Plastic surgeon, full member of OPREKH Alexander Volodin tells how true the numerous myths about "silicone breasts" are
When it comes to aesthetic surgery, it is important to understand that the doctor works with healthy people and the purpose of the operation is to improve the quality of life, not to save it. This puts the issue of health safety at the forefront of plastic surgery. That is why in my work I pay such attention to careful preoperative planning and examination, and a prerequisite for my work in the clinic was to equip the surgical and intensive care unit with the most modern and premium anesthesia machines and medical equipment in general.
Since one of the main areas of my work is aesthetic breast surgery, the safety of the implants used is of particular importance. It should be noted here that modern implants of the latest generation used for breast augmentation are far from just "silicone balls", but high-tech products, in the development, creation, and research of which huge efforts and funds were invested both by private companies and independent groups of scientists … A highly cohesive gel inside implants is a chain of high-molecular compounds that, even if the membrane is damaged, do not spread in the tissues, but remain inside the implant and maintain their shape. This is precisely due to the fact that, in fact, at the microscopic level, the gel is a "ball" of silicone chains intertwined with each other. The shell itself cannot be damaged without direct mechanical action (in other words, pierced with a sharp object), and the stories about the fact that the implant can "explode" on the plane is nothing more than just a myth. It can be different for different models, be either smooth or textured, for the most dense ingrowth and fixation in tissues, which is extremely important for the stable position of anatomical implants.
The safety of implants both for the patients themselves and for subsequent pregnancy and breastfeeding has been proven in many global studies both in the USA and in Europe, in connection with which the implants of leading manufacturers have been certified and approved for use in all countries of the world.
However, recently, the situation with the recall of Allergan products both in Russia and in other countries has been relevant in the media. This happened in connection with the publication of data linking a very rare disease - anaplastic large cell lymphoma (alcl) with textured implants from Allergan. I want to note right away that for all the years in the world about 500 cases have been identified (not a single confirmed one in Russia), despite the fact that the number of people with implants in the world is more than 10 million only according to official data, in reality this number is much higher. From this, a simple calculation can be made - the chance of this complication is less than 0.0005%, that is, the chance of this is thousands of times less than any other, and it is impossible to identify the exact connection with the implants, and even more so with the shell and a specific model. Among these cases, there were implants from other companies, and the greater number of allergen implants is logically explained by the fact that these were one of the most widespread models in the world. Naturally, this is also understood in the controlling organizations, therefore, as such, there was no ban on Allergan implants, there was only a recommendation, and in the current conditions the company voluntarily recalled its products. As I said above, as well as in my @dr_volodin Instagram, all modern implants, with rare exceptions, have a very similar structure, both the shell and the gel, and the place of allergan implants on the market was instantly shared by other manufacturers. Based on this, as well as statistics, we can conclude that the real reasons for the reasons for the entire situation with these implants are far from any threat to health, but most likely in something completely different.
On my own behalf, I want to say that modern implants are the safest and most effective way of breast augmentation. And answering the question, would I put implants to one of my loved ones or would dissuade, I will answer - yes, if a person really needs it to gain inner harmony, because people do plastic surgeries first of all for themselves, and not for others. And in terms of safety, this is absolutely not the case when beauty requires sacrifice, the main thing is to find "your" doctor and clinic that would meet the high modern safety standards in aesthetic medicine.
