Breast Enhancement History

A breast implant is a prosthesis used to alter the size and shape of a woman's breasts, also known as breast augmentation, breast enlargement, mammoplasty enlargement or augmentation mammoplasty for cosmetic reasons, to reconstruct the breast, or as

The history of breast enhancement is actually a history of trial and error mixed with brilliant innovation. Ever since the late 19th century, doctors have been systematically experimenting with techniques to enhance the size of a woman’s bosom.

The first implant used to enlarge a woman's chest was actually a benign tumor taken from somewhere else on her body; however, this did not become a common practice. The next attempts at breast enhancement were made in the 1890s by injecting paraffin.

This method led to infections, lumps and overall bad results, so its use eventually ended. In the period leading up to the 1940s, several implant types were tried including glass spheres, ivory, rubber, ox cartilage, polyester sponge, polyethylene chips and various other materials.

In the 1920s, doctors tried to use fat tissue from other parts of the body for mammary enlargement, but this never proved permanent because much of the transplanted fat tissue was eventually absorb back into the body. This caused an asymmetrical appearance, so the fat tissue transplant procedure was discontinued within 20 years.

The use of silicone first came about as simple injections without any shell or pocket to contain the silicone. These silicone injections for breast enhancement caused inflammation and chronic infections, so the procedure was soon discontinued. Silicone came into use again in 1961 to fill a plastic shell insert.

The shell implants filled with silicone were extremely popular, but by 1992 silicone implants were banned because of the danger of rupturing the shell. For a short period of time, the soybean implant was introduced; however, this turned out to be unhealthy and never became approved in the United States. Saline is a clear salty water solution also used to fill implant shells. Saline implants used for breast enhancement proved to be much safer and were used from the 1960s onward.

Following the ban of silicone ones in 1992, they were approved again for use by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006. The newest version of silicone implants comes in a near solid form that is often referred to as the “gummy bear” silicone insert.

The evolution of breast enhancement implants may have begun with primitive materials and techniques, but a long line of research and innovation has led to the safe technology we enjoy today. The inherent dangers in previous implant technologies are no longer a thing to worry about and today we can feel safe knowing all products are thoroughly tested.

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