Fat transfer breast augmentation is essentially a BBL for your breasts, transferring unwanted fat from around your body and injecting it into the breasts to make them larger. The technique enhances your breasts more naturally without any implants or foreign materials. The results of the procedure are permanent, unlike traditional breast implants which can require replacement every 10 to 15 years.
What Does a Traditional Breast Augmentation Entail?
During a traditional breast augmentation, the surgeon makes a discreet incision in the breast and places either a saline or silicone implant inside the breast to make it larger. Both types of implant are safe and generally well tolerated. Implants do have a shelf life, however, and usually need replacing every 10 to 15 years.
What is a Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation?
A fat transfer augmentation is different because it uses your own fat to enhance your breasts naturally. Your surgeon will use liposuction to remove fat from the places on your body where you don’t want it or have a little extra. They will save the fat they remove and then use a special syringe to reinject it back into your body, this time placing it within your breasts to make them larger.
How Painful is a Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation?
You won’t feel any pain or discomfort during your fat transfer breast augmentation because we will place you under general anesthesia for maximum comfort. You may experience some discomfort as you recover, but this is more of a dull ache than an intense or acute pain. We can, of course, help you manage any pain you do experience with pain medication.
Note that while your breasts will be sore, the fat donor areas where you had liposuction will also be a bit tender. Where these areas are and how many of them you have depends on the plan you and your surgeon devise prior to your surgery.
Who is a Good Candidate for a Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation?
You are a good candidate for a fat transfer breast augmentation if you want a natural solution that doesn’t involve placing implants. It’s also best if you are only looking to enlarge your breasts by one or two cup sizes. As is true for any surgery, the best surgical candidates are people in generally good health who have any chronic health conditions like high blood pressure well under control.
The best surgical candidates are also nonsmokers. Study after study shows that cigarette smoke kills red blood cells which are crucial for healing. Smoking can delay your recovery and increases the risk of complications. If you smoke, you will need to quit prior to your surgery and continue to abstain while you recover.
Who Should Avoid Getting a Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation?
Like any procedure, fat transfer breast augmentations have both pros and cons, and they aren’t right for everyone. This isn’t the procedure for you if you wish to increase your breast size by more than a cup size or two. Further, you may not be a candidate for this procedure if you lack adequate stores of body fat. A fat transfer breast augmentation requires you to have donor fat that your surgeon can harvest. This may not be possible if you are slim and have a low BMI. In both of these cases, however, traditional breast augmentation with implants is still an option.
This procedure is also contraindicated in those whose weight fluctuates often. The fat cells that your surgeon reinjects into your breasts may have moved but they are still a part of you. They may expand and contract along with the rest of your body’s fat cells as you gain or lose weight. This can change the size of your breasts and alter your surgical results. It’s not just about your breasts, however. The same expansion and contraction can occur at any of the donor sites where you had liposuction, further altering the new shape of your body.
Step By Step: How a Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation is Performed
A fat transfer breast augmentation involves the following steps:
- Your surgical team will sedate you with general anesthesia so you are asleep for the procedure.
- The surgeon will make small incisions (about 3 mm long) at your donor site or sites. These incisions will serve as the conduits through which the liposuction cannula is inserted into your body. They will be very small, and your surgeon will make them in places where the contours of your body will hide any minimal scarring.
- Liposuction procedures will be performed at your fat donor sites, removing unwanted fat in an artful way that will reshape and contour your body in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
- Your surgeon will close your liposuction incisions.
- The fat removed via liposuction will be saved. It will then be placed in a centrifuge where your surgeon will separate viable living fat cells from those that have died during the removal process. This process also separates the fat cells from any oil, blood, or water that came along with them during liposuction.
- Your surgeon will load the best of your harvested fat cells into a special syringe that uses tiny needles to inject them into your breasts. The fat will be injected at several different depths to create a natural look and encourage the newly injected cells to establish a blood supply in their new home.
- We will wake you after your procedure and monitor you in the recovery room to ensure that you come out of anesthesia without complications before sending you home.
What is Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation Recovery Like?
While recovering from this procedure, your surgeon will likely prescribe both pain medication and antibiotics. You may be sore for two or three weeks as the bruising and swelling ease, but this discomfort is generally mild. Your surgeon will also ask that you sleep on your back to avoid putting pressure on your newly moved fat cells. You will need to wear loose clothing, as well, so you don’t compress the breast tissue.
While your tops will need to be loose, you will likely need to wear compression garments anywhere that you had liposuction. These limit swelling and help your body conform to your new shape.
Most patients can return to work about 10 days after surgery, assuming that their jobs are not physically demanding. You will need to avoid any heavy lifting or activities that require a lot of upper body movement. Walking is encouraged as soon as you are able after surgery and you can resume light, low impact exercise in about 10 days. Heavy lifting and vigorous exercise regimens will have to wait 6 weeks or more.
Immediately after surgery, you may notice that your breasts look larger than you want them to. This is perfectly normal and not cause for alarm. One reason for this may be post-surgical swelling. Another is that your surgeon may intentionally add too many fat cells during your breast augmentation procedure. This is done on purpose because some of the injected fat cells will die and get absorbed into your body. As you heal and things settle, your breasts will get a bit smaller. Your final results can take up to 6 months to reveal themselves.
How Long Does a Fat Transfer to Breast Last?
The results of a fat transfer breast augmentation are permanent with the caveat previously mentioned. Your results could change if you gain or lose a significant amount of weight. Otherwise, you can enjoy your results indefinitely.
Will a Fat Transfer to Breasts Make My Breasts Firmer?
A fat transfer breast augmentation can fix a lot of issues, but it won’t make your breasts firmer. If firming your breasts is a concern for you, know that doing so requires a breast lift. Breast lifts and fat transfer augmentations are often performed together, however, so this is something that you can discuss with your surgeon or surgical coordinator.