Fat Grafting
What is Fat Grafting?
Also known as fat transfer or fat injections, fat grafting is a contouring, shaping and volumising procedure. It involves removing fat through liposuction from one or more areas of the body (usually the abdomen and/or thighs), processing the fat and reinjecting it into another area. Fat grafting can be used to add volume to a free tissue transfer and/or create symmetry between the two breasts.
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What Can I Expect with Fat Grafting?
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A Quick Overview
Surgery time: 2 hours
Length of stay in hospital: 0 -1 nights stay
Recovery time: (The following are approximate times.)
Driving 1 week,
office work for 2 weeks,
Strenuous work/exercise 6 to 8 weeks.
Garments: Bra and knee length shorts compression garments 24/7 for 4 - 6 weeks (except when showering).
Incision and scar: Tiny incisions are made less than 1 cm in the area of the body to extract the fat. Usually, two incisions per body area. The same incisions are also made to inject the fat into the breast. Where possible, these incisions are made through old scars.
Other Things to Consider
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Natural-looking results, using a natural filler.
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Some of the fat transferred is reabsorbed into the body - this reabsorption rate is documented as 20%.
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Done by an experienced surgeon, the results are considered permanent.
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For larger volumes, you may require multiple surgeries.
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Although not described as too painful, fat grafting causes significant bruising.
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Fat grafting can also be done in conjunction with the insertion of breast implants or revision of reconstructed breasts.
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You can find more information on the procedures at plasticsurgery.org