Breast implants are textured silicone bags and can be filled with saline (salt water) or silicone gel. Implants are often referred to as prostheses. Research into the use of different materials to make implants is always ongoing.
Saline:
Saline (salt water) has the advantage of not causing any problems if it leaks out into the body. However, saline-filled implants do not have the natural feel of silicone-filled implants and give a less realistic reconstructed breast. Saline implants are more likely to leak or wrinkle than silicone implants and can make breast x-rays slightly more difficult to read.
Silicone:
Silicone implants are very commonly used in the UK. These implants are essentially bags of silicone gel enclosed in a thin silicone rubber case. They are designed to feel soft and flexible, like a natural breast, and there are many different types. They can be breast-shaped or rounded, and filled with solid or liquid gel.
The silicone gel filling makes the breast feel more natural than saline. However, there have been some concerns about possible health risks if silicone leaks from the implant. If a silicone implant ruptures, surgery may be needed to remove the implant. Like saline, silicone implants can appear cloudy on x-rays, making mammograms slightly more difficult to read. It is possible to get a good mammogram of a breast containing an implant, but the radiographer needs to be told that an implant is there.
Some newer types of prostheses contain solid silicone gel, and it is hoped that these will be safer.
(from cancerbackup.org)
Gore-tex, Expanded PTEE ( Polytetrafluoroethylene)
Advantages: 1. It seems to be more natural than silicone rubber after the plastic surgery; 2. Apex of nose will not be red after surgery; 3. Tissue can grow into materials, so the long time fixation is better; 4. Postoperative tip of nose is very soft, which can not be found the people have plastic surgery; 5. It is easy to operate for the patients with thin skin.
Shortcomings: 1. It is more difficult to back out from the nose than silicone rubber; 2. It is more expensive than the price of silicone rubber; 3. It needs more experienced surgeons.
Silicone rubber
Advantages: 1. The doctors with less experience can use it to operate, while the surgery time is short; 2. Through one-time operation can raise the nose and the nose tip, the approach may make the tip red, so the nose tip shall not simply use silicone rubber; 3. Hawk nose also can use this material.
Shortcomings: 1. Silicone rubber into the human body will form a thin fiber; 2. If the nose tip also use this material, the nose tip will turn red; 3. Tip can not be raised as it is too hard; 4. A very small number of people have allergic reactions to the silicone rubber.
Man-made leather (Alloderm)
Because it retains the original components of human skin, the skin is easy to transplant, which is manly applied in the soft material tip surgery.
Self-tissue
Self-tissues are extracted from own body, as their own issues, so they have most affinity. However, because they are extracted from the body, the scar will be left.
Most women, and large numbers of men, are interested in having cosmetic surgery, UCLA scientists report in the October issue of the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Forty-eight percent of women surveyed said they would be interested in cosmetic surgery, liposuction or both, and another 23 percent said they would possibly be interested. Among men, 23 percent said they would be interested in surgery, with 17 percent expressing possible interest. Over 3% of the American population had cosmetic surgery in 2006. According to the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, nearly 11 million cosmetic surgery procedures were performed in 2006 — a 48 percent increase from 2000. Roughly 90 percent of cosmetic surgeries in 2004 were performed on women.
British women magazine “New Women” have conducted a number of polls found that 90% of women believe that their body shape or appearance “is very disappointing.” To plastic surgery, they showed a very positive attitude. Nearly 70% of the people are willing to consider doing some kind of plastic surgery, of which 26% think they must do plastic surgery. For breast augmentation, mostly women think it is acceptable, 1/3 of the female think breast augmentation do good for career, 78% of women think that men prefer women to do breast augmentation surgery. In UK, the popularity degree of plastic surgery is: liposuction, wrinkle reduction, breast augmentation, nose repair, chest and skin reduction and recycling. Among the women who had cosmetic surgery, 3/4 of them expressed that their quality of life has improved, 71%of them want to do surgery again.
