Ok–you’ve decided you’re going to have a breast augmentation. Now, you have to ask this very important question of your surgeon–and it’s something you’ve probably already done some research on–is what kind of implant are you going to use?

There are basically two types of implants. There’s saline and silicone. What we’re referring to specifically is what makes up the implant and what’s on the inside of the shell. Saline is saltwater. It’s a very safe natural material, if it leaks, it gets absorbed by the body so a lot of people like that as part of the safety factor of having an augmentation. With saline implants, it doesn’t quite feel as natural as silicone implants do because it is saltwater which has a different texture of density compared to breast tissue, but it is a very popular implant.

Silicone implants have silicone gel. Silicone gel has a much more natural feel to it. It feels like breast tissue so when the implant is inside and you feel the breast, it actually feels real. It’s hard to tell that the implants are even in there. This is really good for patients that don’t have a lot of breast tissue covering the implant. If they just have a little bit of skin, just a little bit of breast tissue, silicone’s definitely the preferred implant because it feels more natural.