Saline implants are silicone implants that are filled with saline. These can be used for breast augmentation or breast reconstruction. The saline implant is often misunderstood as having only saline as its only substance for the implant. But the shell itself that contains the saline liquid is entirely silicone just like the silicone gel implant. It is slightly different conjugate of silicone, but it is silicone indeed just like silicone in the knee joint or and a brain shunt or in a heart valve or in a pacemaker. Silicone is used in millions of different medical devices including intravenous catheters feeding tubes and other medical devices.

The saline that is used to fill the saline implant is a balanced salt solution that is exactly the same solution that is used for intravenous fluids in the hospital for patients that are ill.  As a result if the implant does rupture which is quite rare this saline solution is balanced and absorbed into your body with no ill effect at all.

If the implant does rupture usually the patient is unaware of it until they wake up the next morning and see that their breast is much smaller on one side.

The saline implant is really quite resilient.  Once its filled you can placed on the floor and stand on this implant and it will not rupture.  Dr. Jacobsen will demonstrate this to you see you can see how strong these implants are.

If you are looking for an affordable breast implant in Phoenix, the saline implant is an excellent implant. The advantage of the implant is it’s much less expensive and about 50% of the cost of the silicone gel implant. Although people are often afraid cheap breast implants in Phoenix, cheaper doesn’t necessarily mean you are receiving service that is of lesser quality or value.

In fact, the saline implant is in excellent implant. Another advantage of the implant is that it can be placed for breast augmentation through a much smaller incision. The silicone gel implant is pre-filled and must be pushed into the breast through an incision which usually is much larger than the incision that is utilized for a saline implant. The saline implant can be implanted into the patient’s through a much smaller incision because it is implanted empty and through a small tube then filled once the implant is inside the patient. As a result, the implant incision for the surgery is much smaller from LEFT to RIGHT if this is an issue for you as a patient.  But the differences between the 2 incisions is really quite minor and most women’s incisions heal really quite favorably and the slightly longer length of the incision for a silicone gel implant is usually not an issue to women.

The saline implant is equivalent to the more sophisticated feel of the gel implant if the patient already has significant breast tissue. In other words, if you already have a medium or full-size breast and wish to be larger then the saline implant is excellent for you because you will not feel the implant because the implant is well hidden behind your breast tissue. However, if you are quite a thin woman with little breast tissue and wish to have a breast augmentation you will feel the nature of the implant significantly through the skin when someone hugs you or touches you. So thin ladies with very little breast tissue benefit more from a silicone gel implant where ladies with already some fullness to their breasts will be just fine with a saline implant and will not be able to tell the difference.

Dr. Jacobsen will be happy to tell you whether or not the gel implants will be of benefit to you rather than the saline implants and whether it is worth the additional cost to you or not.

What do you do if your implant ruptures?  Usually it is not an emergency, but patients usually are very eager to have their breasts restored to the normal volume they had prior to the rupture.  Usually the exchange of the implant is a very simple operation for women to undergo an much easier than the original augmentation surgery because there is no additional muscular work that is typically needed .  Usually the capsule or the scar that surrounds the implant needs to be removed or modified to restore the shape to the breast.  Often it is the capsule itself that causes the implant to rupture.

A breast capsule is a scar that forms around the implant.  This scar is a natural phenomenon that the body forms around any foreign body at all inside you whether it is a piece of glass under your skin or a piece of pencil lead in your hand or a pacemaker or breast implant.  Usually the capsule at forms is soft and is entirely not noticeable to you.  But in some patients the scar can thicken.  The healing cells, the fibroblasts, are the scar forming cells and within these cells there are microscopic clusters of involuntary muscle.  This muscle within the scar tissue then contracts or tightens and ultimately can tighten around the implant in your body’s attempt to try to push this implant out of your body.  Your body is trying to push the implant out just as it would push out a piece of glass or a piece of pencil lead under your skin out of your skin.  This is exactly the same phenomenon that occurs with breast implants.

When a saline implant ruptures it typically is not from trauma.  The rupture is from the capsule to tightens around the implant causing folds in the implant.  As you walk around doing your normal activities of daily living these little folds then rub back-and-forth continuously and ultimately create a hole in the implant.  It is very rare, and I have not seen any breast implant whether it is saline or silicone that is ruptured as a result of trauma.  Dr. Jacobsen has never had the experience of seeing of breast implant rupture from a car accident or from a fall.  Dr. Jacobsen has had patients that have had severe trauma to their chest and their implants are intact despite rib fractures that may have occurred right directly adjacent to the implant after a motor vehicle accident for instance.

So, the saline implants are quite resilient as are the gel implants.

Dr. Jacobsen has seen many women over the years that have had chronic rupture of their implants and they have been unaware of this.  Usually at this point the implant is entirely deflated of the saline fluid and the implant is folded up much like if you held in your hand and punched it up into your hand.  The body forms the capsule around it separating it from the rest of your body.  In this way generally, the ruptured implant is not harmful to you.

Each rupture of a saline implant is taken seriously.  The implant is sent back to the manufacturer, Mentor, who then examines the implant very carefully under the microscope.  They can generally determine the cause of the rupture.  They can tell if this is caused by a sharp object, by folds caused from capsular contracture, or by shell failure itself.  Dr. Jacobsen wanted to provide the best saline breast implants in Phoenix he could, so he visited the laboratory for the Mentor Corporation in Dallas, Texas and has spoke with the scientists and engineers regarding their manufacturing process, product safety and their quality assurance process for examining the cause of ruptured implants. Mentor has focused years of time and care into creating the shell of the saline implant to make it resilient to rupture or injury of any kind, yet remaining soft and supple so that it feels natural in your body for the remainder of your life.

Dr. Jaconsen has been performing breast augmentations with saline breast implants in Phoenix for years and should not be thought of as inferior to a silicone gel implant. When used properly and filled properly can give it a great result and most observers after the fact could not tell whether or not a saline or gel implant was used unless the examiner is specifically trained or the patient has very thin skin. Saline breast implants can provide you with the same value that any other breast implant surgery in Phoenix can.

Dr. Jacobsen is a big proponent of saline breast implants in Phoenix. Saline breast implants are an excellent choice and should not be thought of as inferior to a silicone gel implant. When utilized correctly, a saline breast implant can give a great result that most observers would not be able to tell if a saline or gel implant was used – unless the examiner is specifically trained or the patient has very thin skin.

When the patient has significant breast tissue prior to breast augmentation, the saline implant is placed behind the muscle of the breast and the implant can barely be felt. You or others will only be able to feel your own skin breast tissue and muscle because the implant is well behind these and you will not be able to tell the difference between the gel implant and a saline implant.  When a woman has very little breast tissue or is very thin, sometimes the quality of the gel implant can be appreciated, but for the most part a saline implant will be what most women will find a saline implant is favorable.  Since the price of the saline implant is generally $550 a pair and a pair of the gel implants is $1300, the favorable pricing of the saline implant combined with its benefits make it a great choice for many women.

If you are interested in breast implant surgery in Phoenix, please feel free to have a look at our page for Dr. Jacobsen’s breast implant recommendations to learn more about Dr. Jacobsen’s approach.