History of Breast Augmentation

Breast augmentation has been the leading cosmetic surgical procedure for a number of years. Nowadays, breast augmentation procedures are very safe, and only high-quality, medical grade materials are used to make implants. However, this was not always the case. In fact, the history of breast implants goes back all the way to the Victorian era. Over the years, a rather startling variety of materials and techniques have been used in women’s efforts to enlarge their breasts. By comparison, the methods and techniques used today are exceedingly safe and provide excellent results for patients.

Victorian Era to the First Half of the 20^th Century

The first recorded successful case of a breast augmentation was in 1895, in the case of a woman who had adipose (fat) tissue transplanted from a benign tumor into her breasts. The well-known German surgeon Vincenz Czerny performed this procedure. Around the same time, another surgeon, Robert Gersuny, was experimenting with paraffin wax to augment the breasts. Unfortunately, Gersuny had far less successful results.

From the Victorian era through to the first half of the 20^th century, a rather wide variety of materials were tried in an attempt to enlarge women’s breasts. These included such items as: Ivory, glass balls, ground rubber, ox cartilage, foam sponges, polyethylene tape strips wound into a ball, and Teflon.

By the 1940s, unlicensed practitioners were injecting a number of liquid materials directly into women’s breasts, including petroleum jelly, paraffin, and medical- and industrial-grade silicone. The use of industrial-grade silicone is particularly notable, as this method of breast augmentation was practiced by Japanese prostitutes, who believed that American servicemen preferred women with larger breasts.

Unfortunately, these substances tended to cause a variety of serious medical problems, including almost certain capsular contracture, in which excess scar tissue forms in the breast tissue, making the breasts hard and sometimes misshapen. In addition, women also could suffer from: Pain, skin discoloration, ulceration, infection, breast disfigurement or loss, liver problems, respiratory distress, and pulmonary embolisms. In very severe cases, some women could go into a coma or die.

Last Half of the 20^th Century

In 1961, plastic surgeons Thomas Cronin and Frank Gerow developed the first silicone breast implant in conjunction with the Dow Corning Corporation, and successfully performed the first breast augmentation using the implants a year later. The French medical-device company, Laboratoires Arion, developed and manufactured the first saline breast implant. It was first used in 1965.

Over the years, the outer shell for both saline and silicone implants has been made sturdier and less prone to leaks or ruptures. Starting in the mid-1990s, the newer, cohesive gel silicone implants (sometimes called Gummi-bear implants because of their resemblance to the popular chewy candy) were developed. These implants entirely eliminate the risk of silicone leakage or rupture, as they retain their shape even if cut in half entirely.

As you can see, the safety of both breast implants and the breast augmentation surgical procedure have come quite a long way since those first early experiments.

Contact Jefferson Plastic Surgery to schedule a breast augmentation consultation.