By Rebecca Steiner, Naturopathic Medical Assistant and Health Coach
About Breast Implant Illness:
Breast Implant Illness (BII) is a little-known, but debilitating condition that develops in some women who have undergone cosmetic breast augmentation. Although the public has generally been made aware of the dangers of silicone implants, BII appears to be no less prevalent in women with saline implants. This may be in part because although saline implants are filled with sterile salt water, the outer shell is still comprised of silicone and other harmful chemicals that can flake off into the body. Consider just some of the toxic chemicals that have been reported in implants:
Acetone (used in nail polish remover), methyl ethyl ketone (a known neurotoxin), sodium fluoride, formaldehyde, lacquer thinner, epoxy hardener, printing ink, heavy metals.
Additionally, saline implants can harbor mold and other fungi that can leak through tiny holes that develop when the implant shell degrades over time, resulting in systemic, chronic fungal infections.
Not all women develop Breast Implant Illness. It is estimated that around 10 million women have breast implants, and while there is currently no fully accurate statistics available, it is believed that somewhere around 2% of these women will develop BII. This is a small percentage to be sure, but when you consider how many women have implants you’re talking about 140,000-200,000 women. Additionally, this estimation is probably staggeringly low, since it is likely BII cases are grossly underreported. Breast Implant Illness is not currently recognized by the mainstream medical community, or the FDA. Both groups have a vested financial interest in dismissing the health complaints of women who report becoming ill after high-priced cosmetic augmentation surgeries. Therefore, women may not have any idea that implants are the cause of their health problems, and might even be accused of making their symptoms up.
Causes:
While medical knowledge about this condition is still limited, it is believed that BII develops in some women because their immune system attacks the implant, viewing it as a foreign object. A capsule of tissue and immune cells grows around the implant attempting to wall it off from the rest of the body. The immune system continues to attack the implants on an ongoing basis, leading to an auto-immune-like condition resulting in chronic inflammation and a wide array of debilitating symptoms and a cascade of secondary disease processes.
In women who have breast implants in addition to complex, chronic illnesses like Lyme disease, and mold toxicity, breast implants may play a big role in inhibiting their inability to recover, despite proper treatment. Because the immune system is so focused on the implants, it is not dealing with other problems like tick-borne infections, viruses, or mycotoxins, allowing them to run rampant in the body. Additionally, the immune system can become weakened and compromised over time, so that it is not functioning properly and is less able to fight off infections. Medical studies have shown significantly suppressed natural killer cell activity in patients with silicone implants. Natural killer cells are an integral part of a functioning immune system and work to limit illness and infections. Often times removal of the implants marks the first time a patient with complex, chronic illness begins to make headway in her treatment, because her immune system is unburdened.
Women who develop BII may go years with no symptoms and then suddenly develop them out of the blue. Others report becoming ill almost immediately after implant surgery. Symptoms can be severe and debilitating. Just some of the many symptoms that can be associated with BII are:
Chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, hair loss, rashes, auto-immune disease, thyroid dysfunction, SIBO, leaky gut, neuropathy, arthritis, pain, Lymphoma, brain fog, cognitive dysfunction, weight gain or weight loss, low libido, insomnia, vertigo, persistent viral, fungal, bacterial and yeast infections, chemical sensitivity, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, feelings of dying, mast cell disorder (MCAS), migraines, food allergies and sensitivities.
Diagnosis:
What do you do if you suspect you may have BII? Unfortunately, there is no straightforward answer. There are no laboratory tests that will tell you if you have BII. I do not recommend patients seek a diagnosis from a doctor. Few doctors are aware of, or have accurate knowledge of BII and patients are likely to receive misinformation. I do not recommend returning to the surgeon who performed your initial surgery. Many surgeons have a vested financial interest in turning a blind eye to BII. Even the best-intentioned surgeon is likely to simply believe what they’ve been taught by the medical establishment – that Breast Implant Illness doesn’t exist.
