New Silicone Breast Implants Deemed Safer

Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted its ban on silicone-gel breast implants in 2006, it's been a slow comeback for the once popular cosmetic surgery device.

However, they have once again risen to the top in use largely due to advances in recent years that have led to the "form-stable" from Allergan Inc.

Surgeons report that the new implant has a much more natural, teardrop shape, which proves especially helpfulfor those undergoing reconstruction after a mastectomy.

Also, the implants are firmer.

"If you cut one of these in half and you squeeze it, the silicone will protrude from the open end, but if you release the pressure, it goes right back in," Robert X. Murphy, Jr., president-elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, told The Wall Street Journal.

Louise Moore, 52, told the news outlet that she decided to go with the new silicone implants when her surgeon let her hold one. Compared to the silicone, Moore said the saline implant was "more mushy. I didn't feel like it was going to hold me firm like I wanted."

In the past, silicone implants tended to rupture and leak silicone throughout the body. While the FDA could not confirm rumors that such a leakage would result in breast cancer or rheumatoid arthritis, there were a number of cases of women who experienced infections due to the tearing, according to the National Institute of Health.

"The old silicone would just drip out and leak all over the place," Murphy said, in comparison to the newer ones.

Despite these improvements, however, the FDA warns that breast implants are still not a lifetime device.

"The longer a woman has them, the greater the chances that she will develop complications, some of which will require surgery," states its website.

How long they will last, however, depends on the individual. However, according to Gretchen Burns, a nurse consultant at FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), the most a person can expect is 20 to 30 years, though even that "is not the common experience."