Fat transfer, also known as fat harvesting or autologous fat transplantation, is a popular procedure to add volume to a sunken face, add contour to the cheek or chin, augment breasts, and fill out divots, asymmetries and depressions on areas of the body such as the buttocks, calves and hands. For the right candidate, fat transfer can provide excellent results for improving the contours of the body and creating a more plump, youthful-looking face.
Fat harvesting
Using a liposuction technique, fat is removed from areas abundant in fat and injected into areas that are fat deficient, to bring balance and contour to the body as a whole. Although liposuction is an essential part of the fat transfer process, fat injection isn’t just a matter of removing and reinjecting fat. For fat transfer, the liposuction is much gentler and smaller cannula are used to harvest the tiny globules of fat. This helps ensure the fat cells survive; to achieve even body sculpting results the cells need to be living.
Fat is harvested from the patient’s own body, usually from the thighs, buttocks or abdomen, cleaned thoroughly and prepared for injection into the face or body.
Reinjection
For the face, it is commonly used to fill nasolabial folds, enhance lips and restore volume to the cheeks. The downtime is longer than for other filler treatments, with recovery lasting anywhere up to 10 days. The percentage of fat cells that survive the transfer typically range from 50 to 75 percent. The rejected fat is reabsorbed by the body over time, with results lasting an average of three to six months, depending on the patient.
Depending on the amount of fat removed, the procedure can be performed under local anaesthetic or under general anaesthetic as a day surgery procedure. Bruising or swelling may take about five days to subside but most patients can go back to work within a couple of days. Most people can expect to see an improvement to the fat-injected area straight away, but the final results can take around two to four weeks.
A major benefit of a fat transfer procedure is that side effects are minimised because the introduction of foreign materials into the body is avoided. The material used to augment the desired body part is part of the patient’s own fat cells and is therefore biocompatible and non-allergenic.
Fat transfer & stem cells
Human body fat is an important substance for treating a variety of medical conditions. Fat contains stem cells and growth factors which have a variety of uses and can be beneficial for treating a number of conditions. In recent years extensive stem cell research has been conducted, including separating stem cells from fat cells and reinjecting them elsewhere in the body to treat various problems.
