Rupture of external silicone breast forms

glee

Hi all, I just found this website and it's great!  I had a left mastectomy 14 years ago and have just developed a problem with my external silicone breast forms.  I sweat alot, especially in the summer and I have had three silicone breast forms split (rupture) in the last three weeks.  I wear a mastectomy bra with a pocket and put the form inside the pocket,  This has never happened to me before.  Has anyone else experienced this problem with the outside material of the form splitting from the inside silicone gel?

Desny

Hi Glee,

No I never had this happen.  Maybe it is a defect from the company who is making breast forms.

You really should check with the company as this seems very unusual especially from normal use. 

I sure hope the company the makes them or your provider will replace it for you.  Good luck

Shirley

Binney4

Hi, glee, and welcome!

Geesh! What a nasty, sticky, icky problem! What brand and style are they? Were you by any chance flying in a plane at the time? Bet your fitter's feeling frantic...

Someone with more experience will be along soon, but I just wanted to commiserate with you and give you my best wishes for a quick solution,

Binney 

glee

Actually, two of them were amoena.  Don't remember the styles. One was probably 6 years old, the other 3 years old.  The most recent one one was given to me by my fitter just two days ago to use while she is getting approval from my insurance to order another form.  I haven't been doing anything unusual except sweating during normal activity in hot humid weather.  Since I have been using forms for the last 14 years, and nothing like this has ever happened, I can't figure it out.

cheryl58

Hi glee,

 I can't remember the name of my forms right now and they are in the bedroom with my sleeping husband.  What I had happen is the plastic-like outer film came away from the back of the prostheses (I don't know if I am explaining this right), and it happened to both of them right around the same time.  It didn't actually "open up" and nothing came out of it.  I kind of attributed it to sweating or maybe putting it in and out of the pocket so much because it happened to both at the same time. 

Anyway, my prostheses were 1-1/2 years old but the only pair I had, and I wore them every single day, all day long.  I have a lot of bras just for the reason that I, too, get sweaty, especially in the summer.  I also just put the prostheses in the pockets and do not use the cotton liner that comes with them because I can't get it smooth enough inside the pocket (I tend to wear fairly tight t-shirts). 

Anyway, since they had a two-year warranty, I took them back to my fitter and took two brand-new ones home that she had in stock.  I don't like them as much because they are the triangular and my other ones were oval but they will do for now.  I think the triangular gives a much more mature appearance to the outline than the oval.  My thought is if I can't have any "real" boobs, then I want my fake boobs to look a bit younger than I do . 

 Well, not sure if this helped but that is what happened to mine.

 Cheryl

Erica3681

Cheryl,

Just wondering what the name of your oval form is. I've been active in this forum for almost two years and I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about using oval forms, though of course I see pictures of them on online sites selling breast forms. That's really interesting that you feel they give a younger profile. I always imagined they wouldn't fit as well in a bra. Can you say anything more about that? 

Glee,

Given the ages of two of your forms, maybe it's not so surprising that they didn't hold up in hot weather, but it is odd that three ruptured in such a short time. The only problem I've had with a silicone form was when I was trying to push one into a tight pocket and punctured it with my own fingernail. This was just after I was first fitted--I learned pretty quickly to be careful about nails! Luckily, the fitter was nice and got me a new form, even though technically the warranty didn't cover my mistake.

Barbara 

cheryl58

Hi Barbara,

Sorry....I just found this   Anyway, I can't find the name of the oval forms I had.  They were made by TruLife.  I had to return the boxes so they could send them in for the warranty.  The ones that I received in place of those are the TruLife Harmony Triangle.  I have to go in for my newest 2-year pair soon, so I will have her look up the name of the oval forms I had to begin with. 

 What I found is with the oval form, there is not as much "droop".  The weight is of the form seemed to be carried throughout the form.  With the triangular, the heaviest part of the form is the bottom, thus causing the "droop" because there is not as much support through the top and the sides of the form.  (I don't know if this makes any sense the way that I wrote it). 

If I remember correctly, you are very thin also.  I find with being thin that you don't necessarily need the droop to look "natural".  I am sure there will come a day when I will have to accept some drooping though   With the oval forms, there was just more all-over projection (picture having nice, well-rounded, "pushed-up" cleavage).  Even though they were covered by the pocket, there was more "breast tissue" at the top of the bra.

Hope this helps.  I am sure I did not explain it very well.  I tried on A LOT of forms when obtaining my first pair (the ovals), and they were what I liked best.  My husband has a Harley, and it just seems one of the prerequisites is that I must wear tight t-shirts...hahaha!  Nobody needs to know "they" are not real, right?

 Take care,

Cheryl

Erica3681

Hi Cheryl,

Thanks for the response. I've checked out some TruLife forms online--TruLife seems to make more teardrop, round, and oval-looking forms than other manufacturers. I'm looking forward to trying them next time I go to the fitter's.

As for the tight tees, my husband's not into Harleys (though he's currently building a sports car), but I love tight tee shirts! And I absolutely agree--nobody needs to know they're not real!

Barbara 

pinklemon

Glee, I just want to add this info: Amoena does have a new form that stays cooler against your body. There is a gel that regulates the temperature... It is called Comfort+.