Sorry to sound ignorant-but what are PIP implants?

Hey girls-I've been reading your posts in here, but am wondering what exactly are PIP implants, and why do they have to be removed. I know you girls are pouring your hearts and souls out here, so I am sorry to sound rude, but I would rather hear it from you than Google ;) xx

I hope i can be accurate here, PIP implants are a specific brand of silicone implant manufactured by a french company which were used up until March last year. They were recalled due to high rupture rates and reports of leaking silicone and it was found that the silicone used in them was not up to medical standard.

Many women have had these implants and experienced problems and higher than normal rupture rates. Some people have experienced travelling silicone in their bodies and experienced a wide variety of symtpoms, these symptoms though have not been directly attributed to the leaking implants yet. Test have been done and further results are expected, to establish whether the silicone used is damaging to the body in any way. British tests showed that the silicone was not toxic to the body but the French tests are not 100% conclusive, hence the need for further testing. Both have confirmed though that the outer shell of the implants was not as thick as was stated by the manufacturer, which could explain the high rupture rate.

All women with these implants are being told to visit their surgeons and get ultrasounds or MRI scans to establish whether the implants have ruptured.

Hope this has helped, please anyone else correct me if any of this is not accurate. xx

Thanks Vix-VERY helpful-and to all you PIP "survivors" out there-GOOD LUCK XX