Breast Implants - A Brief History and Explanation

A breast implant is essentially a prosthesis that a plastic surgeon inserts into a woman's breast. The implant is utilized in correcting the form, size and/or feel of the woman's breasts. Implants can be used for a number of reasons. The first is as part of reconstructive surgery following a mastectomy. Breast implants can also be utilized to correct cognitive defects or as part of gender reassignment surgery. Typically they are only for a female. If a male has a breast or chest defect, a pectoral implant is used instead.

Breast implants have actually been around since the late 19th century. The earliest operation was done by Vincenz Czerny in 1895, in order to correct the asymmetry of a woman's breast after he removed a tumor. Robert Gesurney did experiment with paraffin injections in 1889, but this led to disastrous results. Over the next 50 years, various materials were utilized in making implants, including ox cartilage, ivory and Dicora.

In the middle of the 20th century, after much experimentation, the first saline breast implant was manufactured and introduced as a medical device. A breast implant can come in one of three different types. These types are differentiated between by the filler material. Saline implants have a silicone shell filled with saline solution. Saline implants were developed to allow for a surgery method involving less cuts during implant surgery. Silicone implants have a silicone shell filled with silicone gel. Silicone implants tend to be stronger and more durable, but require larger incisions during surgery. There are also "alternative composition" implants which utilize filler materials such as oil or soy. These types of implants are not commonly used and are typically not recommended by doctors as the materials tend to be a bit more questionable.

The surgical procedure for a breast implant can be simple and not terribly invasive or it can be a long surgery with a terrible recovery time, dependent upon the existing structure of the breasts. There are five types of incisions that can be used: inframammary, periareolar, transaxillary, transumbilical and transabdominal. These incisions have different benefits and downfalls, so the incision type will be decided by the operating surgeon based upon the current condition of the breasts.

Breast implants are medical prostheses that can be used to correct cognitive defects, reconstruct a breast after a mastectomy or assist in gender reassignment surgery. These implants have been around for over 100 years and have evolved with time into three major types. The surgery can range in difficulty based upon the current state of the breasts and which of the five incision types was used during the surgery.