manufacturers of medical devices must perform a series of tests to prove their device is both safe and effective for the intended application. Then the manufacturers must create what are known as informed consent documents which describe the device, including its benefits and risks, in an objective fashion so that you, as a potential recipient of the device, will know what you might expect if you agree to have them.

Your plastic surgeon of choice should give you these documents during your consultation, but you don't have to wait until then. The FDA requires that device manufacturers make the informed consent documents available on their websites.  If you go to the Mentor LoveYourLook.Com site or Allergan's Natrelle.com, you can find these documents.  On the Mentor site, you have to scroll all the way down below the site map and look for the two large horizontal "download" links. On the Allergan site, scroll to the bottom and click on the safety information tab on the brown horizontal bottom navigation.

Learning about Risks

You can count on your surgeon and the breast implant manufacturers to tell you elsewhere about the benefits of breast augmentation, but there is nowhere like the informed consent documents for learning about risks.  Here, the FDA requires that manufacturers be open and honest about risks. Each of the risks will be described in detailed but plainspoken language so you will understand what complications may follow your breast augmentation. The FDA also requires that complication rates from actual studies be presented.

Below is a summary of some of the complication rates for silicone and saline breast implants by both major manufacturers for primary (first-time) breast augmentation patients:

Mentor Saline (1yr)

Mentor Saline (3yr)

Mentor Silicone (3yr)

Natrelle Saline (1yr)

Natrelle Saline (3yr)

Natrelle Silicone (7yr)

Capsular contracture

4.6%

9%

8.1%

7%

9%

15.5%

Implant removal

3.6%

8.1%

5.1%

6%

8%

14%

Implant leakage

1.4%

3.3%

0.5%

4%

5%

8.6%

Infection

0.9%

1.7%

1.5%

2%

<1%

<1%

Reoperation

N/A

13.2%

15.4%

N/A

21%

30%

Rippling

N/A

20.8%

<1%

N/A

11%

1.2%

There are a few important things to note about these particular complication rates.  First, note that these studies are several years old, and that minor technological improvements and education of doctors about the best procedures may have led to their reduction. Second, note that complication rates are highly variable between doctors. Ask any doctor you are considering about his or her personal complication rates. Finally, remember that although these are scientifically-run studies, they are still only studies with relatively small populations and might not be completely accurate. An example of variability can be seen in looking at the implant leakage rates for Mentor and Natrelle silicone implants. The above rates are for primary breast augmentation, and seem to imply that Mentor implants have a much lower rate of rupture, but if we look at secondary breast augmentation rupture rates, the trend is reversed.  For Mentor implants, the rupture rate was 7.7%, while for Natrelle implants the rupture rate was 0% among secondary breast augmentation patients.

Overall, though, note that visible rippling is a significant risk for saline breast implants, and that reoperation is a significant risk for all breast implants, with a risk rate running from 13-30%. If you are considering breast augmentation, you must consider the possibility that you will need a second (or even third) operation and discuss this possibility with your surgeon.

If you would like to learn more about silicone and saline breast implants for breast augmentation surgery in Virginia, Maryland, or Washington, D.C., please consult the website of The Austin-Weston Center for Cosmetic Surgery today.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/plastic-surgeries-articles/silicone-and-saline-breast-implants-making-an-informed-decision-1429288.html

If you are planning on breast augmentation soon you will be facing an important question as to what type to get, saline or silicone breast implants.  There are a lot of benefits to silicone that have caused women to choose it as a preference not only in the United States but around the world as well.  However before you decide too soon you will want to know that silicone implants will cost about a thousand dollars more so you must decide if the benefits are worth it.

While there has been a storm of controversy has surrounded the use of silicone over the past few decades, the FDA has approved them for use again after fourteen years of clinical trials.  Available in the United States since 2006, they have been the implant of choice around the world. 

You should understand that the silicone breast implants of today are significantly different than those used in the early years of breast augmentation.  Now known as fifth generation implants, the silicone filler today is called cohesive gel.  The benefit to this type of silicone is that is thick and will hold together even upon rupture.  Even if cut in half, the silicone gel holds to the implant shell which also thicker and more durable than in earlier generations.

Most women and plastic surgeons will say that using silicone implants in breast augmentation will result in a fuller more natural looking breast.  Certainly this is one of the biggest concerns in breast augmentation is to create a breast that looks and feels as though it is natural.  Additionally, many will also say that it results in fuller cleavage than with a saline implant.

There is also a benefit in that silicone implants will not typically have the rippling effect that a saline implant might have.  Some women have noted that a saline implant will even make a sloshing sound during movement which of course does not occur with a silicone breast implant.

Silicone breast implants arrive to the operating room already prefilled with a predetermined amount of filler.  This makes it even more important for you to have decided which breast implant size is right for you.  Given the cost you will incur with silicone breast implants it is far more important that you choose the right breast implant size ahead of time.

Silicone implants are available in a wide range of sizes from as small as 100cc to as much as 800cc or larger.  The most common sizes of implants tend to be 300cc, 350cc, and 400cc.  Wear breast implant sizers ahead of time to decide which breast implant size is going to be right for you.

There are many distinct advantages to using cohesive gel silicone breast implants.  However understanding that the cost is significantly more you will want to plan even more carefully so that you get the results that you want.

Whether you are considering 34A to 34D breast implants, or 36B to 36D breast implants, the Purlz Breast Sizing System has the appropriate implant sizers for almost everyone.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/plastic-surgeries-articles/what-are-the-benefits-to-silicone-breast-implants-1401255.html