The shells of breast implants are made of a silicone elastomer and are very durable. However, breast implants are not considered permanent medical devices and do have a failure rate. That failure rate is ~1% per year, for the first ten years. After a patient’s initial recovery, I do not place restrictions on activity for women with breast implants.There have been rare instances where a woman with saline breast implants will report an implant failure following trauma to the breast. Examples include women who have undergone mammography or a thoracic chiropractic adjustment, and then several hours or days later noticed that one breast was smaller in size. In these situations the failure has been attributed to the mammogram or the chiropractic manipulation. But the overwhelming (emphasis on “overwhelming”) majority of women do not have problems with mammograms or thoracic adjustments, and we do not generally believe that either will alter breast implant location or integrity.It is important to speak with your mammographer and chiropractor about your breast implants. Special techniques are utilized during the mammogram, but these are aimed at visualizing as much breast tissue as possible. I’m sure your chiropractor could take precautions when adjusting the thoracic region by using additional padding and more gentle techniques to help protect implant integrity.Best wishes, Ken Dembny