Two things patients believe about fat transfer, both wrong.
The first is that none of it lasts.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that all the fat disappears. Patients think that none of it lasts, when in actuality, we do get a fifty to eighty percent retention rate. This could be less than what the patient wanted, but it’s still an addition and not a complete loss.”
The second is that they will see it right away.
“The other misconception is that the results are instant, but the patient has to keep in mind that swelling often hides the results. It does take about four to six weeks to start seeing the actual retention, volume, and new contours.”
Now the rest of it.
“Fat transfer is exactly what it sounds like. We take fat from one place and move it to another place. So a lot of times, patients get a double benefit. They get to reduce the amount of fat from a place they want to reduce, and they get to augment the amount of fat in a place they want to augment.”
The list of places it can go is longer than most people expect.
“In my practice, we routinely do fat transfer to the face, which can go in the temporal hollows, the periorbital area or around the eye, the nasolabial lines, the lips, the jawline, the chin, and the cheekbone area.
“We can also use it to augment the breasts or to hide rippling. We can use it for fixing a bad liposuction where there’s a lot of contour irregularities. We can use it to enhance the buttock, the hips, and the thighs. We can also inject it into the muscles to create muscle definition in the biceps, triceps, trapezius, the calf muscles, and even the thighs. You can also enhance the six-pack by injecting into the rectus muscles.”
On what drives the retention number:
“A lot is determined by the patient’s own healing response and circulation, and also if they adhere to instructions, keeping them away from exercise and on a healthy diet. I often use AuraClens, which contains Poloxamer 188, to wash out the fat graft and also strengthen the cell membrane for higher retention rates.”
If you think you are too lean to donate:
“Although you may think that lean patients don’t have any fat that they can donate for themselves, there are usually areas where some amount of fat can be obtained. And these areas are usually the flanks and the medial thighs.”
And against the alternatives:
“Fillers are going to be more palpable, and fat is going to feel a lot more natural, but it is unpredictable in terms of how much retention we can get. The great thing about fat is that it’s free, and we can use as much as we need to correct the deformity, or augment, or sculpt, versus fillers, which have a cost per unit.”
One condition on all of it:
“Remember that fat grafts will change with the patient’s weight, so it is ideal to maintain your weight over time.”
The graft is living tissue. It gains and loses along with the rest of you, which is the part nobody mentions when they are selling it.
Call (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or book at agulloplasticsurgery.com. #StayBeautiful
Title alternatives for Frank
- Fifty to Eighty Percent, Not Zero
- The Fat Is Free
- Two Things Patients Get Wrong About Fat Transfer
- It Gains and Loses Along With You