How common is breast implant illness?

Dear missmxo,there have been numerous studies on the safety and efficacy of silicone breast implants. The FDA has approved them to be safe and breast augmentation is the most common cosmetic surgical procedure performed in the United States every year. Implants are much different than they used to be with rigorous testing and cohesive gel. I can't tell you how happy my breast augmentation patients have been with their implants.
I would recommend a consult with a plastic surgeon to go over all of your concerns. Saline implants are also a perfectly good option if you are still concerned and are less expensive.Daniel Barrett, MD, MHA, MS 
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery  
Member, Am. Society of Plastic Surgery

The only health concern directly related to implants that I counsel my patients about is ALCL - the very rare lymphoma that is associated with TEXTURED silicone implants. 

Thank you for your question. I can only answer your question by saying that not only is it "not common," but I would also caution you that "breast implant illness" does not exist. This is a anecdotal (case by case report by individual patients) phenomenon that has no scientific basis and has been researched in depth and shown to have no connection to breast implant surgery. In other words, a patient gets implants, and then gets diagnosed with an illness of some kind which they attribute to the implants, so they go around telling everyone they have "breast implant illness." Unfortunately, there is no way to know whether the patient would have developed that illness with or without the implants. If you look at the general population, the incidence of those illnesses people attribute to implants is roughly equivalent to the rate of that same illness in patients who do not have implants. Thus the scientific conclusion is that regardless of what that person thinks ("I got breast implant illness"), there is no scientifically proven evidence that the implant is associated in any way with the development of the illness. Bottom line is stop reading all the non-sense you are reading and stop listening to people who are pushing this agenda and start looking at the scientific data which takes into account thousands of patients over several years of time. This should give you confidence to proceed with surgery and feel safe with that decision. Hope this helps!

Silicone implants are safe. Period
Breast Implant Illness  and silicone related medical complications are controversial topics. It is a phenomenon which is supported by a wealth of anecdotal data (patient testimony) but no empiric data  (hard scientific research). Patient reports a litany of symptoms which they attribute to their implants but the connection is difficult if not impossible to prove via laboratory study.
Physician scientists may recognize anecdotal data but unless it is supported by Class I empiric data, it is difficult to place a great deal of faith in it. Clinicians make decision based upon evidence based medicine. 
That being said, it is easier to identify what one knows rather than what one doesn't.
What we do know is that by all available measures today...implants are safe and specifically silicone implants are safe.
Silicone breast implants are among the safest medical devices in use today. These devices are also among the most rigorously studied and tested medical devices currently being used in the U.S. today. It is biologically inert  and in that respect no different than the titanium used for bony fixation. There has been no demonstrated link between silicone and the commonly cited myth of autoimmune disease.
With regards to your specific question, ultimately it is up to patients to decide what sources they choose to believe. Those who believe they suffer from BII are vocal and the accounts of their suffering are readily available to most (via the internet). The sterile scientific data regarding silicone implant safety is by contrast less available and not as easily consumed by the average individual. That being said the hard scientific data is no less voluminous. There are as many (if not more) fact based studies and data points as there are those who believe they are suffering from BII. 
As always, discuss your concerns with a board certified plastic surgeon (ABPS)

I think you are wise to approach any surgical procedure where a foreign material is put into your body with caution. It is smart to do your research before having any procedure done. The good news is that breast augmentation surgery has been performed tens of millions of times in the world has been proven to be very safe. However, there are a small percentage of women with complications ranging from contractures, to infections, and even some who have autoimmune disorders that arise from having foreign material in their bodies. This can be due to any foreign object but those subsets of patients are likely more sensitive to implantable material which the body recognizes as foreign. If you have any type of immune disorders, or if these are common in your family, it is best to really consider how much you really want the larger breasts. If you choose to have the procedure, you will likely have a very good outcome, but be prepared to have implants removed (there is cost associated with this) if you start having issues down the road. The good news is that the few women with problems associated with their implants that I have removed have all gotten better. Thanks for your question.  

The FDA has deemed silicone implants safe. There is nothing without risks, including driving home from work.  But breast augmentation has one of the highest satisfaction rates of any surgery. And there is a lot of misinformation. Recently I saw a patient who developed a lymph node enlargement and her MRI showed "silicone rupture with free silicone towards the lymph nodes."  At surgery her implants were completely intact! No rupture, no free silicone.  But she had a terrible week thinking her implants were causing a problem. 

Dear mismxo.  Simply answer to your question - "as rare as hens teeth"  Breast implants are one of the safest surgeries of all implant operations.  There have been several very large studies on women with breast implants, many with over 30,000 women, that looked at so called "breast implant illness" - none of these studies showed any increase in "disease" in women with breast implants vs no implants.  In my own experience over 20 years and 1000s of implants - I have never seen one of my patients with any so called "breast implant disease".  Really, it comes down to you personally, you have to feel completely comfortable with having a foreign implant in your breasts - if you don't then certainly keep your small but perfect breasts as they are.  Hope that this helps.  Good luck.

Actually, there is no scientific evidence that "breast implant illness" exists. The FDA removed silicone gel implants from the market in the early 1990's and studied whether "breast implant illness" or any disease or toxicity was linked to breast implants. After 15 years of study they concluded that there was no disease, illness, or toxicity associated with breast implants, declared them safe, and allowed them to be brought back to market. Scientific evidence is not enough to satisfy people who have some agenda. In any population, there are people who develop diseases as well as people who develop non-specific symptoms that are not recognized as any distinct disease...such as chronic fatigue, muscle aches, etc. If you read on the internet that people who have had implants placed are complaining of certain symptoms, some of which you are experiencing, it is natural to assume that the implants may be causing those symptoms. But that does not prove that there is a cause and effect relationship. Nevertheless, if you are uncomfortable with the idea of having breast implants, then you should not undergo breast augmentation.

I have been performing breast augmentation surgery for over 30 years now and have never seen any documented implant related disease in any of my patients.  I have heard anecdotal stories in the past but am convinced that the entity does not exist and that the procedure is especially safe with modern cohesive gel implants.  Only you can ultimately weigh the advantages versus your concerns in making the decision to proceed.  Best wishes,
Jon A Perlman MD FACS 

Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery 

Member, ASAPS, ASPS

Extreme Makeover Surgeon, ABC TV

Best of Los Angeles Award 2015, 2016 

Beverly Hills, Ca

Hi, and thank you for the question
Based on the information you send us, i really think you are misinformed. breast augmentation surgery its one of the safest surgeries there is. breast implants have non proven relationship with breast illness (breast cancer, tumors or adenophaty). and the complications related to the procedure (capsular contracture, seromas, rejection and others) will happend in less than 5 % of the cases. in general if you seek the attention of a certified plastic surgeon, you should have a great result and a normal life. so feel free to contact us for further evaluation.   
Thank you againg and have a great day