When it comes to news and information from the world of cosmetic surgery, it doesn’t get bigger than this.
Costhetics is Brisbane-proud to report on a potentially game-changing and life-changing clinical trial on breast implants. In July 2022, an Australian became the first woman in the world to undergo a truly revolutionary breast procedure.
Breast reconstruction and cosmetic surgery may be on the brink of a whole new era. “It’s not the kind of thing that we could necessarily have done 20 or 30 years ago,” a participating doctor told journalists. “The 3D printing technology simply didn’t exist.” It does now …
Out with the Old, In with the New
In the past, breast augmentation was accomplished with implants. Given the variety of potential problems associated with implants (see below), a better approach was urgently needed. That approach has arrived in the form of a dissolvable breast scaffold. The scaffold is created with a 3D printer and uses the same material as is used in dissolvable stitches.
Once the scaffolding is in place, autologous fat (fat from the patient’s own body) is injected beneath the scaffolding. It takes approximately two years for the scaffolding to dissolve completely. During that time, new collagen and tissue are produced to take the place of the dissolved scaffolding in a process known as scaffolding-guided tissue reconstruction. It is a promising alternative to silicone and prevents reabsorption of the autologous fat. You can see more in the news video here.
The patient in the study has good news to report. “My chest is light and I don’t have vertigo or anything like that anymore,” she told abc.net.au. It can take up to two years for the polycaprolactone scaffold to break down, be reabsorbed, and then replaced by fat cells. At the end of that time however, the procedure leaves no permanent remnants of foreign material in the body.
If this latest patient continues to do well, doctors say they hope to include an additional 15 to 20 participants in their phase-one trial.
10 Reasons to Check Your Implants
While the majority of women successfully undergo breast implant surgery, a not-insignificant number experience something known as breast implant illness (BII). This diagnosis has not yet been recognised by the medical community due to lack of study, but anecdotal evidence from women suggests certain symptoms may be associated with cosmetic breast augmentation or reconstructive breast surgery.
- Chronic fatigue
- Headaches
- Muscle and joint pain
- Respiratory problems
- Skin rashes
- Dry eyes
- Brain fog
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
We were surprised to learn that the symptoms above may emerge any time after implant surgery, immediately following your procedure, or years later. If you are currently experiencing the above symptoms, a conversation with your doctor is in order … sooner rather than later. Breast implant removal may be able to relieve your discomfort, or your doctor will determine if there is another reason for your problem. If you don’t know who to call, that’s the time to contact Costhetics for the name of a doctor near you.