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Six of the most common areas that plastic surgeons do fat transfers

most common areas that plastic surgeons do fat transfers 16 Nov 2024

Introduction

Fat transfer is nature’s boon utilised by the doctors—the experienced plastic surgeons to set back you to your youthful days or restore the parts that were deficient by birth or accident or cancer.The body has a fat balance through out life. As one ages, the fat in certain areas of the face shrinks. On the other hand, pregnancy and menopause are associated with inch gain on lower body  areas like buttocks, lower abdomen and thighs. Sometimes, one is not blessed with good breast or buttock size as one enters youth or has asymmetry of these structures. Some individuals are born with facial asymmetry. The fat is like a gift material hidden inside you which can take care of these issues. Today in this blog we will explore a few of the facts about fat transfer.

Fat transfer, also termed as lipofilling or fat grafting is much sought after treatment in aesthetic restoration as well as enhancement. Plastic surgeons call it Autologous Fat Transfer ( AFT) because the fat is taken from your own body.

Discover key tips for choosing the best plastic surgeon to ensure safe and successful results.

What are the benefits  of using fat for aesthetic enhancement?

1.This has chief advantage of not facing any foreign body reaction as in cases of silicon and other implants.

2. In addition it is minimally invasive–most of the procedure is done using small sized cannulas between 1mm to 4 mm. So the cut is barely 2-3 mm. The plastic surgeons may choose not to suture it.

3. There is improvement in the contour of the area from which fat is taken

4. The contours created are soft and natural looking.

5. The treatment can be customised to suit need of every area in given individual. This is not possible when we are using implants.

Learn about breast implants, their types, procedure, and the advantages they offer for enhancing your appearance.

What are the disadvantages of AFT?

1.      The fat grafted does not survive fully. So more than one sitting is required usually at the gap of 2-3 month. If we overcorrect, the rate of fat survival reduces further due to over packing. So that is not a good option as patients commonly request for.

2.     The fat may not be able to achieve projection especially in case of the breast. The fat “fills” the tissues but does not have strength to push the tissue in desired direction

3.     Rarely, lost fat may be converted to calcified material or oil cyst. The treatment of oil cyst is removal of the oil with a syringe. 

How is fat transfer done ?

The fat is harvested with either a syringe or a power instrument attached to a small diameter, atraumatic cannula after injecting a fluid that shrinks the blood vessels. It is processed by washing, centrifuging or with ultrasound. The plastic surgeons at LaserCosmesis convert some fat to nanofat and stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and add it to the fat that is being transferred. This adds stem cells which improve the uptake of the grafted fat. The fat is broken into microfat for face and scars. Larger areas receive macro ot bigger sized fat particles.

The fat trasfer is done using either syringe

 (manual) or power assisted instrument in case of the larger areas. ( Expansion Vibration Lipofilling–short name- EVL)Six of the most common areas that plastic surgeons do fat transfers

 

Which are the six common areas to which fat is transferred by plastic surgeon at LaserCosmesis?

1.      Face –This is indeed the commonest area to which fat is transferred.

2.     Breast

3.     Buttocks

4.      Stretch marks and tummy muscles

5.     Post burns scars

6.      Hands

How does fat transfer work in face ?

1.      To restore the lost volume due to aging fat is transferred to cheeks, temoporal hollowing above the ears, jaw line, chin, forehead and under eyes. Nasal contours after nose job can be softened. Pixy ears with fat loss can be improved.

2.     Nano fat injection for rejuvenation of the facial skin.

3.     Tired eyes can be treated with fat graft as a solo procedure or with blepharoplasty.

4.     Dark circles and melasma ( butterfly cheek pigmentation of pregnancy) can be treated with a few sessions of nanofat grafting. The plastic surgeon may combine this with microneedling and pico laser as needed.

5.     Lip enhancement with fat in 2-3 sessions can give a good pout. But this is not possible in a single session. For one session a dermofat graft needs to be done.

6.     Mild to moderate chin augmentation with macrofat grafting can achieve a few mm augmentation. Jaw line can be enhanced to some extent. This is not as strong as augmentation one can get with fillers.

7.     Facial asymmetry by birth called Parry-Romberg syndrome or due to injury or after neurosurgery can be corrected naturally and softly without causing major scars with autologous fat transfer.

8.    Acne scars can improve a lot with Morpheus 8–the MNRF ( Microneedling Radio-frequency) and micro and nanofat grafting. It is possible to restore  that smoother complexion in just two or three sittings.

9.     After cancer surgery, the scars can be improved with nanofat transfer.

How does fat work in breast and buttock?

It is possible to transfer 300-400 ml fat to each breast and 1000-1200 ml fat to each buttock in a single sitting. It requires experience and power tools to conduct this surgery safely and effectively. There are specific precautions to follow. One must have enough fat for such large volume transfers. If this pre-requisite is not satisfied in low BMI patients, one must look at implants for enhancement.

When breast is removed after cancer it can be recreated with fat grafting.

Fat gafting and implant are combined to give larger augmentation. This is called Hybrid augmentation

How is fat used in stretch marks and tummy muscle contouring?

Nano fat is injected into stretch marks to fill them. This stimulates formation of new collagen and fades the stretch marks.

For creating six pack abs in men, a specific bodytite and Vaser -liposaver liposuction is done to thin the skin overlyng the muscles. Skin is etched to create lines of six packs. But then if the patient does not work out, the muscles are not visible. Fat grafting of muscles can be undertaken to make the muscles prominent. This fat changes to muscle when work out is done to buld the muscle. The building process is easier if the muscles are fat grafted. This is called RAFT procedure. This is undertaken by experienced plastic surgeon at LaserCosmesis.

Conclusion

Fat is indeed a liquid gold. More and more advantages of fat grafting are being investigated. Advanced fat transfer techniques using power tools like Microaire, enriching the fat with SVF, pulverising fat with ultrasound to improve uptake, hybrid augmentation are some of the advances in fat grafting. AFT should be undertaken at an advanced, well equipped centre to improve take and reduce complications like fibrosis, calcification and oil cyst formation.

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