| Silicone Gets the Thumbs Up From the FDA : In the News... The FDA has officially lifted their almost fourteen year ban on the controversial silicone breast implant, which occurred amid health complaints from women who had received this type of implant through breast augmentation surgery. Now, the FDA is backing the return of the infamous breast implant, and two lucky manufacturers seem to have the corner on the newly revamped silicone market right now. A company called Inamed is currently one the sole producers of this supposedly newer and safer implant device for women who get breast implants, with the original manufacturer, Dow Corning, now a defunct company after being inundated with litigation over the silicone implant, having to file bankruptcy. The other manufacturer to gain FDA approval to start almost immediately marketing their implant was Mentor Corp. So why now has the FDA decided to lift this ban with only a few restrictions on the silicone implant? Well, although they have met with a lot of resistance from consumer advocacy groups who say the device is nowhere near proven to again be safe, the FDA has agreed to pretty offer the silicone option again to almost anyone who so desires them as opposed to other forms of natural breast augmentation. The only restrictions will be that the person opting for silicone over saline must be at least 22 years of age, which is when experts agree the breast has fully matured on a woman, and there are no restrictions at all if the surgery in reconstructive in nature. Reconstructive breast augmentations may be due to a cancer that resulted in removal or partial removal of a breast, or other circumstances where the breasts are seriously deformed or maimed. Many analysts believe that this new, almost carte blanche approval of the silicone breast implant will lead to the eventual takeover of saline implants, the only currently approved breast implant on the market. They believe this to be true because many women have actually requested to have the silicone implants, and most women want a more natural feel to their breast implants and look than the saline breast implant can currently offer in their eyes. The silicone offers a more natural breast enhancement because it is a gel-like substance which actually mimics the look of real breast tissue fairly well, and "moves" more like a real breast than saline does. They also are reported to drop more naturally and lay more naturally than a saline implant does. Not only that, but women with silicone breast implants report that both they and their partners think the silicone implant feels natural. Many silicone-implanted women complained of health issues and complications, and there was an abnormally high rupture rate on these implants, which led to lawsuits and FDA complaints, and ultimately led to the 14 year ban. It should be noted though is that years of research were conducted to see if silicone breast implants had any medical correlation to the reported health issues, which ranged from lupus and cancer, including autoimmune disease links and other complications which couldn't be described fully. The benefit that silicone has over saline is actually only visually cosmetic in nature. While saline is a completely inert salt solution which does no harm when absorbed by the body, silicone itself has never been proven to be totally safe when absorbed. Breast Augmentation California Located in San Mateo, California, Dr. Joel Beck offers a wide range of procedures at his plastic surgery center in Bay Area, including facelift, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty and tummy tuck. The FDA says research studies and tests show that the two new silicone implant offerings for breast |
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