Breast Augmentation Repair – Strattice Versus FlexHD
Last week we received a comment from one very distraught plastic surgery recipient who was dealing with several painful repairs to her breast augmentation. She is considering a technique using Strattice, which Dr. Moliver explains is made from animal tissue. There is a better way, and we want to make our viewers – old and new – aware of the options.
Hello,
I have had several failed repairs. I do have a much better result since my last repair, but my implants still touch with rippling pain. Implant on right seems to be changing shape where the most pain is present. I was scheduled this Thursday for another repair with the past surgeon to use Strattice, but I just left his office & told them I would have to rethink it.
He just told me I would have excess skin and a fold in my cleavage area after the repair. I’ve been on the Internet all day trying to see what he is referring to & if anyone has had this problem. I can’t find anything about it. I would love to have the repair with Strattice to see if it would work but unsure of this skin fold / flap in between my breast. Would this be caused by the Strattice or technique of the repair? Very interested if you have any more info. Thank you!
Response from Dr. Moliver:
I am sorry to hear about your story. Unfortunately when things don’t go as planned it is painful for everyone including your surgeon. These complications can be painful physically and emotionally. Displaced or mal-positioned implants can be problematic. I have fixed many, many of these. However it isn’t unusual to have to do secondary or tertiary repairs. I have been using Belladerm made by Musculoskeletal Tissue Foundation. I think it is absolutely, hands down the best Acellular Dermal Matrix (ADM’s) on the market. You can see examples of my technique on my YouTube Channel.
If you go there you will also see a Symmastia repair using FlexHD. FlexHD is the same as Belladerm and made by the same company. Briefly, what we are doing these days is using dermis as a scaffold to repair poorly positioned breast implants. Strattice is made from pigs. FlexHD and Belladerm come from human donors. Strattice has been clearly shown to be an inferior product in so many ways. The bottom line is that your body regards it as foreign and won’t incorporate it very well. This means it slowly rejects it. Also, because it comes from pigs the manufacturer has to treat it very harshly to get it ready for market. These harsh methods include treatment with E-Beam, a type of radiation. Studies have shown that FlexHD (or Belladerm) is incorporated 300% better than Strattice.
I could give you a lot more technical information and bore you to tears. There are many types of ADM’s on the market that plastic surgeons are using for repair of implants and in reconstruction. You should choose based on the surgeon’s experience with these products AND which product they will use. I speak nationally for MTF because I feel their product is superb. To give you one more reason to go with their products, consider pro athletes. Virtually all pro athletes that need their knees repaired get MTF tissue. It’s the number one tissue provider to the orthopedic industry. The company has been doing human tissue for 25 years on the bone and tendon side. They just entered the skin side about 5 years ago.
Getting back to your situation, I would be happy to see you in consultation at no charge if you are in the Texas region, or can get here easily. If not, we often make arrangements to do a virtual consultation if you are out of state for example. Give us a call to talk!
281.282.9555
Learn More About Breast Augmentation with Dr. Moliver