“Gummy Bear” Implants, Future Of Breast Surgery Revealed

Oct. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- “Gummy Bear” Implants, Future Of Breast Surgery Revealed

Kids love gummy bears, right? Well, lately a lot of women are going gaga on these things. Not the chewable kind but the ones that are being used for breast surgery. Yes, gummy bear breast implants are now entering the trend according to some plastic surgeons. One of them is named Grant Stevens from Marina Del Rey, California. He’s the one who coined the name for the new material.  He says it’s called that way because if you cut it in half, the implant remains stable and firm just like the chewy gummy bears.

Dr. Stevens believes that these materials are good because they look and feel a lot like a real breast. Aside from that, he pushes that gummy bear implants are safe and won’t harm the patient just like other implants due to its lower rupture rates. Stevens says, "The 'gummy bear' breast implants are new to Americans, they're cohesive gel, and they're form-stable. They keep their shape."  

These new materials which are also called high strength silicone gel implants are made by a certain company named Sientra. It was approved by US FDA last March. The thing is that neither of them (Sientra and FDA) calls it as “gummy bears”. An email sent by Sientra CEO Hani Zeini to Nightline says, "We do not condone the use of such terms…"  They also mentioned that comparing the medical tool to a candy trivializes everything and that’s also being agreed by FDA officials.

Breast surgery is a billion dollar business these days especially in the US. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that about 300, 000 American women receive breast augmentation every single year and it’s a huge figure as compared to the previous years.

“It’s a great leap in the world of plastic surgery,” says Dr. Paul McCluskey from http://psiatlanta.com/. “We just have to make sure it will last long for patients to be satisfied.”  For years, safety has been the issue when it comes to these things. In fact, Europe seeks to recall a lot of implants since news about breast implant complications started to spread.

We have yet to learn more about these breakthroughs.