For those who have a little extra fat to spare, which includes just about all of us, the option of having liposuction and using some of the excess fat for facial fat grafting or augmentation can make perfect sense for the right candidate.
Fat grafting is basically a fat transfer procedure that removes fat from one area, often the abdomen, through liposuction. The fat is then processed, and reinjected to the face as a natural filler for wrinkles and volumizer to the face thereby creating a more youthful appearance.
There are some other benefits of fat grafting over other injectables or facial fillers.Since the fat is from your own body, there are no issues with rejection. The fat augmentation is also long-lasting – just think how hard it was to lose that fat from your abdomen to begin with! The procedure is done at the same time as liposuction so you have the benefit of losing fat in one area while augmenting another. The injection site for both procedures is very small and recovery time is limited.
Those who are not good candidates would be those who do not have enough excess fat to be transferred. During processing, some of the fat is lost, so it is necessary take more fat than is necessary for fat transfer. Liposuction is basically for those with isolated areas of fat, but it is not a weight loss procedure. The fat is removed with a very small cannula, and once removed, is gone permanently. Weight gain can affect results.
Recovery and complications from fat grafting, with a board certified plastic surgeon, are fairly minimal. There can be some swelling, asymmetry, and loss of some of the initial volume. Liposuction procedures with SAFELipo, SmartLipo and BodyJet have done much to reduce recovery time from liposuction in general, and it also possible to have a little extra fat removed with liposuction than is required for fat-grafting. Using newer techniques for fat removal, most patients fully recover from liposuction in about 1 week or less with very minor swelling or bruising.
If you would like to find out if fat-grafting following liposuction is right for you, please contact Dr. Ringler for a personal consultation.
