Do you like your saline implants?

I have saline implants. I'm a control freak and wanted to know if/when they ruptured. I'm not sure about the gummy implants that MinusTwo mentions, but my PS was clear that any implant, if it ruptures, will leave remnants behind, and they need to be cleaned up. She didn't tie in the complexity of clean up with how thin my flap was, and it is VERY thin.

Saline will leak out all at once, so the rupture will be immediately apparent. Saline also will get absorbed by the body, and only implant capsule will need to be removed.

That said, I am not sure I will make the same decision again, should I need implant replacement. I was the same age as you when going through reconstruction. My thinking was that if I am alive and well 10-15 years later, when implants will be getting to their end of life, I might just go flat.

Now the good, the bad and the ugly.

Good: I don't hear any saline sloshing,. although I can see how implants change shape when I move my arms or body. They look pretty good under a shirt, and even without it. I stayed the same size I was originally (32D/34C was my bra size) except now they are not saggy. I do not wear a bra unless I am going to do some jumping or running, my PS OKed it. I guess, all of the above is achievable with silicone as well.

Bad: there are visible ripples. I was warned that ripples are more probable with saline implant. They don't bother me at all.

Ugly: my implants flip. Left more often than right, but both of them can do 180 degree turn once every couple of months. Again, this has nothing to do with the fact that they are saline, but since saline implants have a valve that is used to fill them during surgery, when the valve is facing forward, I can feel it and see it though my extremely thin flap. My PS days flipping is not uncommon, but women with silicone implants or those with thicker flap may not notice it.

If I was in your shoes, I would definitely look for a PS that you can trust,.and who can give you implants you want. The reasoning of your current PS for saline implants sounds strange. Like I said I have a thin flap and my PS never voiced any preferences or concerns. They assumed I wanted silicone, because that's what majority of women prefer, but once I asked for the saline, they said "sure". They also explained all the differences. I was told silicone feel softer, and this maybe true, my implants feel a bit hard.

I'm not sure if this helps or not but I had cosmetic saline implants behind the muscle for ~22 years before one ruptured. And, when it did, it was a gradual process. I'm very active so it seems like the capsule folded and crumpled trapping some of the saline so it did not seem like an immediate event. In fact, when I was preparing for my revision, the PS drained my "good" implant to determine original volume and it was flatter than my naturally deflated side. I liked that the safety of the saline bought me some time to get it replaced--I was not living near the original PS and had to do some research. And, I was happy with those implants all of those years--my plan for revision was to replace them with saline. Now, after my double mastectomy, I'm going above the muscle and taking my PS's advice on the implant but if she gave me a choice or I was against silicone, I would not hesitate to go with saline again. But, all of that said, I do not have any experience with them after reconstruction--I'm still in the TE stage.

exbrnxgrl, that is exactly what I'm saying - saline implants have the fill valve, and I agree the silicone do not. Since mine are saline, I can feel the valve under my skin. My implants also have a "positioning circle" on the side opposite the valve, so when I don't feel the valve, I feel the circle. Both are freaky. I feel it more on the left where the flap is thinner.

Silicone implants are completely smooth, they are look and feel like two blobs of gel, so the issues I mention above with saline implants are not relevant to silicone implants.