Dr. Robert Whitfield outlines five questions to ask before breast implant surgery: expected longevity, textured versus smooth surfaces, placement over or under muscle, infection-prevention practices like glove changes and pocket irrigation, and whether your surgeon answers confidently. Implants aren't lifetime devices and textured implants have more surface area for bacterial colonization.
Most women sign the paperwork for implants in about 4 minutes. So here are 5 questions I would answer before I'd sign anything. Number 1, how long do you expect these to last in me? These aren't lifetime devices. They're manufactured products, and they break down. If no one's told that to you already, start there. 2, textured or smooth, and why that one? A textured surface has way more area touching your tissue, which gives bacteria more room to sit. So you need to know the medical rationale behind why your surgeon chose the textured one. 3, over the muscle or under it? And what does that change for my mammograms? Because it does change them, and you want to hear that answer before surgery, not from a radiologist afterwards. And lastly, this one is the most important one. I cannot stress this enough. What do you do in the operating room to keep bacteria off the device? Is it changing gloves? Is it not touching the implant? Or is it irrigating the pocket? Now, when you ask these questions, what you're looking out for is how comfortable they are answering them. That tells you everything you need to know.
