There are a number of myths associated with
breast implants. Everything from breast implants saving a woman’s life to grave robber’s finding silicone bags in caskets. What’s fact and what’s fiction? Well here are a few things that will help set the record straight:
1. Breast implants DO NOT increase the risk of breast cancer.
A committee at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found evidence that breast implants don’t cause breat cancer or the recurrence of breast cancer. However it’s still essential that you undergo routine screening for breast cancer.
2. Breast implants DO NOT weaken your immune system.
When your body detects something foreign in your system, such as a virus or bacterium, it responds by kicking your immune system into high gear. However, the IOM found no evidence to suggest this happens with breast implants. Nor did it find evidence linking implants to any autoimmune or connective tissue disorder.
3. Breastfeeding IS safe.
Your breast milk could absorb some of the silicone from breast implants but in an amount that's not considered harmful to your baby. Because breast milk is the best thing you can feed your baby, the IOM encourages women with breast implants to breastfeed if they're able to do so.
4. Are SILICONE breast implants safe?
In 1992, FDA Commissioner David Kessler warned about the possible dangers of silicone gel filled implants. As a result, use was restricted to patients in clinical trials of breast reconstruction after cancer surgery. Kessler was careful to point out that the ban was not because implants had been found dangerous, but because the manufacturers had not proved them safe. The rest of the world followed suit but within 2 years nearly every other country except the United States had relaxed the restrictions. This began the slow process of running serious studies on the safety of breast implants. The first study from the Mayo Clinic found no association between breast implants and twelve connective tissue diseases. Several other epidemiologic studies also failed to find a connection. In November 2006, that restriction was lifted when the FDA concluded that silicone implants were not associated with any underlying diseases, making them equally as safe as saline.
5. Yes you CAN go scuba diving or fly in airplanes after having breast implants.
The question is really what happens to an implant in an area of high or low atmospheric pressure. Experiments to test these situations have been performed. At high altitudes the implants expanded, but it occurs at too high an altitude for a person to live and the expansion is not enough to cause it to explode. Therefore there is no risk of a breast implant exploding inside of a living person. The reverse condition has also been tested and no examples of implants exploding or breaking have been noted during scuba diving.
6. Was a woman’s LIFE really saved by her breast implants?
True Fact. An Israeli woman’s breast implants saved her life when she was wounded in a Hezbollah rocket attack during Israel’s war with the Lebanese group. Doctors found shrapnel embedded in the silicone implants, just inches from the 24-year-old’s heart.
7. Grave robber’s find silicone bags in caskets.
Disintegration of the tissues of the body will occur much faster than the silicone in breast implants. Future societies will find many artificial objects in caskets, including metal pacemakers, ceramic hip joints, Gortex arteries and a myriad of small items such as surgical staples, screws and nails.
