As we begin to utilize our new Blog on our website at the Montecito Center for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in Santa Barbara, I want to touch on a question that I frequently get asked- “Should I use saline breast implants or silicone breast implants for my breast augmentation?” While this is somewhat of an involved question and many issues factor into it, I thought I would briefly discuss a few of the things I think about when discussing this issue with patients before having plastic surgery in Santa Barbara.

The first thing I think about in evaluating you is your age. The FDA has approved silicone breast implants only for those women 22 years of age and older. While this seems somewhat arbitrary, this means that there needs to be a specific reason to use silicone in a woman who is younger than 22 years of age, such as failure of a previous implant or some type of reconstruction.

Secondly, when you come to be evaluated for breast implants in Santa Barbara, I assess the amount of breast tissue that you already have. (more…)