Saline Implants

Saline Breast Implants

A saline-filled implant is filled with sterile saline, which is sterile water with the same concentration of salt as many body fluids. Saline breast implants come in both smooth and textured shells and models that are round or anatomically (tear-drop) shaped, as well as in low and high profiles and in several sizes. They are constructed of an elastomer shell with a single valve on the front surface of the implant. A saline-filled breast implant is usually empty before it is implanted into you. The doctor moves it into place (either over or under the muscle) and then fills it from a sterile bag of saline. The saline is injected using a syringe and tubing similar to the way saline is dripped into your arm when you have an intravenous line, and it will remain sterile all the way into the implant and stay that way.

Saline breast implants were on the market during the years before silicone-filled implants were reapproved in 2006. The main benefit of a saline implant is that saline is safe in the body. If the breast implant ruptures, the saline leaks out and is absorbed harmlessly. Unlike a silicone-filled implant, the implant deflates immediately or within a few hours and it is evident that a rupture has occurred.

A ruptured saline breast implant should be removed and replaced as soon as possible. Until the ruptured implant is replaced, you will have one deflated breast. You can use a "falsie"or a "cutlet", one of those silicone or rubber bits to place in your bra, to balance yourself until you get the problem fixed.

Another benefit of saline breast implants is that the amount of filling can be varied. Implants are made in several sizes and have a recommended fill level, the amount of saline that they should contain, as determined by the manufacturer. However, it is perfectly all right to overfill the implant by a small amount to get the right amount of breast augmentation. An implant that is labeled 350 cc (cubic centimeters, which is the same measurement as milliliters) can be filled to 365 or 370. This overfilling breast implants may be done to balance out natural breasts that are sized slightly differently.

There is a limit to how much overfilling can be done. Curiously, if your breast implants are underfilled, they may show visible ripples and gurgle, and if they are overfilled, they may show visible ripples and gurgle.

Some models of saline breast implants can also be adjusted in size several days to several months after they have been implanted. The Spectrum line of implants from Mentor Corporation is expandable. Each implant has a dime-sized filler port that is left in near the incision. Your surgeon will inject more sterile saline using this port until you are at the size you want. These implants can be a good choice if you are very small-breasted, but want to be augmented to a much larger size. The gradual filling will give your tissues time to adjust and not be as traumatized. It can help minimize the risk of developing stretch marks on the skin of your breasts.

Expandable breast implants come in several sizes, just like standard implants. However, they cannot be filled up beyond a certain point nor can their size be changed more than 6 months after surgery.  You have to have a general idea of what size you would like to be before your breast augmentation surgery so that a size and profile of implant can be chosen, then build on this size. These implants come in textured and smooth shells and can be placed either above or below the muscles.

With expandable breast implants, your plastic surgeon puts them in place and then fills them, but does not fill them completely full.  You will go back to the surgeon periodically for more saline over the next few weeks, usually in 50-cc increments. Most patients say that the additions cause them minor discomfort since the body has to adjust to the implant again. Once you've reached the size you want, the filler port is removed.

Spectrum implants cost somewhat more than regular saline breast implants. Until the filler port is removed (through the original incisions in a simple in-office procedure) you will be able to feel the port and the area may become chafed if your bra or clothes rubs up against them. There is a very small risk that the filler port may be extruded through the incision, but this happens in less than 1% of cases.

The minimum age for getting saline breast implants is 18, unless the implants are needed for reconstructive purposes. Cosmetic breast augmentation is not recommended for anyone under age 18 because they may not be mature enough to make a reasoned decision and because their bodies and breasts may not have reached their full adult size.