When women get breast implants there are costs they don’t usually consider. It’s common to think just in terms of the cost of the augmentation procedure. Even knowing their implants will have to be removed at some point, it seems like a distant event that will be dealt with when the time comes. A large number of women don’t have the money to remove them when that time does come.

In speaking to some women recently that had, or still have, implants they were staggered when they actually started adding up what having their implants has cost them. Many had to travel  for their augmentation, replacement, and/or explant surgeries, incurring thousands of dollars paid out on top of surgery. Many have paid for multiple sets. For women who became ill it’s cost thousands of dollars in medical bills – often tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. Most lose their jobs, and many their homes because of their inability to work once they’re sick. Marriages / relationships break-up in the strain.

When the numbers are crunched … broken down to what it could cost in the long run to have toxic devices implanted in one’s chest wall, it’s shocking. If women knew this reality most would opt not to undergo breast augmentation.

The FDA recommends MRI’s 3 years after getting implants, and every 2 years after to check for rupture. MRI’s are expensive and most women can’t afford to proactively monitor their implants. Plus, that’s a LOT of potentially harmful exposure if one has MRI’s that frequently. As an MRI is the gold standard for diagnosing rupture women are put in bad situation both monetarily and health-wise when they have breast implants based on this alone.

*It should be noted that MRI’s frequently do not detect rupture.*

The following is based on one woman’s story:

The implant pictured in this photo was an 11 year old saline implant that had developed mold and the shell was deteriorated.

$1,971 was based on $33,500 over 17 years. That does not factor in costs beyond the very basic surgery related expenses.