The core reason comes down to quantity and durability. Septal and ear cartilage are limited in supply and better suited to smaller corrections, while silicone, though widely used, is a rigid synthetic material that can be more prone to visibility, shifting, or extrusion over many years, particularly in patients with thinner skin. Rib cartilage offers a substantial, reliable quantity of the patient's own tissue, giving surgeons far more to work with for larger augmentation or complex structural rebuilding.
As living, autologous tissue, rib cartilage also integrates with the body over time rather than sitting as a foreign object beneath the skin — this is a significant reason it tends to age more naturally and carries a lower long-term risk of the shifting or extrusion problems more commonly associated with synthetic implants.
Consultation Tip
Ask your surgeon to explain, specifically for your case, why rib cartilage is being recommended over silicone or septal cartilage — this reasoning should connect directly to how much material your correction actually requires.
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— Dr. Hyung-taek Kim, KOWON Plastic Surgery