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The Benefits and Risks of Breast Augmentation Essay

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The Benefits and Risks of Breast Augmentation

Every day women are bombarded with images of beautiful models with thin figures and huge round breast. In striving to achieve the ?ideal? body type women are altering their bodies; cosmetic surgery has increased enormously in the past few years. Breast augmentation alone has increased 500% since 1992. What are the benefits of having big voluptuous breasts? Do the benefits overweigh the risks?

There are two main types of breast implants. One is filled with silicone gel and the other is filled with saline (sterile salt water); both of these implants have an outer silicone shell. Prior to 1991 both types of implants were approved by the FDA, but in April of 1992 silicone filled implants …show more content…

Surgery may also be required in the case of infection, shifting of the implant, and formation of calcium in surrounding tissues.

Other risk factors may include nerve damage, interference with breast-feeding, and interference in the detection of breast cancer. After surgery women might experience a change in sensation in the nipples or tissue of the breast. Some women may regain sensation but for others it can be permanent. After breast surgery many women are unable to breast feed, which can be caused by nerve damage. Detection of breast cancer is also a major risk. Breast implants can interfere with finding cancer during mammography. The implant can hide breast tissue and as result it can also hide lesions. In the article Saline Breast Implants Stay on Market as Experts Warn about Risks, Linda Bren says that, ?The process of taking a mammogram, which includes squeezing, or compressing, the breast, may increase the chance of rupture. But limiting the compression may compromise the quality of the picture.?

When scheduling a mammography, women with implants require special attention. Instead of a regular screening, they should ask for a comprehensive, or diagnostic, mammography. They should also request an x-ray technician with experience in mammography for women with implants and inform the technician where the implant is located, above or below the muscle tissue. Factors to consider before getting breast implants:

A breast implant

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