Whether you’re planning on getting implants or you’ve already gotten them, it’s important to know the type, brand and manufacturer of your breast implants. By knowing the specifics about your implants, not only can you easily find their warranty information but you can also follow up properly with your surgeon, and let them know about your experience with the implant brand used for you.
There are a couple of ways you can find out more about your breast implants, however, we recommend that you ask before surgery so that the information is easily available.
Below are multiple reasons why knowing your breast implant information is useful.
Most breast implant brands used by our surgeons in Australia offer generous warranty programs to provide their patients with peace of mind for years after breast enhancement surgery.
Brands like Motiva, Mentor, and others all offer a replacement policy for ruptured implants for the lifetime of the patient. This means that if at any point in the future your implant ruptures, you get new ones for free.
Furthermore, manufacturers usually also cover other adverse events like late seromas, capsular contracture, and double capsules. In addition, many companies offer financial aid to help with the costs of revision surgery.
In recent years, doctors have become aware that certain breast implants are associated with a type of immune cancer called Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL). This cancer was observed in patients who have textured implants, specifically those who have Allergan BIOCELL® implants.
This development has led health authorities to issue an alert to patients who have breast implants that are associated with BIA-ALCL so that they can consult with their plastic surgeons to discuss the risks and see their available options.
When you develop symptoms such as breast pain, change in size, a palpable mass, or deformation, knowing the type and brand of your implants can be very useful for your surgeon or doctor when he/she is assessing you.
Sharing your experience
By knowing what breast implants you have, you can share your personal experience with others. This will help women looking to have breast augmentation know more about the outcomes experienced with certain brands, and will help surgeons assess patient satisfaction with specific implants.
It is common for a patient that has had breast augmentation surgery to be unsure of the type and brand of implants they have. When you get breast implants, your surgeon will likely give you a product identification card that holds all the important information about your implants. It’s usually a simple plastic card, just like a credit card. This card contains information about your implants including;
If you’ve received this card, you should keep it in a safe place, and maybe save a photographed digital copy of it on your phone or in the cloud.
However, if you’ve lost the card or don’t remember ever getting it, you can contact your surgeon’s office or the institution where you’ve had the surgery. They will likely have a copy of this information, so you can collect it and store it somewhere safe.
Unfortunately, it’s also possible, that this information is no longer available if you’ve had surgery more than a decade ago and your surgeon didn’t have an electronic medical record system at the time to store these details. In such cases, your surgeon won’t be able to know the brand of your breast implants until they are surgically removed. This is why it is important to ask about these details before getting the implants.
Choosing the right breast implant
We encourage our patients to not only do their own research and read about other patient experiences with certain breast implant brands but to also look up reviews, and compare what each brand has to offer.
However, ultimately, your certified plastic surgeon would be the best source of information when it comes to choosing the perfect implants for you.
Below are some of the things that you should discuss with your plastic surgeon when choosing breast implants.
Our surgeons offer reputable breast implant brands that are famous for their durability and quality, however, it’s always good to look up product reviews before choosing a certain brand.
As already mentioned, most breast implant manufacturers offer comprehensive life-long warranty programs to patients. These programs differ in terms of;
Different brands offer different styles, sizes, shapes, and textures and some of these are unique to specific producers.
The final decision on your implant brand is a mutual one. You discuss your concerns and your surgeon explains and offers solutions. By doing this, you can get breast implants that are perfect for your specific desires and needs.
It is important to know, however, that choosing an experienced and accredited plastic surgeon might be even more important than the breast implant brand itself. By choosing a reputable surgeon you’ll be minimizing the risks of complications and ensuring that you will get the best results possible regardless of the brand you opt for.
