How Hard Can You Squeeze Silicone Gel Implants Without Causing Rupture?

Question

I have silicone gel breast implants placed over the muscle and am very paranoid about my husband squeezing them to hard and causing them to break. Can this happen?

Otto Joseph Placik, MD · Answer

You can squeeze silicone implants relatively hardly without them rupturing. In fact I have demonstrated this by standing on the implants without rupture.

Stephen T. Greenberg, MD, FACS · Answer

Thank you for your question.  Breast implants (both saline and silicone gel) are built to withstand physical contact, even very aggressive handling by spouses.  I do not believe that you should be worried about your husbands ability to 'break' them, but I always recommend following up with your surgeon to discuss your concerns (especially if your implants are fairly old).  I hope this helps!

Richard J. Bruneteau, MD · Answer

It’s not
unusual for patients to be concerned about the durability of silicone
implants.In fact, patients are much
more likely to be concerned about silicone than saline implants, because of all
the controversy that has occurred in the past several years.It’s safe to say that, in most
cases, silicone implants are able to withstand significant trauma.Several years ago, I performed a breast
augmentation on a female kick-boxer.She
tells me that she’s kicked in the chest all the time and has never had a problem.Although the type of trauma that you’re
concerned about could rupture a silicone implant, this is unlikely.Under these circumstances, it might be
helpful to discuss the issue with your plastic surgeon.Your plastic surgeon can discuss the issue in
detail and hopefully alleviate your anxiety.

Sam Speron, MD, FACS · Answer

It would take a very powerful force to rupture your implants. Not that the implants are considered lifetime devices, but they are made to last and are quite durable. You would most likely damage your own breast tissue before your implants would be hurt.
Best regards,
Dr. Speron

Daniel P. Markmann, MD · Answer

The chances of rupture are very low, especially if these are relatively new implants. The new implants are very durable. The old implants (1980s) ruptured more easily. You would experience relatively severe pain before there would be enough pressure to rupture an implant.

Jeffrey Zwiren, MD · Answer

The implant is designed to withstand 3 times your body weight in force. You should be able to stand on the implant and not rupture it. With the new form of breast implants produced after 2009 there is little chance of the implant gel material migrating since the gel is more cohesive than it was prior to this time. Therefore it may be difficult to tell if it is ruptured since the implant tends to keep its original shape. The problem is non an emergency. You would need some type of diagnostic study to determine if it was actually ruptured such as a mammogram, MRI or ultrasound.

Steven Wallach, MD · Answer

It would take a lot of force for an implant to rupture just from squeezing it.   Normal acitvity should be okay.

Peter A. Aldea, MD · Answer

First, few people really enjoy having their appendages squeezed repeatedly much less forcefully. This is true for augmented and non-augmented breasts. You can readily relieve your "paranoia" by informing that compulsive "Mr. Whipple" squeezing husband of yours to stop it or parts of his anatomy will have to reciprocally pass repeated squeeze tests as well. You get to pick those parts.
Second, silicone implants are hard to break BUT they are not impossible to rupture. Repeated compressions and releases eventually weaken the shell to the point where it leaks. As a result implants can last anywhere from a year to over 20 years but eventually they will fail, leak and require exchanging.

Nina S. Naidu, MD, FACS · Answer

It's actually really hard to rupture an implant. You would definitely stop your spouse from squeezing too hard secondary to pain, way before the implant would rupture. Implants are designed to be very durable and strong. Best wishes, /nsn.

Michael C. Edwards, MD, FACS · Answer

Tina,
Although neither saline or silicone implants are considered lifetime devices, they are pretty durable. There is actually a You Tube video of a woman driving a car over a gel implant but this is a little over the top. The chance that your spouse could injure an implant is quite low and would most likely hurt your breast tissue before hurting the implant. Having said that, common selse must prevail.
I hope this helps.
Dr Edwards

How Hard Can You Squeeze Silicone Gel Implants Without Causing Rupture?

Answers (13)

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