Breast Implants have been available for many years to correct breast asymmetries, enhance the existing breast volume, and to correct for postpartum volume loss.  Most women do experience a reduction in overall breast volume after having children.  Implants have been available in a variety of shapes and with various surface texturing.  Most implants are either filled with salt water (saline) or silicone gel.  In the latter part of 2006, the FDA approved silicone gel implants for the general population.

Now women presenting for elective surgery have the option of choosing either a gel silicone-type implant or a saline (salt-water-filled) implants.  There are certainly pros and cons regarding both types of implants.  Some of our existing patients have even switched from saline to gel implants due to this recent FDA approval. 

Saline implants have the advantage of being very easy to insert through a small incision (usually an inch and a quarter or so in length).  The gel implants, unfortunately, are prefilled at the factory and require a slightly larger incision, depending on the volume of the implant.  Sometimes with a larger gel implant an incision in the fold underneath the breast is required to provide ample access for the placement of this implant.  The newer gel implants have “memory gel.”  This newer type of silicone gel has more cross-linkages and does not tend to flow like the old-style gel.  Even if the implant is ruptured or has a defect, the gel tends to keep its original shape and integrity.  The saline implant, however, will deflate rapidly if a small defect or hole in the implant is created.  This is somewhat of a paradox since patients who have gel implants might not know if they had a ruptured implant without having an MRI or similar study.  The woman with a saline-filled implant would know within a week if the implant had a small defect, since the salt water would rapidly begin to leak out and the breast would deflate.

Patients who have recently switched from saline to gel implants have been quite favorably impressed with the feel and appearance of the breast.  This is especially true with individuals who have very little breast tissue and are extremely thin.  Some patients with saline implants have had problems with palpability of the implant with rippling or wrinkling which was corrected once they had a thicker, heavier gel-type implant placed.

Saline implants are approximately $1000 for a pair of implants.  Unfortunately, the gel implants are essentially twice the cost of saline implants.  Currently about 95% of the patients having elective breast enhancement or augmentation surgery are selecting saline implants.

If you have further questions regarding the differences between saline and gel, we certainly have some very detailed information here in the office which we can forward to you, which further delineates the pros and cons of the two different types of implants.