What is Breast Implant Illness (BII)? (2024)

FAQs

What is Breast Implant Illness (BII)? ›

Breast implant illness (BII) is a collection of symptoms that occur in people with breast implants. There isn't an official medical diagnosis for BII. Symptoms may include fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, dry eyes and many other health concerns. Healthcare providers diagnose BII by ruling out other health conditions.

Breast implant illness describes a wide range of symptoms from fatigue to chronic joint and muscle pain that a small number of women experience after getting breast implants.

The risk factors for BII aren't as clear but are likely to include having a personal or family history of autoimmune conditions, allergies, and conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, chronic fatigue, or fibromyalgia.

Researchers in the Netherlands studied 80 women with implants and found that symptoms improved in 69% of patients after surgery. Clearly, breast implant removal improves or completely resolves the BII symptoms. However, BII is not accepted as an official medical diagnosis.

However, in rare cases, women may experience a collection of symptoms, ranging from joint pain and headaches to chronic fatigue and breathing problems. Collectively, doctors and researchers refer to this as breast implant illness — or BII, for short.

The researchers found that the women with silicone gel-filled breast implants were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with autoimmune or rheumatic disorders, such as Sjögren syndrome, systemic sclerosis, and sarcoidosis, compared with women without breast implants of a similar age and socioeconomic status.

Breast implant illness is rare, and there is no specific blood test for the condition. In fact, medical professionals know little about the condition — besides the fact that removing breast implants can often improve conditions for the patient.

Silicone breast implant removal may relieve early autoimmune symptoms, but it will not cure an autoimmune disease that has already developed. The decision to have your breast implants removed is personal and one that should be made with your doctor.

Symptoms such as fatigue, memory loss, rash, "brain fog," and joint pain may be associated with breast implants. Some patients may use the term "breast implant illness" (BII) to describe these symptoms.

Do doctors believe in breast implant illness? ›

Breast implant illness (BII) is a serious condition with several side effects (including physical pain and memory fog) that affect some women with breast implants. Unfortunately, not everyone, including many plastic surgeons and doctors, believes that it is real. Even so, many women are experiencing real problems.

PAIN/DISCOMFORT It is common to have breast swelling, bruising, tenderness, and numbness in the surgical area as your breasts heal. Itching, "shooting pains" or "Zingers" are common and can be expected.

However, if you did not opt to have your implants replaced after removal, you can expect your breasts to look: less full, more deflated, or. hollow.

The rash may appear as a red, itchy, or scaly patch of skin, and may be accompanied by other symptoms such as swelling, blistering, or hives.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommends that people with breast implants have them removed or replaced every 10 to 15 years. However, your plastic surgeon may not recommend that you have them removed if you haven't had any complications.

These symptoms would not be expected to improve spontaneously after removal of breast implants if they were not caused by the device. Similar symptoms are seen in idiopathic chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, but spontaneous improvements are extremely rare.

Occasionally when a silicone gel-filled implant ruptures, you may notice a decrease in breast size, change in breast implant shape, hard lumps over the implant or chest area, an uneven appearance of the breasts, pain or tenderness, tingling, swelling, numbness, burning, or changes in sensation.

The cardinal signs of infection are pain, redness, swelling and fever, but you may not have all the signs. Breast Implant Infections can also occur well after surgery, but this is less likely.