MICHIGAN — While the popularity of breast augmentations remains high, one Michigan doctor warns of new data released by the FDA, linking the procedure to a host of medical issues.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, breast augmentation continues to be one of the most popular plastic surgery procedures in the country. Dr. Shaher Khan is a board-certified plastic surgeon who completed one breast augmentation to get his certification, and now only exclusively does explants – taking implants out.
“You hear many ladies in the masses across social media not only in the United States, but the rest of the world, who are literally hurting and are in misery as a direct result of the implants," Dr. Khan said.
He says some jump into the procedure without understanding the full risks.
According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, in 2021 around 381,000 liposuctions were performed in the U.S. and was the most common surgical procedure that year. Just behind liposuction were breast augmentations with 378,000 procedures performed.
Reasons for wanting to get work done remain far and wide. Some do it for health reasons, others for cosmetic reasons. Jaquelin Caminita from Macomb County wanted a breast augmentation after being bullied for years about her looks.
"I would get made fun of...people would say just like little comments and you're trying to brush them off," Caminita said. "But after you hear them over and over for a while it kind of gets to you and you feel like something's wrong with you."
In 2016 she saved up her money and decided to go ahead with a breast augmentation. But her excitement quickly turned into panic as she immediately started feeling strange symptoms.
"I had low libido, night sweats, brain fog, joint issues, weight gain," Caminita said. "It got to a point where I couldn't swallow my food because my lymph nodes were swollen."
After doing some research online she realized she had Breast Implant Illness. She had two corrective surgeries and in 2022 went ahead with a fourth procedure - the full removal of her implants. With the four procedures in total, she was out approximately $30,000 dollars.
"If you talk to the ladies, they will tell you they certainly are not well aware of the many, many risks that are associated with breast implants," Dr. Khan said.
Dr. Kahn is now dedicating his life to warning people of the risks associated with breast implants, including Breast Implant Illness (BII).
"Five years ago, not many people had heard of Breast Implant Illness. Nowadays, everyone is talking about it," Dr. Khan said.
The FDA defines BII as "a term coined by clinicians and patients to describe symptoms reported by women after breast reconstruction or augmentation". They've collected data on the most common symptoms of BII and it includes things like "fatigue, brain fog, joint and muscle pain" and more.
It's a broad descriptor of symptoms after breast augmentation, however it has not yet been identified as an official medical diagnosis by the FDA.
71,000 people had their implants removed in 2021 in the U.S. However, it's not tracked how many of those removals were associated with BII. Dr. Khan assumes most of the removals did have something to do with the plethora of negative symptoms.
"There is a direct link in association as highlighted by the FDA as well as by the manufacturers, that breast implant illness does indeed exist," Dr. Khan said.
On March 8 the FDA linked the procedure to squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer.
This is an update to findings the FDA released last September, warning about breast implants and a connection to other various lymphomas.
"They are a direct result of the implant," Dr. Khan said. "These ladies would not have gotten the lymphoma or the squamous cell cancer, and this is way under reported."
After Caminita got her implants removed, she says all her symptoms disappeared and feels well enough to do her regular activities like working out. She now only wishes she would've done more research or never got the implants in the first place.
"With social media and young girls, you can look at anything all times of the day and compare yourself to somebody else," she said. "But what is it worth?"
