The internal bra boosting breast surgery women

WOMEN who face breast reconstruction after cancer surgery are being offered a boost by a mesh implant that acts like ‘an internal bra’. The material, commonly used in hernia- repair operations, is shaped into an internal cup around the breast where it acts as a scaffold for new soft tissue to grow on, effectively encouraging the body to build its own supportive tissue.

The body absorbs the mesh over time, but the new tissue grown around it ends up three to five times stronger than tissue that the body would have produced on its own.

The implant is used to help cancer survivors who have had to have either partial or full mastectomies during reconstructive surgery, as well as in aesthetic augmentations and breast lifts.

Gala Flex is made from lab-grown fibres knitted into a lattice mesh, and moulded into a cup-shape.

The mesh is implanted by a surgeon either as part of a postcancer reconstruction or cosmetic surgery, essentially creating a bra under the skin.

Themes his broken down, absorbed and excreted by the body over 18 to 24 months.

The first UK patients are now being treated with the mesh.

Donna James, 50, from New Jersey in the US, is delighted with the results after several breast-reduction operations.

She said: ‘For my 40th birthday I treated myself to a reduction and lift, but due to hormones, my breasts kept growing back.

‘I had another reduction seven years ago, then four years ago, and then about one year ago my surgeon, Dr Caroline Glicksman, told me about GalaFlex.’

Donna, a mother-of-two, added; ‘After that procedure I was able to wear strapless tops for the first time in my life, all summer. It is easier to buy dresses, formal wear and bathing suits. My breasts are perfect now.’

Dr Glicksman, of Glicksman Plastic Surgery in Sea Girt, New Jersey, said: ‘We have been counting on patient’s skin only to support the breast, but the problem we see is that for some patients, like Donna, it holds beautifully – for a while.

‘GalaFlex supports the breast on the inside, and over time it breaks down and is replaced with the tissue. What patients say is that they can’t feel the difference: it feels like normal breast tissue.

‘ It gives support, stays soft, and – what is really important to me – it doesn’t show up on mammograms and imaging.’

Mr Patrick Mallucci, a member of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), was the first surgeon to use the GalaFlex outside the US, and has since used it in dozens of breast-augmentation operations at his clinic in Chelsea.

He said: ‘It essentially creates an internal bra, or a hammock, and I use this in two cases, either when pregnancy or significant weight loss has left the patient with thin or non-elastic tissue which has poor ability to hold its own weight, or for patients who have had multiple breast surgeries already who suffer similar issues.

‘The other comparable mesh products available are made from pig or cow skin. These have been around for a while, but they are very expensive.

‘The GalaFlex does the same job, for a much lower cost. Also, it is completely absorbed and replaced with the patient’s own collagen, whereas other products simply integrate with the tissue.’