Women in their 70s will no longer have to wear a bra thanks to a £6,000 ‘internal bra surgery’ involving pig skin

Women in their 70s will no longer have to wear a bra thanks to an operation that involves pushing pig skin into their breasts, surgeons say.

With an ‘internal bra operation’ the breasts are lifted naturally, so that they no longer sag over time.

The delicate operation involves inserting biodegradable gauze pads into a woman’s breast. These act as a platform for the development of tissue that acts as an internal bra, pushing the breasts up and giving them a more natural, perkier appearance.

Cosmetic clinics from LA to London are now offering the procedure, which insiders say is booming in popularity and costs more than £6,500.

A surgeon who offers the procedure said the women were so successful that some older women gave up the traditional bra altogether.

“I have patients in their 70s who we’ve done breast lifts on, and they don’t have to wear a bra,” said William Adams Jr., a plastic surgeon in Dallas. Elle.

However, other experts warn that the name of the procedure is misunderstood because it is not guaranteed that the surgery will replace the brassiere.

Patients are often advised to still wear a supportive bra to maintain the effects of the surgery.

In the UK, an internal bra lift is usually offered as an add-on to breast augmentation or breast reduction surgery, which can cost around £6,000.

In internal bra surgery, which has no formal name and is instead added to other procedures such as lifting or reduction, a qualified surgeon inserts the custom-made mesh scaffolding under and around the breasts.

The mesh itself – unlike the fragile material inserted into women’s vaginas that has sparked a medical scandal – can be made of different materials.

Two of the most common are a biosynthetic material called poly-4-hydroxybutyrate and acellular dermal matrix (ADM), which is typically made from carefully prepared pig skin or donated human tissue.

The operation usually takes a few hours.

Mesh is attached to the internal tissue of the chest wall, although some versions attach it to the bones in the rib cage.

The implant acts as a scaffold because an internal scar of collagen is created during the absorption process.

This ‘scar’ is stronger than the tissue the body normally has in this location and thus acts as an internal bra, which gives the procedure its name.

This new tissue is said to be approximately five times stronger than normal tissue in this area, giving the breasts a lasting ‘lift’.

In the case of poly-4-hydroxybutyrate, the mesh dissolves over time and is replaced by collagen.

In ADM, the tissue remains behind, but integrates into the body and is populated by the woman’s cells.

Because the mesh is gradually replaced by the patient’s own biological tissue, this should in theory not affect the accuracy of tests such as breast cancer screening.

Doctors advise that thin women can often “feel” the structure of the mesh under the surface of the skin, which can spoil the experience.

Because the tissue is also natural, it will still age and deteriorate over the years, albeit at a slower rate than normal, compared to artificial cosmetic implants.

In addition, internal bra procedures, like any surgery, are not without risk.

The tissue growing in/around the mesh can become infected and if this does happen the entire structure usually needs to be removed.

Depending on the nature of the procedure, such as the size of any implants being added and the number of previous augmentations a patient has had, there is a risk of the mesh protruding through the skin.

Most UK cosmetic surgery clinics offering the procedure say they use GalaFlex mesh, although some also offer AMD.

One Brit who had a version of the procedure is Claire Coleman, the fifth patient in Britain to have the procedure done using an older polyester mesh model.

Mrs Coleman from Gloucester, now in her fifties, had the unfortunate side effect of losing a lot of weight; her breasts became sagging and shapeless.

‘I felt abnormal and I hated my reflection in the mirror. “I left the changing rooms in tears because low-cut tops looked so bad,” she said.

When she underwent the procedure in 2010, Ms Coleman said she was ecstatic with the results, which saw her go from a 36D to a C cup.

‘I feel so much better about dating and relationships in the future because I now feel completely comfortable being naked. In fact, I would even go braless during the day,” she said at the time.

Although internal bra surgery has become increasingly popular as a purely cosmetic procedure, it is also used in breast reconstruction for patients who have had one or more of their breasts removed as part of cancer treatment.

In 2017, Lesley Bruce, a business coach who lives near Stafford, underwent the pigskin version of the internal bra procedure for her left breast.

Mrs Bruce, then aged 65, said she was incredibly happy with the results following her mastectomy and subsequent reconstruction.

“I’m so relieved that the threat of cancer is gone and I still have a natural-looking bust,” she said.

The procedure is also used in extreme cosmetic surgeries, where women aim for the largest possible breast size.

OnlyFans model Lacey Wildd, real name Paula Simonds, had to undergo an internal bra procedure in 2012 to support the weight of her colossal 21-pound breasts.