No silicone but belly fat: Breast implants are less safe than thought

This also happened to Ancilla van de Leest. She had implants for fourteen years, until she fell seriously ill. “I was always cold, I was constantly dehydrated and started to have pain everywhere from my teeth to my feet,” she told EditieNL.

These side effects made Ancilla’s life miserable. “In the end, I had to go to the toilet every 15 minutes.” So she is very happy with the news regarding how harmful the implants can be. “I also didn’t know getting sick from your implants was a thing.”

Han University’s research has been published in the medical journal JAMA, according to the AVROTROS Consumer Radar Program. 400 women were studied using solid or liquid breast implants. In 87 percent of these women, the implant particles were found elsewhere in the body, including the brain. In 92.5 percent of women, inflammatory reactions are found in the body.

body fat

To be eligible for breast augmentation, there are two options: “your body fat, which of course you should have enough of, and silicone,” plastic surgeon Ali Braish explains to EditieNL. “If you’re very thin and barely fat, that’s not an option.”

These fats must be properly harvested and purified before they can be used. “In all of these aspects, there is also the possibility that things may not go well and could be less beautiful. Breast reconstruction after cancer or with a small cup can still be reconstructed.”

alternatives

But should we now move away completely from silicone implants? “All prosthetics sweat, we’ve always known that. A very small percentage of women have certain complaints and this has not been shown to have anything to do with silicone in particular.”

This new research shows that new silicone prostheses also sweat. “But we don’t see such a large number of women who have complaints about this. You have to replace them every ten years. And if you’re psychic so big that you have small breasts, you want that risk of a lot in a million to take it.”

According to Baraish, we cannot avoid risks. “If you never want side effects from something, you shouldn’t take it. It’s that simple, if you never want to fall, you shouldn’t ride a bike.”

Unfortunately, switching to a different material doesn’t seem to be the answer either. “Over the years, many materials have been tested. Unfortunately, but also fortunately, silicone is the most suitable material.” For example, the tests were conducted with prosthetics filled with soybeans. “But that didn’t work.”

However, research is still underway to find an alternative. “But it doesn’t exist yet. For a lot of women, especially ladies with breast cancer, or ladies who have almost no breasts, silicone is the answer.”

self love

Ancila hopes that people will now think more carefully about taking breast implants. “I hope we can move into a society where we accept ourselves, and embrace ourselves more as we are.”