Fat can be transfered
One’s relationship with fat can be complicated. Some desire it to be gone in some places such as the tummy, thighs, and hips, while others wish it wouldn’t fade from the face or hands with age. With the passing of time, gravity naturally causes fat to descend downwards, stretching the skin and creating undesirable folds, flaps, and wrinkles. However, with the use of liposuction, it is possible to remove fat from places where the patient does not want the fat to be and inject it into the face or breast as a form of permanent volumizer. Surgeries involving large blocks of fat transfer are also optimal options for breast reconstruction patients.
The power of liposuction
Liposuction is a multi-step treatment to remove fat from underneath the skin. The surgeon first injects fluid and epinephrine to both amplify the treated region and constrict blood vessels to minimize bleeding. In some cases, a numbing agent is applied to reduce the patient’s discomfort. With a specialized vacuum, fat is removed between the skin and the muscle to contour the body to the patient’s liking. This is not a weight loss treatment, but rather a body-sculpting technique. The fat can be taken from the thighs, neck, back, arms, buttocks, tummy, waist, back, chest, cheek, inner knee, calf, and ankles. Once the removed fat is filtered, mixed, and processed into a liquid, it can be re-injected into other parts of the body such as around the eyes or in the cheeks. In the face, about 50-70% of the fat survives, so usually surgeons will over-inject the skin to achieve the best and most proportional effect.
Breast augmentation with fat transfer
Fat grafting to the breast is a viable option for patients with enough blocks of tissue to be moved. These blocks can come from the back or the tummy. When a block of tissue is moved from the abdomen to the breast, this is referred to as a deep inferior epigastric perforator artery, or DIEP flap. This highly specialized procedure involves microsurgical techniques which connect blood vessels in the block of tissue to those in the chest. The DIEP flap procedure gives the benefit of receiving a tummy tuck while getting a breast augmentation with one’s own fat! Additionally, it can be done on both breasts. After the swelling subsides, the patient can develop lumps in the breasts which can be “popped” by a surgeon by merely pressing on it.
Fat is not always bad!
These days, the world of plastic surgery is moving towards opting to choose safer and more natural options for both post breast-cancer, reconstructive, and cosmetic patients. This is why fat grafting is such a wonderful option because no matter how you use your own fat, it is killing two birds with one stone! The basis of the procedure is taking unwanted fat and making it wanted fat in other places on the body. The tummy can look smoother, the face fuller, the thighs tighter, and the eyes wider with fat grafting. It will be your own body- no synthetics!