Breast Implant Surgery is for Life, not just Valentines Day!

Be Careful what you Commit to this Valentines Day

Breast enlargement surgery with implants is the most popular cosmetic surgery treatment worldwide all year round. Around Valentines Day though, bookings for this treatment typically peak even more as thoughts turn to looking good in lacey lingerie and a special surprise for our partners.

This year, however, Aurora Clinics really want to take a moment to send out a slightly less romantic but very important message - A Breast Implant procedure is for life; not just for Valentines Day!

PIP Implants Patients believed Implants Are Lifetime Devices

With the recent PIP implants crisis (around 40,000 UK women have discovered the implants they were sold contain sub-standard silicone prone to ruptures and leaks), thousands of frightened, confused and angry ladies are coming forward for implant removal and replacement.

Aurora Clinics never used PIP implants ourselves, but we are stepping in to help as many of these women as possible. Just recently, we have been privileged to be allowed into one of their innermost communities: a private closed group on Facebook where one Aurora rep was invited to offer advice and answer questions.

Here, a startling fact has come to light: a huge proportion of the women who have PIP implants believed that their breast implants would last them throughout their lives.

Many of them claim that they were not told during their initial pre-op consultations (at a variety of clinics and cosmetic surgery groups all over the UK and Europe) that the typical life expectancy of even a high quality breast implant is approximately 10-15 years.

The Truth about Breast Implant Life Expectancy

Yes, we have seen some ladies who still have their breast implants after 20 years, remarks Aurora Head of Business, Sue Addison. But this isn’t common.

Our breasts change so much in that time too – diet, exercise, ageing – they won’t stay the same!! Many women would therefore end up having their implants removed and possibly replaced for purely aesthetic reasons after 20 years, to suit their adapted body shapes and lifestyle, even if the implant was still in perfect form.

Breast Enlargement is a Lifetime Commitment

The implications of this are obviously very important: most women know that breast surgery is a big decision when they initially do their research, choose a surgeon and decide to proceed. But do they really understand how big a decision it is?

And that, like many other beauty regimes, a choice to get breast implants is essentially a decision to embark on ongoing maintenance for the rest of your life (or until you decide to have the implants removed).

As one lady on the Facebook group realised:

“It has really struck me that I will most likely be having surgery in 5 -10 years time and thereafter for life. Yes the implant itself will be covered possibly but the cost of surgery I assume won’t. I guess I did not really think through the long term commitment and secretly hoped they would last forever!!”

Many of the PIP implants ladies are in an unusual situation: PIP is a brand of implants proven to be sub-standard, with a higher than usual rupture rate. Many of these implants are causing problems and often rupturing or developing gel-bleed way before the estimated 10-15 year implant life expectancy.

But in a few cases, the PIP implants have actually made it to 9 or 10 years. In these cases, the women may be surprised to learn that they would quite possibly have been facing implant removal and replacement anyway, whether they had PIP implants or not.

The moral of this story?

If you have your heart set on breast implants this Valentines (or any other time throughout the year!) don’t be put off by the reality. But do go into it with your eyes wide open, knowing all the facts and the longterm commitment that you are taking on:

You can find more information about the warranties that come with your chosen implant brand on the manufacturers websites.
At Aurora Clinics, we provide completely free yearly check-ups for all our breast enlargement patients on an ongoing basis – you always remain OUR patient, even after your surgery
So you can rest assured that we will carefully monitor the condition of your implants and let you know how that life expectancy is holding up

At the end of the day, remember: very few products we purchase last us for eternity. But by getting honest and open information and the highest quality breast implants from an expert surgeon, you will be making the best long-term investment you possibly can.