Breast Implants

The controversy surrounding silicone and even saline breast implants hasn't diminished in recent years. On the contrary, more and more woman are discovering that pursuing society's image of perfect breasts can cause serious health consequences.

All breast implants have a silicone envelope, whether the liquid filling is saline or silicone, according to Adelle Matthews of the BC chapter of the Implant Awareness Society. Capsular contracture and fibrous hardening, what she calls "grapefruit breast," shows up within five years with about 50 per cent of breast implant patients.

The implant sliding down the chest (or "melting together" across the chest), pain in the breasts and down the arms, loss of feeling in the breast, nipples constantly erect, infections, difficulty in breastfeeding, implant leakage and bursting...all of these problems often lead to re-surgery and removal of the implant. A Mayo clinic study found one in four patients require additional surgery within five years.

Matthews states that Dr. Pierre Blais, pathologist and FDA-acknowledged specialist in implant design and failure, formerly with Health Canada, blew the whistle on implants after seeing hundreds of them encapsulated and hard as baseballs, or filled with purple-green slime growths.

She quotes neurologist Dr. Jonathan Walker of Dallas, Tex, who has a longstanding interest in autoimmune diseases and chronic pain, and is very familiar with breast implants. He states that, after 10 years in the body, more than half of breast implants begin to break apart; after 20 years, nearly all have fallen apart. "There's no doubt that implants cause painful and debilitating complications. These include deformity, burning rashes, rotting breast tissue, migration of the implant, and migration of the silicone from the envelope throughout the body, with highest concentrations to the brain, uterus, ovaries and lungs," says Matthews.

Silicone constantly leaks into the lymph nodes within and beside the breast. After removal of breast implants, Matthews says health problems often linger. It seems sensible that a post-implant "explantation detox program" is useful for flushing out the breast tissues; competent breast massage (especially lymph drainage such as the Vodder method), will help with this.
Says Daphne Robertson, a BC woman who has made it her personal mission to educate others as to the dangers of implant surgery, "The most effective way to refrain from becoming ill from implants is to have them removed and slowly detoxify and build up all organs. The best preventive measure is not to get implants in the first place. Be safe rather than sorry with years of illness."

BC chapter of the Implant Awareness Society: 604-572-8486.
Website: infoimplants.com/IAS/index.html.

Daphne Robertson will also discuss concerns regarding implant safety. Phone: 604-872-2421.