In many ways, fat grafting—also known as fat transfer surgery—is the Robin Hood of cosmetic procedures. The lovable scoundrel of Sherwood Forest took from the rich and gave to the poor. With fat grafting, your surgeon takes your own body fat where it is available in excess and transfers it to another part of the body that is in need of plumping.
So before you curse the spare tire around your middle or the junk in your trunk, let me talk to you about how your excess fat can make you beautiful.
The How, Where, and How Much of Fat Grafting
How is fat transfer surgery performed? Good question! It’s a four-step process:
- Using a small needle, the surgeon removes fat from an area of the body where it is tightly packed, such as the abdomen or the buttocks.
- Then the fat is processed to remove excess fluids.
- Finally, it is re-injected, just under the skin, in the area that needs help.
- Once the transfer is complete, sutures close the harvest site incision to improve healing. Insertion sites rarely need a suture, as they are very small.
Some bruising, swelling, and redness in both the area where fat was removed and in the area where it was re-injected are natural and to be expected. Cold compress packs help control these surgical side effects as does remaining in a semi-upright position when sleeping for a few days following the procedure.
Fat grafting is an outpatient procedure that we perform right in our state-of-the-art, surgical suite. The procedure takes one to two hours to complete and can be performed under local anaesthesia. Our patients are awake during the procedure, while the areas to be treated are numbed by injection. Afterwards, patients can typically resume their normal activities right away.
When a procedure is performed in our suites, our patients are spared the expense and, for some, the anxiety of going to a hospital.
Fat Transfer Surgery for Face and Figure
Gravity has long been considered the enemy of facial youth. But we know that the loss of facial volume due to age plays a far greater role than previously thought. This loss of volume (natural fat) leads to a loss of structural support in the face and the sagging that ultimately follows.
Restoring facial volume with fat grafting is like blowing up a partially filled balloon, revealing the smooth, youthful contours once again. It is recommended for
- Restoring facial volume in isolated areas, regions, or globally
- Filling wrinkles or furrows on the face and/or neck
- Erasing creases that form between the bottom of the nose and the corner of the mouth
- Restoring a diminished jaw line
Fat grafting is not limited to the face. It can be used to treat small, depressed areas throughout the body. Buttock augmentation by fat transfer (often called the Brazilian Butt Lift) has greatly increased in popularity over the past few years. Many women and men are seeking to attain a well-balanced body with shapelier and proportionately sized buttocks.
While fat transfer procedures are not as mainstream as implant methods for breast augmentation, they do offer women who want a natural-looking enlargement another option to implants.
Would You Like to Know More?
If you have questions about fat grafting/fat transfer or anything mentioned in this post, please call us at the Form and Face office 1800 376 677 or ask us a question using the form below.