Photo: Jungleboy / Flickr

People often say ‘No pain, no gain’ and nowhere is this more true than in the beauty industry. People are willing to pay a high price to look good and maintain an appearance of youth. And this does not only refer to the costs of cosmetics products. Plastic surgery is expensive, painful and often quite risky, especially when it comes to using substances and procedures that are not entirely understood.

Silicone

Silicone is commonly used in plastic surgery for body enhancements such as breast augmentation. It is a chemical substance with a tactile consistency similar to body fat and other body tissues. In other words, silicone implants in your breasts feel like the real thing.

But while silicone may feel natural, it is certain not a chemical you’ll find occurring naturally in your body. Because the body will not tolerate this foreign substance, breast implants contain silicon in a well sealed capsule. If the capsule should start leaking, doctors will immediately remove and replace the implant to preserve the patient’s good health.

Recent death

Photo: Malingering / Flickr

But many people are unaware that silicone can be toxic. Recently a women died after having silicone injected into her buttocks. The women who performed the procedure were amateurs, and the silicone they used was below surgical standards. Still, experts warn that even the best silicone should not be injected in this way.

Controversy

In America, silicone implants were banned in 1992 and reintroduced in 2006. But the FDA has not approved the use of silicone as a dermal filler. While most plastic surgeons agree that silicone implants are safe, there is still some controversy about the link between implants and auto-immune diseases.

So before you decide to take the route of silicone implants it will be worth doing your homework and finding out exactly what the risks are.

Tags: Plastic surgery