Here is what I do recommend: follow your gut, listen to your intuition. Think back over your health history; what was your health like before implants? How has it changed since? How well does your immune system function? Do you have a condition like Lyme disease? Have you been treated by a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor with little improvement in your symptoms? I also recommend that any woman who is wondering if she has BII join a Facebook group where she can read the stories of thousands of other women and see if those stories resonate. The best Facebook groups dedicated to BII are: Dr. Jae Chun- Patient Explant and Support Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/298460460534109/and Breast Implant Illness and healing by Nicole https://www.facebook.com/groups/Healingbreastimplantillness/.
Making the choice to remove your implants is a big decision that only you can make.
Treatment:
Once you decide that you are going to treat BII the first and most important step is to undergo a full En Bloc Capsulectomy explant of your implants with a highly trained surgeon. There are very few surgeons who are qualified to correctly remove the implants of BII sufferers. You can find a list of qualified surgeons on Nicole’s Facebook page or her website https://healingbreastimplantillness.com/explant-surgeons/. It is imperative that you do not remove your implants with any surgeon who is not on this list and is not highly skilled in En Bloc removal technique, in which the implant and the surrounding tissue capsule are fully removed in one piece. Many women have undergone expensive explant surgeries only to remain ill due to tissues that were left behind during surgery.
Even if a doctor promises you that they can remove all of your capsule, at the time of surgery he or she may find they are not skilled enough to do so. For instance, in some cases tissue can be adhered to the ribs and most surgeons are not capable of removing it without risking complications. In this case the surgeon may choose to leave pieces of the capsule behind rather than risk harming the patient. It is probably not possible to recover from BII without a full En Bloc extraction of the entire implant and surrounding tissue.
Once you have decided to go through with explant surgery you must understand that for most people symptoms do not resolve overnight. Experienced explant surgeons generally report that around 85% of their patients experience significant improvement in their symptoms, but at minimum recovery usually takes at least one year. It is essential to enlist a qualified holistic practitioner to help you get your body and immune system back on track. Your body has been under assault and it will take time and work to heal. Work with your Naturopath to address detoxifying from the implants and clearing up any other associated problems like heavy metal toxicity, mycotoxins, Lyme and Co-infections.
Some additional treatments that can assist with recovery and which we offer in our clinic are:
1. IV Therapy: Following up explant surgery with nutritive IV infusions can really help to support and speed up recovery, especially in cases of leaky gut or otherwise compromised G.I. health where your body is not getting enough nutrients from food and oral vitamins. Speak with your doctor about which IV therapies are appropriate for you.
2. Ozone Therapy: Ozone therapy applied to the chest, post-surgery can have an almost magical, healing effect, helping to promote wound closure and diminish scarring. Ozone gas is also anti-microbial which helps prevent infection and complications of the incision site.
3. Low Dose Immunotherapy: LDI therapy can be a good addition to BII treatment. You can read my article about what LDI is and how it works here: http://bewellnaturalmedicine.net/blog/2020/1/9/low-dose-immunotherapy-for-chronic-conditions In order to utilize this therapy, you will need to request before your surgery that your explant surgeon provide you with a small tissue sample of your removed capsule after surgery. We can make a sterilized, autologous LDI solution from your capsule that can be administered with a small injection under your skin. In some patients it takes a while for the immune system to rebalance once the implants are gone. LDI therapy can help to speed up the process. In cases where a patient is not recovering despite explant surgery, LDI can be a useful tool for retraining the immune system, which may be stuck in overdrive.
4. Health Coaching: It is essential to clean up your diet and lifestyle in the year following explant surgery. It may be helpful to work with a health coach to determine which diet and exercise programs will work best for you.
If you are interested in further information on Breast Implant Illness, treatment, or Health Coaching please reach out to our clinic.
SOURCES:
1. https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/8/9/5269/htm
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7570622
3. https://www.myplasticsurgery.com
4. https://www.breastimplantillness.com
5. https://www.facebook.com/groups/298460460534109
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QowrmaDy4uA
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7855864