Silicone implants may be a reality soon

[beautynova]

The FDA is moving ahead with allowing the sales of silicone implants in the United States. Despite strong opposition from several women's groups and concern expressed by experts, FDA has issued approvable letters to two companies.

Mentor Corporation received the letter in July this year while Inamed received a similar letter today. There are still serious doubts about the safety of silicone implants and that may be the reason why it has not issued an outright approval. There are still conditions to be met (not made public).

As you may know, silicone implants have a better look and feel but safety issues from the past continue to haunt the technology.

[beautynova]

There has been another development as silicone implants are ready for approval. A former Mentor employee has charged that the implants that women try are not the same that they will get implanted with. The engineer charges that the actual implants are likely to leak but the ones that women will use in the clinic to see if they fit have a feature that stops the leak.

Mentor is vehmently denying the allegation. The FDA, which generally favors businesses even when it means safety of American people is compromised, say that it is not bothered by safety questions raised.

[beautynova]

In a major setback to the approval of silicone implants, researchers have found that women with silicone implants have hundreds of times higher concentration of platinum (in a dangerous form) in their body fluids than women who did not have implants. The FDA has decided to investigate since it can not only affect their health but also impact their babies.

[beautynova]

After a 14-year old ban, the FDA has lifted the ban on silicone implants in the United States. Experts believe that the sales of these implants will soon surpass those of saline implants. Two companies that will make the silicone implants are Allergan Inc. and Mentor Corp.

There is no doubt that the silicone implants are superior to saline implants because the results are far more natural. However, these implants were banned after serious safety issues. Even now not all experts are convinced that all safety issues about them have been resoloved completely.

So what do you need to know?

These implants are fairly safe but like any other medical device, there are risks. Among the risks pointed out by the FDA are hardening of the breast tissue, pain, shape and position change, lost sensation, infection, calcium deposits, muscle pain, fatigue and the likelihood of follow-up surgeries.

Finally, listen to your plastic surgeon. If you think she or he is not being straightforward or you are in doubt, speak to another one. If still in doubt, don't go ahead with a breast augmentation. There are always padded bras.