Silicone implants.
The first thing most of us think about when we hear that is probably breast augmentation
or “fake boobs” but they’re actually used in all sorts of procedures like backside
augmentation, where a surgeon will make an incision in the vertical butt crease and insert
the implant into or above the gluteal muscle.
Or abdominal implant surgery for those who want the perfect six-pack without all that
hard work in the gym and dieting.
But are these procedures safe?
Could a silicone implant kill you?
All surgeons who do these procedures will tell you there are risks involved.
In fact, we looked on one website offering cosmetic surgery with silicone implants and
it listed several including risks from the anesthesia complications, infection, scarring,
bleeding, and then of course there is always the risk that the result might not meet the
person’s expectations.
Patients might also need to have some fat removed before some of these procedures, especially
six-pack surgery, because hey, a six-pack just wouldn’t look right on some people’s
bodies, or maybe that’s the look you’re going for, who are we to judge?
None of that sounds like something you want to have happen in any surgery, but has a silicone
implant killed someone yet?
Most of the information out there relating to silicone implant surgery nightmares is
about breast augmentation.
For a long time, The Food and Drug Administration was not entirely certain how safe implants
were, and in 1992 released a report stating that there just wasn’t enough information
available to say if the implants were safe.
In 2006 the FDA finally approved silicone implants for breast augmentation from two
companies, but since then has issued additional warnings about the potential dangers of silicone
implants.
Those dangers include a link between breast implants and a rare kind of cancer.
In fact, on the FDA’s own website you can read, “Individuals with breast implants
have a risk of developing breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma” or BIA-ALCL.
The World Health Organization agrees.
So, what we need to know is just how often does this happen?
Well, the U.S. National Institutes of Health has attempted to answer that question, but
it said it’s not easy to know as gathering all the evidence from all countries around
the world is a difficult task.
But there certainly have been reported cases.
In fact, you can read a report by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration and it will
tell you about 46 Australian women who were diagnosed with this kind of cancer, three
of whom died, and it was believed that their implants were to blame.
The FDA also wrote that, “As of September 30, 2018, the FDA had received a total of
660 medical device reports (MDRs) of BIA-ALCL, including the death of nine patients.”
It seems many of the cases were women who had what are called textured implants.
Unlike other smooth implants, these implants have a rough surface that is supposed to adhere
to the body tissue better.
This is a good thing if you don’t want your implants moving around, which can cause the
breasts to look uneven or misshapen.
But it is these textured implants that have recently caused a lot of concern.
As we said, these concerns are fairly new, so we still don’t know exactly what the
risk is, but the FDA has written the risk of getting this kind of cancer after getting
textured implants is anywhere from 1 in 3,817 to 1 in 30,000, quite the range, but there’s
Australian data saying it’s more like 1 in 1,000.
This has led to some countries in Europe banning certain implants, while in the U.S. and Canada
the investigations are ongoing.
But there’s more for concern.
While the majority won’t have any problems with their implants, you don’t have to look
hard to find plenty of nightmare stories.
In 2019 Business Insider talked about something now called “breast implant illness.”
It mentioned a number of women who had the implants and then complained of feeling ill,
vomiting, having no energy, losing their sex drive, their eyesight getting worse and suffering
inflammation.
Many surgeons question whether breast plant illness exists, but if you go to a Facebook
page called ‘Healing breast implant illness’ you will see a group with over 80,000 members.
The Business Insider article goes on to say that a lot of women got their implants removed
because they felt extremely ill, some for years, with one woman saying she felt like
she was dying.
We should say, though, that some of these women had saline implants, which is a silicone
shell filled with saline.
Still, both surgeries involve silicone being inserted into the breast.
CNN tells us that some women are now fighting for surgeons to issue a warning before surgery,
saying there is a chance of something called autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome.
One woman told CNN that if a warning is given then at least those that do experience symptoms
related to autoimmune issues will be aware of what’s happening and then can have the
implants removed.
The woman also said that after she got implants she experienced, “a racing heartbeat, shortness
of breath, extreme fatigue, brain fog, light-headedness, allergies, premature ovarian failure and gastrointestinal
problems.”
She said she was exhausted all the time, suffered from stomach pains, had to keep sitting down
from lack of energy and also became allergic to certain foods she had been fine with in
the past.
Then there is infection, and as we said, surgeons don’t deny that this can happen.
We found reports of women almost dying due to infections after they had the surgery.
Bloomberg wrote, “Leaking implants can cause a variety of illnesses, but women who need
them removed face a series of obstacles from getting necessary screenings to negotiating
with insurers to cover the procedures.”
You can also find cases of women developing sepsis behind their implant, which could be
life-threatening.
It’s rare, but we found recent cases both in the UK and in the U.S. of this happening
to young women.
Both survived, but not without a fright.
The FDA said infections only occur in one percent of women who have had breast implants,
and those infections can usually be fought off with antibiotics.
Then again, the list of complications the FDA says might happen after getting implants
is long.
These are just some of the possible complications: Breast pain, asymmetrical breasts, shrinking
of the skin, sometimes bad bruising that requires surgery, enlarged lymph nodes, damage to tissue,
swelling, dead skin or tissue around the breast, a tear or hole in the implant’s outer shell,
the implant being seen through the skin, rashes, wrinkling, rupture of the implant and leaking,
and hard lumps under the skin around the implant.
And then you have butt silicone injections, which the New York Times wrote in 2019 led
to the death of one woman.
The woman had complained about liquid leaking out of her, to which her surgeon said, “Buy
some crazy glue and put it on.”
Of course we should mention this surgery was actually illegal.
The Times wrote that such a procedure is very dangerous as the injected silicone can move
through the veins.
The correct procedure involves using fat to augment the butt, not injecting silicone.
But we found many stories of these illegal procedures happening, and it seems butt augmentation
is just getting more and more popular these days.
Injecting fat into the buttocks can be dangerous, with many people dying from what are called
fat embolisms.
We should say that silicone implants are not the same as injecting silicone into the body.
The former is a procedure you can get but the latter is something that is basically
only done by unlicensed surgeons.
The FDA has not approved silicone injections and in fact gives the stark warning that they
could lead to “infection, scarring, disfigurement, stroke, and death.”
Maybe that’s something you should stay away from.
And with the actual approved silicone butt implants you can expect to see a lot of the
same warnings we listed for silicone breast implants.
And by the way, if you are thinking about getting the perfect six pack with surgery
you don’t necessarily have to get implants.
Apparently the look can be achieved just by removing fat and doing something called abdominal
etching, which I don’t like the sound of one bit.
It seems the abdominal etching procedure is becoming quite popular, with one Bangkok surgery
saying to the press, “We get anywhere from 20 to 30 customers requesting a six-pack every
month.”
It may not involve silicone being injected into your stomach, but we’re still going
to stick with good old fashioned diet and exercise.
After hearing this, would you get a cosmetic surgery involving implants?
The nightmare cases are rare, but they do exist.
Is it worth it?
Tell us in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out our other video Why Are People Dying From Brazilian Butt Lift
Surgery?
Thanks for watching, and as always, don’t forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time.