10 years
But now I am wondering about long-term care. Is there a reason to replace them just because it's been 10 years? Or do I don't have to have them replaced? Anyone else that have had them for 10 years+?
When I had my facelift a month ago, I had the surgeon remove my 18 year old saline implants during the facelift surgery. I only had them removed, and not replaced. I also did not yet have a lift.
I had my saline implants put in 18 years ago, and they were half under the muscle. They, for some reason, deflated after eight years (and within three months of each other). I was told by several surgeons that I should just leave them in, as they would not cause any health concerns. I had only gone from a B cup to a C cup when I got implants, so you really could not tell that they were deflated.
Anyway, I left them in for another ten years before I started having problems. Last year, I woke up with my left breast red and swollen to my collar bone. It was VERY obvious. After seeing seven doctors and surgeons in one day, I was send to M.D. Anderson's Inflammatory Breast Center Clinic, for suspicion of IBC. After two days of testing, I was told that the swelling was probably "implant related", and that I should have them removed. Along with the swelling, I had severe flu-like symptoms that lasted a full week. I had pain around the implants, exactly like the pain that I had the day after I first had the implants put in.
I ignored the problem, hoping that it was an isolated thing, but it happened again in November, but this time the swelling was in the opposite breast. The flu-like symptoms were worse this time.
When the facelift doctor removed the implants, he said that they were "twisted up with the capsule growing around the twisted implants, but other than that, they looked "ok". I can't even tell you how much better I have felt with them out. I won't ever get more put in.
I had a doctor tell me that it is common for bacteria to "attack" implants (of any kind) and that sometimes, if you keep them in for many years, the shell can start breaking down and migrating to other places. Not sure if that's what happened in my case, but it was causing major problems with my immune system, and my lymph nodes stayed swollen and sore all the time. I've only had them out for a month, so I can't swear that the implants caused the swelling and sickness that I had, but I'm hoping beyond hope that it took care of my problem. Time will tell.
I have read mixed opinions from surgeons about changing out implants on a schedule, and most seem to agree that it's ok to leave them in if you are not having problems (saline), but with silicone, you can have a rupture that goes unnoticed, and it can cause big problems. You would probably be fine to leave yours in. There are a few surgeons who visit here who might chime in, but you can also find information from surgeons on this issue (I've done a search and read posts about this before) on realself.com. Good luck!
