Give Yourself the Holiday Gift of a Fat Transfer

It’s holiday time again, and the best way to treat yourself is to take care of yourself. So, get enough sleep, exercise, eat healthy foods, and get the fat grafting procedure you’ve been thinking about all year.

Fat grafting is a surgical technique by which a doctor removes fat from one part of your body (liposuction) and places it in another. It can address many common aesthetic concerns, making it one of the fastest-growing cosmetic treatments.

At 817 Surgical Arts, facial and cosmetic surgeon Dr. Emily Johnson uses fat grafting to add volume to her patients’ faces and other body parts, helping them achieve their aesthetic goals. Keep reading to learn what fat grafting can do for you.

History and development

The first fat grafting procedure dates back to 1893, but the technique was unreliable and had many side effects and adverse reactions. It wasn’t until a century later that a New York-based plastic surgeon published standardized techniques for extracting, processing, and reinjecting fat cells. That game-changer allowed surgeons to use fat grafting reliably, not just for the face but also for the breasts, hands, feet, hips, and buttocks.

Among its many aesthetic uses, fat grafting acts like a dermal filler does, only it lasts a lot longer. Fillers, often made of volumizing hyaluronic acid, fill hollows in areas that have lost their structural support over time and have started to wrinkle and crease. The fat not only smooths your complexion, but it also improves your skin texture (including filling in acne scars), restores lost cheek volume and volume in the orbital (eye) area, and improves the appearance of nasolabial folds that form a crease between your nose and mouth.

You can use fat grafting as a standalone, minimally invasive dermal filler treatment or as part of a surgical face-lift.

Fat grafting process

The fat grafting process involves three steps:

1. Fat extraction from the donor area with liposuction
2. Decanting, centrifugation, and processing of the fat cells
3. Reinjection of purified fat into the treatment area

In step one, Dr. Johnson extracts fat from the donor area, where you may have more fat than you want. She accomplishes this by manual liposuction using a cannula (tube) with small holes. Laser or ultrasonic liposuction aren’t good choices, as they may destroy the fat cells.

In step two, Dr. Johnson processes the fat using decanting and centrifugation to separate debris, dead cells, and excess fluid from the viable fat cells. She discards the fat cells that likely won’t survive in the graft.

In step three, Dr. Johnson reinjects the fat in small droplets throughout the subcutaneous tissue of the transplant area to ensure a good blood supply to every fat droplet. That will allow the graft to take.

The amount of fat retrieved and injected and the requirements of the receiving body area vary from person to person.

Want to add lasting volume to your face, increase your breast size, or round out your buttocks? We can accomplish all with a fat transfer at 817 Surgical Arts. To give yourself the gift of a fat transfer this holiday season, call our office at 817-241-5375 or book online today.