Saline Breast Implants vs Silicone Breast Implants

Rippling with Saline Breast Implants

What is rippling? When talking about breast implants it is the feeling of waviness or wrinkles along the implant edge. In women with very little breast tissue, rippling can be more noticeable. Where a woman would feel rippling the most is usually on the sides and bottom portion of the breast. The reason for this is quite simple: these areas have the least amount of tissue covering the breast implant. Rippling can also be accentuated when a woman leans forward. Our Los Angeles breast implants expert can help you diagnose this situation.

Another situation where rippling can occur is when the implants are placed over the muscle. With time the implant will thin out the breast tissue above it and the edges of the implant will become palpable and perhaps visible. The treatment for this type of rippling is to perform a revision breast surgery where the implants are placed underneath the muscle. The problem of rippling on the sides or bottom are more difficult to correct. Silicone implants have less rippling than saline but even switching from saline to silicone implants will not always correct all of the rippling on the sides or bottom of the breast.

Why does rippling happen? Well it has to do with how well the material filling the implant conforms to the shell of the implant. Saline, or saltwater, does not stick to the inside of the implant which leads to folding or buckling of the implant at the edges. This is normal with saline implants and the reason why Dr. Dadvand typically overfills saline implants by a small amount. Textured breast implants have an even higher amount of rippling because of their thicker shell and the scar that forms around the implant, which makes it harder for the saline inside to push against the implant edge. So it goes without saying that textured saline implants placed above the muscle will have the highest rate of rippling. If you wish to have saline implants, then the best approach for prevention of rippling is to use smooth saline breast implant under the muscle which are then filled 25 to 50cc more than its base size. While all implant wrinkling can not be prevented with saline breast implants, a significant reduction can be seen in most patients with this approach.

If you are experiencing rippling, you should be seen by our breast implants surgeon in Los Angeles, Dr. Dadvand. Rippling will not go away on its own and tends to worsen with time.

Rippling with Silicone Breast Implants

Silicone breast implants are becoming more and more popular as the implant of choice among women undergoing breast augmentation. One of the reasons for this is that silicone breast implants have much less rippling than saline breast implants. This is especially important in women with thin skin or very little breast tissue. Saline implants in these women would have a higher chance of rippling. But why is this the case?

What determines the amount of rippling is how the material inside the implant adheres to the shell of the implant. Silicone being a thicker material than saline sticks to the inside of the implant and pushes against the shell eliminating most of the folds that can cause rippling. Saline, or salt water, being a liquid cannot do this and so results in more folds along the implant edges which is the cause of rippling. One way to accommodate for this is to overfill the saline breast implants by a small amount to increase the contact of the saline with the implant edges and reduce the folds.

If you have very little breast tissue or thin skin and want to decrease your chance for rippling, come see Dr. Dadvand in our Los Angeles practice to discuss silicone breast implants in more detail. If you have saline breast implants already and are experiencing rippling, then see Dr. Dadvand for revision breast surgery where he will discuss all of your options.