Silicone implants

Silicone breast implants are one of the ways of enhancing the breasts following a mastectomy. They can also be used purely for cosmetic purposes. There are various costs of breast augmentation including financial and health related costs. In this article we discuss the cost of breast augmentation using the silicone implants.

Let’s begin by discussing the choices available for breast augmentation. Women can now choose from creams and gels that are associated with a low cost of breast augmentation but lower efficacy and satisfaction rates. Breast augmentation using implants has immediate results and is the most popular method. More recently, fat transfer breast augmentation has come up on the market, a process that has a higher cost of breast augmentation and higher satisfaction rate.

Most silicone implants are a silicone outer shell filled with the cohesive silicone gel. Some shells are made of polyurethane.

The total financial cost of breast augmentation using silicone implants can be broken down into a number of categories, including the

• Fees of healthcare practitioners particularly that of the surgeon and the aesthetician

• Cost of medications required during the surgery, including anesthesia, and during recovery 

• Devices including the implants and any post-surgery garments

• Any tests required for baseline measurements and post-operative monitoring.

All factors constant, the cost of breast augmentation with silicone implants is greater than that with saline implants since the silicone implants tend to be more costly. They provide a more natural feel than saline implants and tend to give better satisfaction rates.

There is also a health-risk cost of breast augmentation associated with silicone breast implants. Local complications of silicone implants include swelling and leakage. As the implant ages, the risk of these complications increases. The ageing implant is therefore associated with an increasing long term cost of breast augmentation. The silicone breast implants do not last a lifetime and eventually need to be replaced. Estimating the number of times you will have the breast implant replaced will assist you in calculating the cost of breast augmentation.

Other health related costs of breast augmentation using silicone implants include infection, permanent scarring, changes in the sensation around the breast and nipple and shifting of the implants. All these complications require further interventions that will add to the cost of breast augmentation.

While most new silicone implants rarely diffuse, they may leak if there is trauma to the breast, a mammography, scar formation or ageing of the implant. Since this is a health risk that needs to be attended to, it adds to the cost of breast augmentation. In many cases a ruptured or diffused implant in symptomless. In fewer cases, patients may experience lumps in the breast, a noticeably smaller breast size, and uneven breast shape, a distortion of the breast shape, pain or tenderness in the breast.

Another cost of breast augmentation using silicone implants is contraction. Contraction may arise as result of the body reacting to the foreign body that is inserted into it. This can manifest in the form of breast hardening, pain, sensitivity to touch, wrinkling of the breast, and change in the shape of the breast or shifting of the implant.