• Mammograms can rupture breast implants.

• Saline breast implants make routine self-exams difficult and can obscure breast tissue during mammography

The Downside of Breast Implants

1. Breast implants last about as long as a new car. Some start to have problems after a few months or years, others last 10 years or more. You should count on at least one more surgery every ten years or so, if not more, to correct a complication or remove an implant. Remember, your insurance is not likely to pay for any medical expenses related to your breast implants unless you are a reconstruction patient (cancer survivor). And, many insurance companies won't pay to remove them even if you have serious medical problems.

2. The saline in your implant can make a noticeable "swooshing" sound.

3. Silicone from the envelope of the implant may leak into surrounding tissue for saline or silicone breast implants. Silicone gel implants will leak even more.

4. Capsular contracture is a common complication. It's when the scar tissue that normally forms around the implant tightens or squeezes it causing the breast to feel hard and look different from the other breast. This can be very painful and embarrassing. Surgery is often required and capsular contracture can happen again.

5. Women frequently report changes in nipple sensation – either numbness or hypersensitivity.

6. Breast implants can rupture during a mammogram. If you have implants, be sure to tell the technician. Implants can also make reading a mammogram more difficult and since more views are required, you'll be exposed to more radiation.

7. We don't know how children born to women with breast implants are affected. There have been many reports of children experiencing similar health problems as their mothers who have breast implants.

8. Saline in the implant can develop fungal growths, and if it leaks, can cause serious infection.

9. Health insurance carriers can raise your premiums, deny future coverage, or even drop you once you get breast implants or develop complications from breast implants.

10. Although the research is not conclusive, thousands of women have reported serious auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogrens Syndrome (severe dry mouth, eyes, etc.), fibromyalgia, Hashimoto's disease (chronic thyroiditis) and lupus after receiving breast implants.

11. Breast implants may make it difficult for you to breastfeed.

12. The shell of the saline implant is made of silicone and nobody really knows what affect silicone has on the body because solid, long-term research has not been done.

What Women Need to Know About Breast Implants

What You Need to Know Before You Get Implants