If you have small breasts, you may be considering breast augmentation surgery with saline implants. However, you do have an alternate option that offers the benefit of a shorter recovery period. Using the fat transfer to contour your breasts can add volume without implants.
While the results aren’t usually quite as dramatic as getting implants, the effect is very natural, and many women find it’s an attractive alternative. According to a survey of people who have had the procedure at the plastic surgery site RealSelf.com, 88 percent of them responded that the procedure was “worth it.” The providers at Advanced Plastic Surgery Center explain more about what to expect from the fat transfer procedure.
How we get the fat to transfer
Drs. Munasifi and Economides typically first perform a liposuction procedure on an area of your body that has excess fat. Most often, this might be the abdomen, love handles, or your thighs. The fat is taken out through a thin tube called a cannula and then purified before it is injected back into your body. The goal is to keep as many of the fat cells intact so that the results will look seamless and natural.
Fat transfer for contouring
We can use fat transfers for contouring on any part of the body. It’s perfect if you have a part of your body that you would like to have a plumper appearance or restore after a biopsy or a lumpectomy.
One of the most popular applications of fat transfer is for contouring the shape of your breasts, as well as giving them a bit more volume. In general, you can gain up to a full cup size with fat transfer.
Fat transfer has a lot of advantages when compared to traditional saline or silicone breast implants. For one, it uses your body’s own tissue, rather than viewing it as a foreign object and risking a possible allergic reaction. Another benefit is that fat transfer is presumed to be permanent, whereas implants have a limited lifespan of about 10 years.
Another advantage of fat transfer is that the recovery period tends to be a bit shorter than implants. Most people recover from the fat transfer in about 3 to 4 weeks, compared to about 6 weeks for augmentation with implants.
Limitations and drawbacks of fat transfer
Although fat transfer for breast contouring produces very natural-looking results that increase your breasts’ size, there are some limitations.
One limitation is that you can only increase your breast size by about one cup size. If you’re hoping for more dramatic results, traditional breast augmentation is still your better bet.
Another limitation is that you may have complications from fat transfer. About 50 to 70 percent of fat cells survive the transfer, although the results depend on the breast’s blood supply. The cells that don’t survive the fat transfer could even appear black and blue or cause pain or numbness in your breast.
Another possible complication is that the results may look slightly uneven, though this is uncommon and is determined by how well your body adapts to the procedure.
Of course, one of the positives of fat transfer is that you also get liposuction during the procedure, but this also makes the whole procedure more expensive than traditional breast augmentation.
Still, if you’re looking for just a slight increase in breast volume and want the results to feel and look very natural, you will likely be very happy with this procedure’s outcome. It’s a procedure that is overall very safe, with minimal scarring. For a more natural alternative to breast augmentation, it’s an excellent choice. To schedule a consultation, call the providers at Advanced Plastic Surgery Center or request an appointment online.
