Dr. Robert Whitfield explains breast implant illness as chronic inflammation caused by bacterial contamination in about 29% of explanted implants and chemicals leaching from the silicone, similar to phthalates from a hot plastic water bottle. Many patients improve immediately after removal.
I look at breast implant illness as chronic inflammation of which a breast implant is playing a role. And much like many of the friends, family members, loved ones you may have encountered who had this problem and explanted, many of them do well right away. So we already know about 29% of those patients that I explant have a bacterial contamination or underlying infection on their implants. Your mauve a tremendous source of stimulation to their immune system. And then like you mentioned, things can come back online or reset or however we want to view that, whether it's hormonally, energy levels, things that from a gut standpoint may be off, many of those things respond right away. And the other instance where I find that happening is when there's leaching from the implants. But the chemical process, the actual process is leaching chemicals out of the implants just as if we stuck a water bottle, a plastic water bottle in a car and let it overheat and the phthalates would come out into the water and you drink it.
