Ageing in our beauty-obsessed culture can be very difficult. This is why the cosmetic surgery and medical research are thriving businesses in most countries. Numerous medical breakthroughs like fat transfer are just one of the popular enhancement procedures we can do to make us look younger.

What is Fat Transfer?

Fat transfer is a procedure that involves using the patients’ own fat tissues and injecting it to another part of the body. This surgery became popular with the popularity of liposuction. Doctors were able to collect more fat to deposit for breast and buttocks augmentation or facial injections. Fat that is harvested on the donor side is sterilized by removing excess blood and other liquids. It also involves separating the health fat cells from the bad ones. Below are some of the body parts that are the usual recipients of fat transfers.

What Body Parts is Fat Transfer Applicable?

Hands

One of the obvious signs of old age is veined, wrinkled hands. Most of us have established a daily routine to tighten our faces and necks however our hands are often neglected even if we use them for our daily activities. We can erase years and other imperfections from our hands through fat transfer. The procedure lasts for about an hour and since local anesthesia is administered, the injection is relatively painless.  The fat coming from another part of the body is deposited into the back of the hands and patients have full recovery from seven to ten days.

Face

Wrinkles are not the only problems that we see when our face begins to show signs of ageing.  We observe that certain areas are sunken that makes us look old and emaciated. Fat transfer is different from facelifts as it just plumps the hollow sections of our faces, making them look fuller. Facelifts on the other hand are more painful and requires stretching and surgically cutting off extra skin to get of wrinkles. Local anesthesia and oral sedation are administered before the doctor fills out the common problem areas of the face such as laugh lines, under-eyes, forehead creases and unshapely cheeks.  Swelling occurs for one to two days after the fat transfer and complete recovery is from two to four weeks.

Lips

With fat transfer you can have the Angelina Jolie lips that you have always wanted. A syringe filled with fat from your abdomen or hips is used to fill out the upper and lower making them look naturally plump and fuller. Lip fat transfer is done outpatient and patients can fully recover in a matter of hours. The injection leaves just a small incision on the lips that heals really well with no or barely noticeable scar.

Buttocks

Surgically known as gluteoplasty, fat transfer can help skinny men and women get shapelier and firmer buttocks. The process is tedious and requires patient screening, which usually results in the ineligibility of thinner people because they cannot provide enough body fat to be deposited in the buttocks. About two hundred to three hundred fifty cubic centimeters of pure fat are needed for a regular surgery. The pea-sized fats are layered in buttocks to make sure that the fats have enough blood supply. Recovery usually takes about a week or two. During this time, patients are required to wear a butt support to keep the deposited fat in place.

Breasts

Fat transfer for breast implants is another alternative augmentation procedure to saline and silicone implants. Because fat is more flexible that the two other implants, it can be sculpted and shaped and even used as a filler for unnatural breast. The surgeon makes a very small incision and on the breast and injects the harvested fat. Aside from breast enlargement, fat transfer can also be used to correct breast defects and reconstruction due to masectomy.

Risks of Fat Transfer:

1. The injected fat may be too much or inadequate. This problem will be noticeable after a few weeks or years when the area becomes more distorted.
2. Fat necrosis is another risk and it happens when the deposited fat dies and triggers pain, hardness and discomfort.
3. Fluid buildup such as hematoma and seroma can cause major infections.

How to Avoid Fat Transfer Risks:

1. Go to an experienced doctor and follow his pre and post-surgery instructions to avoid infections or premature deformity of the fat- recipient area.
2. After surgery, take extra good care of your body by undergoing thermal therapy and applying creams and lotion to mitigate the reoccurrence of fine lines on the face or sagging of the skin.