Saline Breast Implants

What are saline breast implants?

Saline implants, also known as “expandables” are a popular and safe breast prosthesis for women to give them more shape and volume. The implants are round or tear-shaped and are typically inserted into the breast unfilled. After insertion they are filled with saline to the desired size.

You have a choice about where you would like the incision and scar from your saline implant surgery. Saline breast implants can be surgically inserted into the breast in four different ways: an incision on the lower part of the nipple, on the crease at the bottom of the breast, through an armpit incision, or through an incision just above the belly button.

Saline Breast Implant Basics

Saline breast implants, before being filled with saline, are rolled up inside a protective casing and are very compact. They can therefore be inserted into the breast through a small incision. The implant will be inserted into the appropriate area of your breast through an incision. You doctor will tunnel from the incision site to a pre-determined position within your breast.

The plastic surgeon will then remove the protective casing around the rolled-up implant and use a tube to fill the implant with sterile saline solution to the desired size. Some saline implants can be readjusted after surgery. If you want more saline added to these implants later, there may be an additional cost.

Allergan, Natrelle® Implants : Silicone Gel vs Saline

Advantages and Disadvantages of Saline Breast Implants

One of the biggest advantages of saline breast implants is that they are considered to be the safest type of breast implant among the FDA approved implants that are available in the United States. Because the implants are filled with saline, or saltwater a rupture will not cause serious health issues. Your body will be able to safely absorb the saltwater from a rupture without having it cause adverse health conditions.
Saline implants are also less expensive than silicone, which is a bit of an advantage. The material used to fill the implants costs less than silicone and the procedure required to insert the implants is less invasive and takes less time. Adjustments can be made to the size of some special implants following surgery for an additional cost, if necessary.

Women who get saline implants need less recovery time to get back on their feet following surgery. Because the incisions made to place saline implants in the body are smaller, the surgery is less painful, takes less time, and women heal up from it faster.

Saline breast implants, though safer, do not have the same aesthetic appeal as silicone because they don’t resemble real breast tissue as closely as other types of implants. Sometimes saline implants will visibly ripple underneath the skin. Some of this can be avoided by inserting the implant behind the pectoralis muscle so that it cannot be seen through the skin. Saline implants may not feel as natural as silicone either although inserting the implants beneath the pectoralis muscle can help enhance the look and feel of the breasts, especially for women who do not have a lot of breast tissue to begin with.