Hi - had a mastectomy in February (and dove Cozumel in March) but now ready to explore a prosthesis for diving. I know the regular silicone ones float (and I don’t want to add more weight!!!). Has anyone found a neutrally buoyant, or even better, one that will sink? Going to Bonaire in Aug for 9 days and want to live in a bathing suit without looking too lopsided. Thanks!!!
Breast prosthesis
- Thread starter wpohlmann
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I mean this in the most delicate way possible: how large would your prosthesis need to be? From a few minutes of research, I would venture a guess that an average silicone breast form might have a few ounces of positive buoyancy. If you were carrying a heavy-body light for a night dive, you might not even notice a change.
I'm hunting to see if saline breast forms are on the market, as that would likely be close to neutral.
I'm hunting to see if saline breast forms are on the market, as that would likely be close to neutral.
Edit: I was thinking of something else.
happy-diver
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when I was a boy I used socks in my mothers bikini tops and bras
had a girlfriend that sometimes used tissues but not at the beach
had a girlfriend that sometimes used tissues but not at the beach
I mean this in the most delicate way possible: how large would your prosthesis need to be?
Thanks for answering. Unfortunately, pretty large. Double D cup - the size of maybe 3/4 of a softball. It is VERY buoyant... there is something on the market called Tru Life Active but it isn’t comfortable - basically a giant scratchy mesh bag filled with beans.
Thanks for answering. Unfortunately, pretty large. Double D cup - the size of maybe 3/4 of a softball. It is VERY buoyant... there is something on the market called Tru Life Active but it isn’t comfortable - basically a giant scratchy mesh bag filled with beans.
I haven't been able to find a regular saline breast form. I wonder if your surgeon (if they do reconstruction) would be willing to order you a plain saline implant for external wear? (Caveat: I have no idea if this would be cost-effective.)
Ryan Neely
Contributor
Now ... we're new divers and, in all honesty, we haven't had the opportunity to experience a "before and after," but my wife has saline implants and she has not had any issues with buoyancy. (In fact, I'm ashamed to say, she has better buoyancy control than me.) I can't tell you how her buoyancy compares to before her mastectomy because we weren't diving then, but she hasn't had any issues to report to date.
I hope that helps.
I hope that helps.
Ryan Neely
Contributor
For what it's worth, I asked her about her experiences when she arrived home tonight. Her first question was: How much more buoyant is silicone compared to natural fat tissue?
A [very brief] Google search reported that silicone breast implants have a specific gravity of 1.0 while saline implants have a specific gravity of 0.97. The specific gravity of fat tissue is around 0.92 to 0.93. Unfortunately, every tissue sample will be different, and since a breast isn't all fat it's impossible to know exactly what the specific gravity of the former tissue was.
However, the point is that the specific gravity of fresh water is 1.0, so it should stand to reason that silicone (also with a S.G. of 1.0) would be naturally buoyant while saline would be [slightly] positively buoyant. (If the very brief googling is at all accurate.)
Maybe that helps direct you a certain direction, but I'll bet your doctor would be better capable of answering this question.
On a side note, I'm intrigued to learn that you're including buoyancy and scuba in your considerations. When my wife made her decision, the primary factors were comfort, feel, and medical. Kudos for dedicating yourself to the sport. :-D
A [very brief] Google search reported that silicone breast implants have a specific gravity of 1.0 while saline implants have a specific gravity of 0.97. The specific gravity of fat tissue is around 0.92 to 0.93. Unfortunately, every tissue sample will be different, and since a breast isn't all fat it's impossible to know exactly what the specific gravity of the former tissue was.
However, the point is that the specific gravity of fresh water is 1.0, so it should stand to reason that silicone (also with a S.G. of 1.0) would be naturally buoyant while saline would be [slightly] positively buoyant. (If the very brief googling is at all accurate.)
Maybe that helps direct you a certain direction, but I'll bet your doctor would be better capable of answering this question.
On a side note, I'm intrigued to learn that you're including buoyancy and scuba in your considerations. When my wife made her decision, the primary factors were comfort, feel, and medical. Kudos for dedicating yourself to the sport. :-D
I thought that packs were now saline and no longer silicone. Perhaps I am ignorant on this and it is easy to do. but dont natural breasts float because of the fatty tissue and silicone being heavier sink. may be it could be a salt water freshwater thing. still saline should promote sinking in fresh water at least and in a full reconstruction should have little to no fatty tissue to float
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