Gummy bear breast implants are more often called cohesive silicone gel implants. While silicone implants have suffered considerable speculation on their safety through the years, this latest incarnation of the breast prosthesis is surely the safest to date. Cohesive silicone implants will not rupture or leak any filler material into the body, even if the outer shell is badly damaged.
This article explains why these breast prosthetics are compared to gummy bears and how they can be used in a variety of augmentation and reconstructive capacities.
Design of Gummy Bear Breast Implants
The cohesive gel implant has a silicone shell similar to any other breast implant on the market. Inside, it is filled with a gummy solid version of silicone, rather than the thick liquid variety.
The silicone gummy filler is chemically bonded to itself and will not break apart. If the shell is pierced or sliced, the material will not leak out. This is the reason why the name gummy bear implant applies, since the implant has a look and feel which is very similar to the beloved candy and behaves very much like that sweet and delicious treat, as well.
To prove the resiliency of the filler material, manufacturers have filmed cutting a piece from the implant. Neither the piece, nor the remainder of the prosthesis, leaked any material and cut very cleanly. If you want to reenact this experiment for yourself, try cutting a gummy bear with a sharp knife. This is the exact reaction demonstrated by the cohesive gel implant when the outer shell is compromised.
Cohesive Silicone Breast Implant Feel
The gummy solid material is soft and realistic in its motion, but is not as soft as thinner liquidy silicone fillers.
When implanted in the body, these prostheses have a nice natural look and feel, although some patients consider them firmer than an organic breast. This could be a positive or negative selling point, depending on your own personal preferences.
Larger sizes are slightly more flexible than smaller sizes, although the firmness in smaller-sized implants mimics the natural firmness of small breasts very well.
Whether placed above or below the muscle, the cohesive gel implant will not disappoint, when it comes to the touch test. In addition, the solid material completely fills the shell, virtually eliminating the possibility of experiencing implant rippling or wrinkling that might be visible through the skin.
Gummy Bear Breast Implant Opinions
We really like these prostheses and have been won over by their safety record, as well as their realistic look and feel. The biggest problem with cohesive gel implants is that they, as a solid, require the largest incisions during any breast augmentation procedure.
No silicone implant can be placed through the advantageous and scarless TUBA procedure and the size of cohesive gel implants makes them less likely to be successfully placed using the periareolar approach on women with small areola. The inframammary approach is often fraught with complications and might cause premature degeneration of the inframammary fold. This leaves the transaxillary incision as the best method of implanting the cohesive silicone gel implant.
If this approach works well for you, then you are in luck. If not, than you will have to consider your options carefully and might have to choose a different type of implant for your breast enlargement needs.
