HOUSTON – Women who want bigger breasts without implants or scars have an option other than surgery, if they're willing to wait a few weeks.
A bra-like suctioning device called Brava, used before and after fat injections into the breasts, can give women larger results than fat injections alone, according to a new study partially done at the Miami Breast Center.
The Brava has a small suction that grabs onto the skin and stays there with a light amount of pressure. That allows more fat to be injected by expanding the breast tissue before this procedure.
Fat is harvested from the patient using liposuction.
Dr. Roger Khouri Invented the Brava System.
"In a small breast, there's no room to cram a lot of fat cells. People historically have tried to stuff it, and the capacity is not there," he said. "If you crowd them, they all die and you'll fail. The graft won't survive."
Research in June's Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery looked at 81 women ages 17 to 63. Seventy-one of them saw larger breasts, higher fat graft survival and minimal complications.
The cost is said to be a third to a sixth the cost of breast augmentation surgery.