Do breast implants expire? I was told that they last for 10 years, then you need to have them replaced.

No. Your breast implants don’t have an expiration date. Unlike your car, there is no maintenance required. You don’t have to check the fl uid levels regularly, and there’s no need for a front-end alignment after 10,000
miles. Implants need to be replaced only if they break, and they are not that fragile. Through the years, manufacturers have increased the strength of the implant shell; in my experience, only about 3 percent of implants break. I had a patient who wanted to go bigger after 19 years. When I removed her implants, they looked exactly as they did the day I put them in. For more information on this and similar topics, I recommend a plastic surgery Q&A book like "The Scoop On Breasts: A Plastic Surgeon Busts the Myths."

There is no scientific basis to the often heard concept that there is a need to replace breast implants after a certain period of time has passed following the original surgery. There is no need to perform an elective exchange of implants if everything is fine and the patient is not experiencing any problems with their implants.

There is a myth that implants will last only 10 years. There
is no valid scientific data to support that statement. You should realize that
no one can guarantee the life cycle of an implant, that it may not last forever
and it may not be a one-time surgery. Implants do not need to be replaced
unless a problem occurs. There is no expiration date on breast implants. I have
personally seen some patients who have had implants in for over thirty years
and the implants are still intact. The newer generation of current implants has
been improved. The implant manufacturers do have limited warranties on the
implants.



Robert Singer, MD FACS

La Jolla, California