Editorial Policy
Breast implant illness sits in genuinely contested territory. This page explains how we decide what to publish, how we mark the strength of the evidence, and what we refuse to do — so you can judge our work rather than take it on faith.
How we label evidence
Every clinical claim on this site carries one of three marks. The mark is a statement about the strength of the evidence, not about how strongly anyone feels.
EstablishedEmergingContested
- Established — supported by regulatory findings, professional society consensus, or a consistent body of peer-reviewed research.
- Emerging — supported by early or limited research. Real, actively studied, not yet settled.
- Contested — widely reported by patients or advocates, but not established in the literature. We mark claims contested rather than deleting them. Something being unproven is not the same as it being untrue, and you deserve to know which is which.
Where our information comes from
We cite primary sources: FDA device labelling and safety communications, peer-reviewed literature, and consensus statements from professional bodies including the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, The Aesthetic Society and ISAPS. We do not cite other blogs, and we do not treat a claim as supported because it appears widely online.
Where patient-reported experience is the evidence — and for much of this subject, it is — we say so plainly and mark it accordingly.
Medical review
Every clinical page is reviewed by a licensed physician before publication. The reviewer’s name, credentials and review date appear on the page they signed. If a page carries no reviewer signature, it has not yet been reviewed and says so.
Reviewers check claims against sources, flag anything overstated, and can block publication. They are not asked to approve commercial arrangements and have no role in them.
How we handle uncertainty
We do not promise outcomes. Many people report that symptoms improve after explant, and we report that accurately — as something commonly experienced, not something we can tell you will happen. Anyone who guarantees you a result is selling something.
Where surgical consensus and community belief diverge, we present both and identify which is which. We think that is more useful than pretending the disagreement is not there.
What we will not publish
- Supplements, binders, chelation or detox protocols — not as claims, not as products, not as affiliate links.
- Promises that implant removal will resolve any given symptom.
- Patient photographs or quotes without documented, written consent.
- Images presented in a way that implies they show patient results when they do not.
- Surgeon recommendations bought through payment.
- Content generated without human authorship and physician review.
Photography
Photographs on this site are licensed or AI-generated illustrative images unless a caption explicitly identifies them as patient photographs. Illustrative images never depict real patients and never represent surgical results. Any genuine before-and-after imagery will be captioned as such and published only with signed release.
Commercial relationships
Where we earn revenue — for example through surgeon directory listings — that relationship is disclosed on the page where it applies. Paying for a listing does not buy editorial coverage, a recommendation, or a change to any clinical page. Directory inclusion criteria are published and applied consistently.
Corrections
If we get something wrong, we fix it and say so. Substantive corrections are noted at the foot of the page with the date and what changed; we do not quietly edit and move on. Every page shows when it was last updated.
To report an error, write to corrections@explanthealth.com. Tell us the page and what you believe is wrong. If you can point to a source, that helps and we will read it.
Independence
ExplantHealth is not owned by, funded by, or affiliated with any implant manufacturer, surgical practice, device company or supplement brand.