A Growing Number of Russian Women Are Selling Their Used Breast Implants Online

Original article on OddityCentral.com – a blog on oddities and wacky news http://www.odditycentral.com/

The popularity of breast implants has been steadily dropping in Russia, with plastic surgeons reporting that breast augmentation surgeries have dropped by about 40 percent over the last decade or so. But what really caught people by surprise recently was the number of classified ads for used silicone implants flooding the Russian internet in recent months.

“I gave birth,” “I’m fed up with them,” “They made me feel unattractive,” “My body hurts,” or simply “I want to at least get some of the money from the surgery back,” are some of the reasons listed by Russian women selling their breast implants online. But while most of these reasons explain why the women decided to have them removed, only one of them explains why they are selling them, which has led some analysts to suggest that the bizarre trend can be connected to Russia’s current economic woes.

Fluctuating exchange rates, declining purchasing power, the withdrawal of Western banks and large companies from the Russian market, and the current fuel scarcity have all had some effect on all but the richest of Russians, and some are trying to make ends meet by selling whatever prized possessions they still own. More worrying still is the fact that some of the sellers come from affluent parts of Russia, like Sankt Petersburg or Moscow.

The BAZA Telegram channel reports that high-end used breast implants are being sold online for three or four times less than their original cost. For example, Mentor implants, originally priced at 140,000 rubles ($1,820), are being sold for 35,000 rubles ($455), while Motiva implants, originally priced at around 200,000 rubles ($2,600), are listed for 30,000 rubles ($390).

But just in case that kind of bargain sounds too good to be true, you should know that probably no surgeon would agree to work with a used silicone implant. After removal, they retain a lot of biomaterial from the original owner, and the material’s properties make it impossible to boil the implant or clean it properly with formalin.

Experts warn that using another person’s implants could lead to tissue necrosis, or even death, as there is a high likelihood that your immune system will reject an implant featuring another person’s biomaterial. You can still buy one as a souvenir, if you really want to!

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