Air travel with silicon prosthesis

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Hello,I am traveling to India and this is my first flight after surgery which was 2 years ago.I am planing to wear my prosthesis on plane.would there be any problem at the security?is it better to keep the prosthesis in carry on luggage and then wear after security?Do I need a prescription too ?

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  • lalady1
    lalady1 Member Posts: 618
    edited May 2017

    Hi N - I have flown to from CA to Europe several times post MX. You will be fine to wear it through security, but they may pat you down if there is metal in your body post surgery, etc. Just tell them you had breast cancer surgery. You do not need a prescription. Don't be worried. I am glad you are going home to visit family in India. Please wear support socks for the long flight, it prevents ankles from swelling. Enjoy your flight!

  • Pessa
    Pessa Member Posts: 519
    edited May 2017

    I have flown many times wearing my silicon prostheses (bilateral) and no one in security has even commented on them or examined me in any further detail.

    Enjoy your trip

  • GeorgiaRai
    GeorgiaRai Member Posts: 175
    edited May 2017

    I've only flown domestically, but always wear silicon forms and have never been questioned. I've been assigned TSA pre-check, have been through metal detectors & have done the full-body scan, all with forms in a mastectomy bra - never had any problems, questions or comments.

    Good luck & safe travels!

  • netrajkr
    netrajkr Member Posts: 45
    edited May 2017

    Thank you all so much ..I have 1 less thing to worry about now .

    Love ❤️ to you al

  • Sassa
    Sassa Member Posts: 1,588
    edited May 2017

    By all means, wear the prostheses. Packing them in your suitcase means there is a chance of them being damaged .

    If you haven't travel with prostheses before, I found storing them in a mastectomy bra hanging from a door knob was a good way to store them when I wasn't wearing them. This method meant I didn't need to bring a box to put them in at night.

  • KayaRose
    KayaRose Member Posts: 183
    edited May 2017

    I've flown many times wearing my silicone form. Each and every time I have been asked to step to the side and then patted down. I mention my mastectomy and they are always considerate and apologize for having to do it. I asked if I would still be patted down if I had TSA pre-approval and they said most likely, yes, I will still be patted down.

    When I packed it in my carry on, it was actually worse. They pulled my bag to the side and made me stand there and not talk while they rummaged through the bag. They were looking for explosives, It was embarrassing

  • Erica3681
    Erica3681 Member Posts: 1,916
    edited May 2017

    KayaRose,

    I think it's unlikely that you'd be patted down with TSA Pre-Check, since most of the time with that you just go through a metal detector, which wouldn't pick up anything unusual from a silicone breast form. I always wear my unweighted foam forms when flying and use TSA Pre-Check and I've never been patted down. Before I had TSA Pre, I sometimes was patted down after going through the wave detector.

    That's just been my experience, of course. Sometimes pat-down can happen for weird inexplicable reasons. The last time I flew with my husband, he was patted down and I wasn't.

  • Flounder
    Flounder Member Posts: 35
    edited May 2017

    I wear silicone forms, and I get patted down every time, including TSA pre-check (just a week ago). I quietly mention the mastectomy, and they do it very quickly.

  • KayaRose
    KayaRose Member Posts: 183
    edited May 2017

    Erica, the TSA agent I asked about pre-check still requiring a pat down was a woman and she also had a mastectomy. Small world. Also, I usually fly out of O'Hare airport in Chicago. I don't go through a metal detector. It's a type of X-ray machine. Don't know what it's called but you stand in it with your arms above your head. It gives them a look at you similar to an X-ray. Maybe that's why they spot something abnormal about me.

