Fat transfer can bring magic to cosmetic procedures. The most common use for relocated fat is body shaping of the buttocks and breasts/chest, but a little fat in the right places like the lips, face, and hands can erase years of aging.
VASER high-definition liposuction is ideal for harvesting and keeps fat healthy for transplant. When you combine HD Lipo with a fat transfer, a great surgeon (think artist) can sculpt the body to have the proportions that form those gorgeous feminine curves or improve a masculine physique. Used in the face and hands, it’s like an eraser on a pencil. A little less here and a little more WOW there.
Fat transfer is excellent for taking fat from one part of your body where you don’t want it and putting it where you need a little extra volume. Think of it as the ultimate way to create the shape you’ve wanted. Dr. Cyr knows that all the exercise and diet in the world can’t consistently achieve what a cosmetic surgeon can do with personalized body sculpting.
Let’s look at more details on how a fat transfer works and which parts of the body are ideal for shaping and filling out.
Fat transfer is also referred to as grafting, harvesting, or fat injection. Regardless, the process starts with having VASER high-definition liposuction performed on the parts of your body where you store more fat than you want. The most popular places to remove excess fat are the:
With VASER liposuction, the surgeon injects numbing fluids and then makes tiny incisions. Next, he or she inserts guiding ports into the areas to be suctioned, followed by slender tubes called cannulas to dislodge fat cells and remove them from the body gently. VASER technology is more advanced and gentler than other liposuction methods, which means little to no damage to fat, connective tissue, and blood vessels. VASER is also beneficial in that it enhances skin retraction and be used in multiple areas. Less pain, bruising and swelling means less downtime and plenty of healthy fat for transfer!
VASER technology uses ultrasonic energy to partially liquefy the fat cells to be suctioned out. The removed fat is then cleaned in an air-tight, sterile canister before it is transferred to other areas of the body. Typically, HD Lipo is done in small grids until the desired area achieves its optimal proportions. The cosmetic surgeon’s pre-surgical markings and placement technique are vital to create the ideal sculpted shape.
Here’s another huge benefit to a fat transfer. Your body responds favorably to the process of fat transfer. If the volume injected is correct, the body only reabsorbs a small portion of the relocated fat. The fat settles in and grows a new blood supply. Unlike fillers which wear away, fat stays where it’s placed providing it’s healthy and in the right proportion. It’s easier for your body to accept fat vs. a synthetic substance, like fillers. There are excellent uses for fillers, but true sculpting and more permanent volume cannot be done any other way in many cases.
Several areas of the body can be enhanced with a fat transfer during VASER liposuction. The reasons vary but, in each case, it’s to add volume in the right places. There are five main areas of the body where fat grafting works well.
In traditional breast augmentation, a cosmetic surgeon enhances the breasts with an implant filled with silicone or saline solution. However, in breast augmentation with a fat transfer, the breasts are enhanced with the fat harvested during liposuction. That gives modest fullness without the implant. Surgeons call this autologous or natural breast augmentation. There are benefits of having this procedure performed vs. using implants:
However, if you’re going to go up more than one full cup size, fat transfer to the breast area is limited to 150-200 ccs at a time. More than that, and the body absorbs most of the injected fat. Using fat transfer, a larger breast size means two or three separate fat transfers over several months to allow the fat to establish blood supply and create the space needed for more fat. You may wish to consider traditional implants if you want to gain more than one cup size. You can even have a combination of both to improve the fullness in the inner and outer regions of your breast after breast augmentation.
The best Brazilian Butt Lift or BBL augmentation with fat grafting recontours the entire area, including the waistline and hips. The goal is to give you the shape that turns heads with all the right curves and proportions.
With the optimal Brazilian Butt Lift, the client chooses the buttock shape with the exact volume they want to be added. Women tend to go with a heart shape or mid-range projection. Then, a great surgeon will shape the buttocks with the proper hip-to-waist ratio for maximum beauty and body sculpting. And don’t forget men. Men are getting BBLs more often too. For them, a higher, athletic shape is the first choice to create an athletic, full look.
In all cases, safety is paramount. The fat is transferred into the tissue above the muscle to avoid complications. Also, that means no oversized bottoms. But (no pun intended), depending on your stature, a surgeon can safely do up to 1,500 ccs of fat in each buttock, plenty of volume for most people.
If your hip-to-waist ratio isn’t what you want, that might be because there isn’t enough volume in the hips or the waistline needs “snatching.” Removing the fat strategically and adding just the right volume with fat transfer is nothing short of pure sculpting.
Fat transfer can also fix a common complaint of many women: “hip dips.” Hip dips are an indentation in each side of the hip and are usually genetic. No amount of exercise or dieting will smooth out or fill in this area. BUT those sexy, smooth curves are easy to create with a fat transfer.
The hips, waistline and hip dips are done in tandem with a Brazilian Butt Lift to sculpt this area into a gorgeous hourglass figure.
As a person ages, they can lose elasticity and volume in the face. Significant weight loss can also leave the face with a “deflated” look. These losses lead to an aged appearance with sagging skin, fine lines, or deeper wrinkles. One way to restore volume in the face is with a fat transfer. Using fat injections as a dermal filler is nothing new, but not as many doctors use this method as you might think. The cost is higher, and it takes more time and skill than injectable fillers but is longer lasting.
Fat can be used to plump thin lips, enhance facial contours, and diminish the appearance of wrinkles by softening creases. Sometimes this is referred to as lipofilling in the facial areas. The best news is that the fat in the facial area is more permanent than using other injectables. Unlike dermal fillers that need to be reinjected to keep the results, a significant portion of the fat stays in place. So maybe by the time you’ve had facial fillers two or three times, the cost is equal, but the lasting value is better.
You may not consider your hands when you think cosmetic surgery. Think again. The hands are one of the most noticeable areas that show age. The loss of volume is a significant factor in hands that look old. In addition, veins stand out, skin is less elastic, and wrinkles are prominent.
Fat transfer to restore that lost volume will make the hands look youthful again!
No matter what area of the body you are considering enhancing with fat transfer, the shape, contours, and fullness you’ve always dreamed of is possible. Fat transfer in the hands of a skilled cosmetic surgeon will produce long-lasting results and the shape that will make you smile every time you look in the mirror.
