By Caroline Glicksman, MD
ThePlasticSurgeryChannel.com
“It’s well known that breast implants will not last forever, however the longer an implant lasts, the fewer breast revision procedures a woman will need in her lifetime. Lower rupture rates have been demonstrated with the newest generation of shaped, highly cohesive gel implants,” says Dr. Caroline Glicksman, a board certified plastic surgeon from New Jersey.
If all gel implants are cohesive to some degree, why are the newer implants lasting longer? “The answer lies in just how cohesive the gel is. Silicone can be in the form of a thin liquid, like a hair gel, and go all the way to a solid form, like a kitchen cutting board. The newest highly cohesive gel implants are designed to be just soft enough to feel soft like a breast, yet firm enough to reduce ripples and wrinkles that are seen with less cohesive breast implants,” says Glicksman.
These newer shaped implants are adequately filled, explains Glicksman, so they are less likely to collapse on themselves. “This helps achieve a more predictable result and long lasting shape retention. The highly cohesive gel is also far less likely to migrate beyond the implant should the implant shell eventually fail,” says Glicksman.