Restoring volume, correcting asymmetries and harmonising our features is at the forefront of many cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery procedures – including fat grafting. Engaged body wide, this restorative procedure has been used in reconstructive plastic surgery for centuries, but it swung into popularity as a cosmetic treatment in the 1990s. Today, autologous fat grafting, or fat transfer, is used to improve the appearance and quality of scars, correct facial asymmetries, and better proportion breasts.
The fat grafting procedure itself is typically composed of three steps: harvesting adipose tissue, then processing the harvested adipocytes, before injecting the processed tissues into the new site. Here’s why filling out has its benefits . . .
Not every scar is created equal nor heal uniformly. Fat grafting has been shown to improve both the texture and quality of damaged skin, and reduce pain and itchiness.
According to the review, ‘Autologous fat grafting for scars, healing and pain’, led by Harjoat Riyat and researchers at the Mersey Regional Burns Unit, Whiston Hospital, UK. “Results of the literature suggest fat contains specialised stem cells that possess properties which improve the quality of scars. Fat injection has been shown to decrease tension which softens scar tissue and provides pain relief,” they report. “As well as functional benefits, the evidence also shows fat grafting improves the cosmetic appearance of a scar.”
Fat grafting has also been shown to improve including dimpling and deep depressions on the face and body, bolstering softer, healthier skin.
Reconstructive breast surgery has a longstanding relationship with fat grafting, with the first fat grafts used in post-mastectomy defect repair dating back to the late 1800s.
“The past two decades have witnessed growing application of autologous fat grafting in cosmetic breast surgery. Overall, fat grafting to the breast for cosmetic purposes has proven to be a safe, increasingly popular procedure with high levels of patient and provider satisfaction,” report the authors of the ‘Application of Fat Grafting in Cosmetic Breast Surgery study.
Typically, fat grafting is not engaged for large-volume cosmetic grafting, so it won’t radically shift a breast size. Plastic surgeons engage fat grafting to fill out the upper part of the breasts, better proportion and balance breast asymmetries, and restore volume. Commonly, it is combined with a breast lift to remedy sagging, lift the nipples and reposition the breasts of the chest wall.
Depending on the treatment area and the amount off at required, fat grafting is performed under different types of anaesthesia. For smaller areas (like the tear troughs), local anaesthesia is used, for larger areas — like the breasts — general anaesthesia may be required.
Fat grafting alongside a facelift aims to give back fullness, restoring a more rounded, youthful appearance – particularly to the cheeks, the lower eyelids, and the nasolabial folds between the nose and corners of the mouth.
Typically, a plastic surgeon will take fat from the abdomen, thighs or love handles for fat grafting, and whilst some of the injected fat is reabsorbed by over time, studies show that most the transferred fat is still present up to a year after facelifting.
What can you expect from facial fat grafting in a nutshell? Lasting results, improved skin tone and texture, wrinkle reduction in some areas, significant volume restoration and the benefit of using your own fat as opposed to fillers.
