Saline Implants: types, sizes, and how they compare to silicon

There can be a number of reasons for you to go in for breast augmentation. You may find your breast size too small and want to get them enlarged for personal and aesthetic reasons. There may be a difference in your breast size that you want balanced. You may also resort to it for correcting a reduction in breast volume after pregnancy. In certain cases, it’s also done as a reconstructive technique following breast surgery. Of the several breast implant methods available saline breast augmentation is one of the more popular ones.

Saline breast implant

Saline breast implants come in either round or contoured shapes. Made of silicone, these rubber shells are filled with sterile saline to recreate the more teardrop outline of a mature breast. This is often preferred by those looking for a gently sloping breast silhouette. However, you’ll have a free hand in selecting the best option, in consultation with your physician.

The silicone rubber shell is generally composed of cured large polymeric silicons; small amounts of smaller silicons; finely powdered silica tightly bound to the silicone polymers; minute amounts of metals, like tin, zinc or platinum; a metal catalyst to cause a change in material; and traces of readily evaporating materials called volatiles, like xylene and other organic compounds. The sterile saline filler has to conform to United States Pharmacopeia (USP) standards for Normal Physiological Saline (injection grade).

Types of saline filled implants

There are three types of saline filled implants. Let’s see what they are:

  • Fixed volume implant:In fixed volume implant, the implant is filled with a fixed volume of saline through a valve at the time of implantation. There are no provisions for the adjustments of the saline volume after the operation.
  • Adjustable volume implant:In adjustable volume implant, saline is filled during the operation through a valve. This type of implant allows for adjustments of the saline volume after the operation.
  • Pre-filled implant:As the name suggests, in pre-filled implant, a fixed volume of saline is filled beforehand at the manufacturing stage. No valves are provided for filling during the operation or for adjustments of the saline volume after the operation.