What is Fat Transfer? Medical Spa in Houston

What is fat transfer?

Also known as fat grafting or fat injection, a fat transfer is one of the most popular methods of transferring fat tissues from one part of your body to another. The surgeon may move fat from stomach to buttocks, resulting in fat transfer buttock augmentation.

Some people prefer transferring fat tissues from the stomach to the breasts for natural breast augmentation. However, the principle is similar in most cases — fat is transferred from a region with excess fats (abdomen, lower back, thighs, etc.) and injected into regions lacking in volume (face, breasts, buttocks, etc.).

A fat transfer is a long-lasting and effective procedure that produces natural-looking results since it relies on transferring your body’s natural fat tissues from one part to another. Furthermore, the risk of your body rejecting the fat tissues is significantly lower than that of foreign substances.

You should generally consider a fat transfer in the following situations:

• You lack volume in your buttocks, breasts, or face.
• Your face has a sunken and cracked appearance.
• You want permanent or long-lasting volume correction.
• You want to improve your body’s contours.
• You have excessive fat tissues in the donor region, i.e., the part of the body from which fat tissues will be harvested.

What are my fat transfer options?

Fat transfer can be performed to augment any region of your body lacking in volume. And fat tissues can be harvested from any part of your body with excess fat tissues. However, the most popular fat transfer sites are the face, breasts, and buttocks. The following are some of the most popular fat transfer options. 

• Facial Fat Transfer: Do you have facial creases, wrinkles, and hollows? The plastic surgeon can liposuction fat from your stomach and inject it into your face to fill up the laugh lines, acne scars, hollow cheeks, etc.
• Breast Augmentation: Do you want to increase your bust size by a moderate amount? The plastic surgeon can liposuction fat from other parts of your body and strategically inject them into your breasts.
• Buttock Augmentation: Fat transfer buttock augmentation is one of the most popular fat transfer options. The plastic surgeon may inject the harvested fat tissues into your buttocks for a “Brazilian Butt Lift,” providing a curvaceous buttock without implants.

Which body parts respond the best to fat grafting?

Most parts of your face and body respond well to fat grafting and fat transfers. However, the most popular regions for fat grafting are the buttocks, breasts, and face. Fat transfer, however, isn’t always recommended for lips because you need multiple treatments before you achieve noticeable results.

How is fat grafting performed?

During the fat grafting procedure, fat cells are harvested from one part of the body, purified, and then strategically injected into the targeted regions needing augmentation. The doctor may need to repeat the fat grafting or fat transfer procedure several times to achieve optimal results. The following is a step-by-step overview of the fat transfer process.

• Harvesting: The cosmetic surgeon injects local anesthesia into the donor site and creates a small incision. They insert a tube-like device called a cannula through the incision to break down the fat cells and extract it from the body.
• Purification: After extracting sufficient fat cells, the surgeon prepares them for transference. The doctor may run the fat cells through a centrifuge system or filtration system that removes the impurities. The purified fat cells are transferred to small syringes.
• Placement: The plastic surgeon makes all the injection points on the targeted region. Once the treatment map is made, the surgeon passes the injection in and out of the injection sites repeatedly to produce the necessary augmentation. The surgeon carefully deposits fat tissues into the natural tissue planes, creating satisfactory contours.

Depending on the targeted regions, the entire fat transfer procedure may take one to five hours. Fat transfer for the face usually concludes within an hour, but moving fat from stomach to buttocks may take four to five hours. You should discuss the treatment duration with your doctor, and you should ideally opt for the procedure on your day off.

After the fat grafting procedure, you’ll need to go through a recovery process before you can resume all your daily activities. Depending on the nature of the procedure and the targeted sites, the recovery process may take between a few days to two weeks. If you go through facial fat transfer, you may be able to return to work in a day or two. However, if you go through a liposuction fat transfer to buttocks, you may need to take a week or two off work, especially because you won’t be able to sit down for a while.

How long do results from fat grafting last?

Under the right situations, the results of the fat grafting procedure can be permanent. Injectable fillers usually lead to temporary results because the substances are eventually absorbed by the body. However, the fat transferred to your body is a living substance, so it stays within your body just like all other living tissues.

However, you can expect some of the transferred fat cells to gradually die away. During the first six months, most of the transferred fat cells will gradually die, get absorbed by the body, and subsequently get expelled. However, the remaining fat cells at the end of that period will stay with you forever. The cosmetic surgeon will account for the loss of fat cells, offsetting it by injecting more fat cells than necessary.

Schedule affordable fat transfer to buttocks today.

Premiere Surgical Arts is one of the most reputable cosmetic surgery clinics in Houston, TX. For more information, please schedule your consultation to discuss your fat transfer options today.