Are Breast Augmentation Surgeries Safe?

Breast AugmentationThe word is out. American women want bigger boobs and we want them now. At least some of us must, because we spent roughly $1.5 billion on breast augmentation surgeries in 2007. To put it another way, Americans spent about $5 for for every American citizen. I don't even want to figure out how much that is per breast. Women (whatever their reason for wanting the surgery) need to look at the safety of the operations available.


The results seem mixed. I checked out breastimplantsafety.org, which seems to be an industry site trying to promote the idea that once breasts are bought and paid for, they are not only a healthy addition, but drastically improve the lives of every single woman who has ever had them. In all of the "testimonials" I read on the site, the only negative comment related to a woman whose breast implants weren't quite as bouncy after ten years and menopause.

Another article discusses a woman whose mother was a breast cancer survivor and had complications in the 70's after breast-implant. She recently had a  double-masectomy and made a film depicting real-life women's experiences with implants. One vocal opinion in the film is from Dr. Melmed, a plastic surgeon who believes that the current standards for implants are not up to par. In a rather chilling statement, he says, "If this was a surgery that was done to men, do you think they would tolerate procedures like this?"

Even within the film, there are different opinions about the safety of breast implants. Dr. Rose, who believes that breast implants are safe, blames all of the negative press on "ultra-liberal feminine groups". Whoa, there, doc, that doesn't sound like too strong of a defense to me. Dr. Rose further explains that the groups are "well-organized." Somehow, his argument doesn't seem to hold water (or saline for that matter.)

Currently, one problem that many seem to agree with is that there are no industry regulations ensuring that the women receiving breast implants get adequate information about the surgery beforehand. There is a government pamphlet available about the risks involved, but as of yet it is not mandatory reading for women seeking the procedure.

The risks listed are mostly due to leakage from the implants, which leads to sometimes strange results. Another possible risk associated with breast implants is that those who have had implants (often as a result of a masectomy) have to have MRIs instead of Mammograms because with the implants, there is a 30% possibility that any tumors will be missed.