  • Chloesmom
    Chloesmom Member Posts: 1,053
    edited May 2017

    My support stockings have silicone bands at the top and have triggered a pat down of my legs

  • Erica3681
    Erica3681 Member Posts: 1,916
    edited May 2017

    Kaya Rose, I think the type of machine you're describing is a millimeter wave scanner (I just called it a wave machine in my earlier post). When airport screening got serious after 9/11, I believe the first scanners they used emitted a very low dose of radiation. They claimed it was minimal but, after having had breast radiation, I didn't want to add any more rads to my body. So, I used to always just opt for a pat-down. Not fun, but mostly the women who did it were pleasant and respectful. Then, TSA gradually replaced most, if not all, of the x-ray type scanners with millimeter wave scanners that don't have radiation -- I think they use microwaves, but don't quote me. :-) I don't mind going through those and most of the time the agents don't make me have a pat-down afterwards, but once in a while they do.

    With TSA pre-check, most of the time the machines they use are the old-fashioned metal detectors and I've never been singled out for a pat-down with one of those. But every once in a while (at the airports I've been to), they have even TSA pre-check passengers go through the millimeter wave scanners. I don't really mind being patted down -- the main issue is that if I'm traveling alone, sometimes I worry about keeping an eye on my carry-on bags while they do it.

    Given Chloesmom's experience with her support stockings, maybe the silicone forms appear differently in the millimeter wave machines than the foam ones I mostly wear...

  • KayaRose
    KayaRose Member Posts: 183
    edited May 2017

    Erica, thanks for the explanation. I agree with you - don't mind the pat down as much as leaving my things unattended.

  • Sassa
    Sassa Member Posts: 1,588
    edited May 2017

    What seems strange to me is that when I wore silicone prostheses, I would be routinely patted down at the airport. Once I did reconstruction with silicone implants, I have never been stopped.

    I am not sure why internal placement of sacks of silicone is less suspicious than external placement.

  • KayaRose
    KayaRose Member Posts: 183
    edited May 2017

    Sassa, My only thought about the difference would be that a would-be bomber might strap an explosive device to their body. Something inside the body may not be considered as a potential explosive? It is a good question.

  • Denise-G
    Denise-G Member Posts: 1,777
    edited May 2017

    I always tell the security people that I had a mastectomy and wear a prosthesis.

    A few times they have patted me down really fast, often they have not.

    If you are at risk for Lymphedema, make sure you wear a sleeve!!


  • netrajkr
    netrajkr Member Posts: 45
    edited May 2017

    Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences and suggestions.Yes,I am wearing sleeves though my risk is very low but due to such long flights I have decided to wear sleevewith gauntlet.

    Much love to you all

  • Hypatia
    Hypatia Member Posts: 12
    edited June 2018

    I just flew from Orlando (MCO) to Detroit (DTW) and back wearing my silicone prosthesis. The full body scanner at MCO detected them. Told the female TSA agent that I had the prosthesis. She said that she would have to do a pat down, but that, "I would rather you be here than not." It was a quick check, and frankly I didn't feel a thing. At DTW, it was a walkthrough scanner which didn't detected anything.

    Wore compression sleeves and found my hands hurting midflight. Luckily I had some arthritis compression gloves in my carry on and wore them the rest of the flight. On the way back I wore both. I will be getting gauntlets for any future flights.

  • mustlovepoodles
    mustlovepoodles Member Posts: 2,825
    edited June 2018

    I get patted down every time i fly with my prostheses. I don't know if its the silicone boobs or the front-closing bra with 6 hook & eye closures that sets them off. Sometimes i change it up a bit and go flat for flight. Those times i breeze right through, as long as i declare my artificial knee.

  • sbelizabeth
    sbelizabeth Member Posts: 2,889
    edited June 2018

    I have two artificial knees and can't go through any metal detector without alarms ringing. I can declare them all day but I still must do the scanner or a pat-down. I don't even attempt the metal detectors anymore.

    I flew a couple of times with a silicone prosthesis, and at the time, airports were using the x-ray scanners. I opted for the pat-down. Easy peasy. Now that the millimeter wave scanners are used, I don't have any issues except for the occasional grumpy TSA agent who insists I raise my hands higher. I have a wonky shoulder from rads, so it's not comfortable. Thanks, breast cancer.

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