Are silicone breast implants safe?

Gel implants: the basics In the time since the moratorium was lifted, gel implants have gone from being used in my practice on rare occasion to being used in about half of the breast augmentations I perform.  Patient satisfaction has been excellent and I have been very pleased with the performance of the... more

The FDA recently (November 2006) issued an approval that will allow the unrestricted use of silicone breast implants for most women. In the early 1990’s, silicone breast implants were removed from the market due to safety concerns. However, data that has been gathered since that time has proven these... more

Dr. Jennifer Walden discusses silicone breast implants and provides a follow up visit for a satisfied patient in this ABC News clip.

Silicone gel breast implants were first developed in 1961. Because of some concerns in the 1980s about a correlation of silicone gel with some medical problems, silicone implants were removed from the market in 1993. This was done, unfortunately, before significant studies were performed to prove or disprove... more

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine concluded that silicone implants do not cause any major health problems.  Research and reports from the last decade have shown that silicone gel-filled implants do not pose additional risks to women’s short-term or long-term health. Silicone implants are... more

There are two types of breast implants available: saline and silicone. Saline implants are made of a salt-water solution whereas silicone implants are made of a silicon gel. The latter have come under much scrutiny in the U.S. during the early '80s. The Food and Drug Administration removed silicone implants... more

Since silicone implants were pulled by the FDA for general use, they have undergone rigorous scientific studies evaluating their safety. The results of these studies suggest that the implants are indeed safe and find no statistically significant increase in symptoms of Human Adjuvant Syndrome as compared to a... more

Saline and Silicone are both safe implants. However, the FDA is currently investigating the newest "hybrid" implant on the market. This IDEAL IMPLANT, is a baffled saline implant which was designed to look and feel more like a silicone implant, but without the silicone. You should check to see... more

According to the FDA, the newer generation silicone gel implants are safe for general use. No longer do patients have to fit into special catagories to have these products used rather than saline. There have been no medical devices studied more extensively by the FDA than gel implants.

Silicone breast implants were removed from the market back in the early 90's because of concerns that there was not adequte research to deem them safe, even though millions of women had them. Since that time, numerous prospective randomized trials were performed to confirm the saftey of silicone gel implants.