What is Fat Transfer?

What is Fat Transfer?

What is a fat transfer, well exactly how it sounds. Basically I take fat from one area of your body and move it to another. The majority of what I do is fat transfer treatment to the face but, it can be transferred to enhance the derrière, breast, scalp to help hair growth, etc. The donor sites are typically abdomen, thighs, inner knee, flanks….most people have an area or two that they wouldn’t mind losing a little fat on, so this is a win win, take the fat from where you don’t want it and put it where you do. So how is this done? Isn’t this like major surgery? Believe it or not, no. The technology now makes this procedure minimally invasive and minimal to no down time. You are awake the entire time and most patients I can complete the procedure in 2-3 hours.

How is Fat Transfer Done?

So the procedure…first we mark the area to extract the fat from. Then I will locally numb that area with some tiny injections of lidocaine, additionally we may give you some medication to help you relax but not sleep. After the area is numb I make a tiny little hole with a needle and insert a cannula. With the cannula I disperse what is called tumescent, which is essentially saline with more lidocaine in it. This loosens up the fat making it easier to extract. Once that is done I use the same tiny hole but a different cannula to then manually extract the fat. The fat goes from your body into a sterile syringe, then to a sterile filtration system that helps purify the fat. I then will wash the fat in that sterile system with sterile water multiple times before it is then processed down to be reinjected just like the dermal fillers such as Juvederm are.

Fat Transfer vs Fillers

So why would this be better than just doing fillers? Well the above mentioned reason for one….moving unwanted fat to a place you want it! Additionally, there is something magical about fat and what is does for the skin. There are growth factors and stem cells in fat that just make your skin look better even without the added volume, not to mention it is completely natural. Then of course there is the volume. A syringe of Juvederm of Voluma is only 1cc on average I will typically pull out at least 50cc, that once washed and filtered will usually give me at least 20cc of good fat to reinject.

Is Fat Transfer for You?

So there is a significant cost savings if you are typically putting in multiple syringes or you are someone that has quite a bit of volume loss in the face where more volume might be beneficial. So this is definitely an option for you if you are otherwise healthy, have at least a small area of fat you would like gone and you could benefit from some added volume to your face…or another area😉