Fat Grafting and Breast Augmentation – The most recent surgery to enhance your curves
The desire for naturally fuller and larger breasts is universal. Women often want them to flaunt their feminine aspects as a part of their profession or just to look sensuous. Likewise, men just love to enjoy those round curves on their female partners. To fulfill this coveted aspiration, various surgeries are in the fray.For example, you can go for breast implants or fat transfer breast augmentation. While the first option requires the insertion of implants, the latter method uses your own body fat for the “boob job” or breast augmentation. Being a foreign material, implants are likely to cause leakage, rupture or rippling risks. Fat grafting (or fat transfer), on the other hand, uses natural filling material, and hence is free of allergic reactions. Here is more on this breast augmentation method.
More about Fat grafting and breast augmentation
Fat grafting, also termed as autologous or stem cell fat transfer is a rapidly evolving technique for breast reconstruction. It requires the surgeon to extract excess fat from the patient’s buttocks, thighs or belly through liposuction. In the next stage, the extracted fat is injected into the patient’s breasts to make them look more curvaceous. Unlike implants, this method results in a comparably smaller enhancement of the breast size but they still look natural. The cost of this surgery depends on your specific requirements regarding breast augmentation. You may get insurance coverage if the procedure comes under breast reconstruction category.
Are you an ideal candidate?
You could opt for fat transfer breast augmentation if you qualify following conditions:
• You are in your early twenties or more and a self-motivated woman.
• Your breasts are asymmetrical or small because of breastfeeding or naturally.
• You have undergone or any other breast surgery earlier.
Likewise, if you fulfill following conditions, it is better not to go for fat grafting and breast augmentation:
• You are pregnant.
• You are breast feeding your baby.
• You are an easy target of infections and allergies.
• You are very thin.
The procedure.
Fat grafting is done under local or general anaesthesia.The fat grafting process for breast augmentation comprises two distinct stages.
First stage: Fat tissue removal
Here is what the surgeon does to perform this procedure:
1. The surgeon administers local anesthesia to numb the area that is about to operate.
2. Next, he extracts the fat tissues from the parts of the body that consist of unwanted fats like belly, buttocks or thighs. For this, he uses the minimally invasive liposuction technique.
Second stage: Insertion of removed fat into breasts
1. The fat thus harvested then undergoes processing in the liquid form. This involves removing of unnecessary components like blood, oil, and water.
2. The surgeon then uses fine needles to inject the processed fat tissues into multiple breast locations. This helps the patient to obtain reconstructed breasts.
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Is the fat transfer a safe option?
The procedure does not involve any extensive surgery; hence, it is usual for people to consider it as safe. However, since it has been introduced recently, it long-terms consequences are still under observation. It is not yet FDA approved either. Therefore, it is wise to know about all its pros and cons from an experienced surgeon before making any decision.
Pros of Fat transfer for breast augmentation
Let’s have a look at the advantages of this comparably new breast augmentation procedure:
• No allergic reactions: It uses your own body fat tissue which averts the chances of allergic reactions.
• Break free from unwanted fat: Removal of excess fat from the body makes your body more appealing.
• Better breasts: You can expect the fat-graft reconstructed breast to be soft and sensational.
• Carefree: No maintenance required after fat grafting unlike in breast implants.
• No scars: The fat injections do not leave behind any scar.
• Risk free: No chances of breast thinning or rippling risks later on.
Side effects of fat grafting
Here are some of the probable side effects of fat transfer breast augmentation:
• Calcification risk: Fat injections may increase risks of calcification, oil cysts, dense lumps, etc. in the breasts.
• Multiple procedures: You would need to undergo multiple grafting procedures to get the desired results; a single session is not enough.
• Lumps: There is possibility of nodules of lumps in the breasts or any unexpected situation during fat extraction, especially in case of an inexperienced surgeon.
• Not for drooping breasts: If you are looking to resurrect your sagging breasts, this surgery will not help much. Perhaps, a breast lift surgery is a better option to remedy such condition.
• Need for more fat: The surgeon would need to harvest at least 1,000 milliliters of pure fat to augment the breast size. Hence, if you are a lean women, it is wise not to opt for this procedure.
• Redundant fat: In case of injection of more fat than the body could support, the body may reabsorb it, leading to loss of breast volume. This could also make the breast harder.
• Could activate cancer cells: The injected fat may tend the inactive cells of breast cancer (if any) to grow. This is however still a consideration and the research is under process to know the underlying facts.
• Necrosis: The injected fat tissues may die inside the breasts. Referred to as necrosis, the symptoms of this condition may include pain, bleeding, sores, bad-smelling pus or discharge, numbness, fever, dark blue skin or black skin etc.
Takeaway
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) did not allow fat grafting and breast augmentation because of the involved side effects. At the worst, it sighted the surveillance of breast cancer as one of the probable disadvantages of opting for autologous fat grafting for breast augmentation. It is only recently that the Fat Graft Task Force of the ASPS has admitted that they have not found any strong poof in support of or against this procedure.
This boob job will be able to enhance your breast size only a little bit, while you can still notice a round and curvy boobs. However, if you are expecting the results as that of implants, you would only end up disappointing yourself. A candid consultation with your fat grafting and breast augmentation would always be helpful in making up your mind in this regard.
The information is being provided by plasticsurgery.in and have no intention to replace the medical advice of your doctor. Please consult your doctor directly for advice about a specific medical condition. This document was last reviewed by Dr. Priti Shukla, Plastic Surgeon on: 12-JUN-2020
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