Silicone Breast Implant safety

It took more than 10 years and millions of dollars to address this question. The answer came first from the famous 1999 institute of medicine report on the safety of breast implants. The report addressed the breast cancer issue as well as the other related condition e.g fibromyalgia etc. There was no relationship between silicone implants and these medical conditions.

It took the FDA another 8 years to clear the silicone implants for use without clinical trials. The issues related to the FDA hearings were mainly the incidence of reoperation and capsular contraction. The incidence of both went down markedly over the last few years.

Now, breast augmentation is a surgical procedures that does have risks like any other procedure. The fact is that the majority of patients are pleased and have no problems. Best of luck!

The FDA re-approved silicone implants for breast augmentation in 2006. There is an arbitrary age limit, however.  You cannot receive silicone implants if you are under 22 years of age.

Silicone is ubiquitous in nature.  All of us are exposed to silicone during our life time. 

Previously, and this was one of the reasons the FDA removed silicone implants from the market from 1992-2006, was the concern about silicone causing immune disorders (arthritis, lupus, etc.). However, numerous studies, comparing tens of thousands of patients found no difference in the rate of immune disorders in patients with or without silicone implants.

So, the short answer is YES...silicone is safe.

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The silicone gel implants were removed from the market for cosmetic surgery indications in the past, not because they were "unsafe" but because there was not enough evidence based on clinical studies to show that they were indeed safe. After accumulating enough evidence in clinical studies, the implants were re-relased onto the cosmetic market 3 years ago. The FDA allowed them to be on the market only because the evidence showed the safety & efficacy of silicone implants.