Do breast implants have an expiration date? Why do they break?

Aesthetician Dr. Tong Hai, Head of the Department of Microsurgery and Reconstruction, Center for Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery, National Burn Hospital (Hanoi), said that nowadays more and more women have the need to ask for breast augmentation.

Subjects who receive breast implants are usually the young age group of 18-35 years old, for the purpose of beauty. There are cases where parents proactively take their daughters who have just graduated from high school to get breast augmentation to make them more confident in life.

The type of implant used for breast augmentation is a gel-like silicone implant so it is very strong and durable, while the seawater silicone implant is only used in skin relaxation surgery. Therefore, according to Dr. Hai, most cases of sac rupture are due to strong external force impacting the chest area such as fall injuries, accidents, being beaten., the impact can be one or more times or more. due to a sharp object piercing the chest.

Cosmetic doctor Tong Hai noted that after placing breast implants, women should have regular check-ups every 5 years. (Photo: NK).

"Another possible cause of breast implant rupture is capsular contracture . When placing the implant, the body creates a thin fibrous capsule around the breast implant to create a cavity to fix the breast implant. Due to a certain cause (bleeding). , hematoma, inflammation, allergic reaction of the body, strong impact), this bag thickens, hardens, and shrinks more and more, causing breast deformation. If the bag is too thick and contracts very strongly, it will cause deformation of the bag breast silicone, which can cause the bag to rupture ," the expert said.

When ruptured, the silicone gel implant slowly spills out of the implant, possibly remaining in the breast implant capsule or infecting the tissue surrounding the implant outside the capsule, causing inflammation of the surrounding tissue.

In fact, there is no such thing as a broken breast implant on a plane like many people have rumored. Actions such as squeezing, colliding, falling can affect the breast implant if squeezing too hard is too painful, falling and hitting the chest against a hard object.

Dr. Hai also noted that all materials when put into the body have an expiration date. According to studies on the number of breast implants, experts recommend replacing the implants every 10 to 15 years.

Some late complications that can occur after implant placement are breast capsular contracture (causing breast deformation, asymmetrical, rough, painful breasts), difficulty breastfeeding or low milk secretion, causing loss of sensation. nipples, late allergies, hypertrophic surgical scars, bulges (thick, painful, itchy), secondary bleeding due to impact (causing bruising, infection).

Breast implants.

Therefore, after placing breast implants, women should be advised to have regular check-ups every 5 years . When there is a need for breast augmentation, women need to receive clear advice about implant materials, surgical procedures (incision lines, implant placement.), surgeons (certified, experienced.) , surgery at a facility licensed for cosmetic surgery, post-operative care, warranty, possible complications, treatment methods, cost.

For breast augmentation, women can choose other methods such as autologous fat injection, using breast implants, microsurgical flap surgery for some cases of mammary gland loss due to removal.

"Special note to women not to be cheap and listen to advertisements to inject fillers to enhance breasts . Filler injections are effective quickly, but are only suitable for small areas such as the nose, chin, cheeks, lips, ears., are not suitable for buttock and breast augmentation ," Dr. Hai emphasized.