Pregnancy, breastfeeding, ageing, and weight fluctuations can cause your breast tissue and nipple position to sag. As a result, your breasts will appear more elliptical and there can be volume loss in the upper portion of your breasts. If you want to address these concerns without undergoing breast implant surgery, natural breast augmentation or breast fat transfer is right for you.
This surgical procedure involves harvesting fat from your thighs, hips, or abdomen, purifying the harvested fat, and then carefully injecting the purified fat into the breasts to add volume and improve contour. But before having breast fat transfer surgery, it is important that you ask the following questions for you to gain more understanding of the procedure.
How is breast fat transfer surgery performed?
Asking how a certain procedure will be performed can help reduce anxiety and gives you a better understanding of what you will go through.
A breast fat transfer surgery makes use of liposuction to harvest fat from a body area with unwanted fatty tissue, usually the abdomen or thighs. Once the desired amount of fat is harvested, it is then processed into liquid in the laboratory. During this time, impurities such as blood, oils, and tissue fluid are removed from the harvested fat. This process also helps lower the risk of oil cyst formation. Once processed, the fat will be injected into the different areas of your breasts to add volume and fullness.
During your consultation, you will be provided with specific information regarding breast fat transfer procedure.
What are the advantages of breast fat transfer surgery over breast augmentation using implants?
Knowing the advantages of breast fat transfer surgery over traditional breast augmentation methods provide you with information on how will you benefit from the procedure.
Breast fat transfer surgery offers the following advantages:
- It enhances your breast contour while removing unwanted fatty tissue from other areas of your body.
- It has a quicker recovery time because it has a lower risk of complications and does not involve large surgical incisions.
- It is considered less invasive because it makes use of your own body fat instead of foreign materials such as breast implants.
- It produces a more natural breast contour by creating an organic look and feel to your breasts.
- It produces minimal scars because the processed fat is administered to your breasts via injections.
- It allows the breast and nipple sensation to remain intact, thus, producing natural results.
How many cup sizes can you safely gain with breast fat transfer?
Asking this question allows you to assess if the procedure can give you your desired clinical outcome.
In general, you can achieve a modest increase in your breast size by 1 to 2 cup sizes with breast fat transfer. However, this will depend on several factors such as the following:
- The amount of fat harvested from the donor site/s: To achieve well-proportioned breasts, you will need at least 1,000 milliliters of pure fat harvested from your thighs, hips, or abdomen. The reason for injecting a limited amount of fat is that the fat does not have its own blood supply in order to survive. Because of this, the injected fat relies on the blood supply in the breast. If more fat is injected into your breasts than can be supported, your body will reabsorb the fat and it can cause hardened lumps or oil cysts.
- The quality of the harvested fat: If too much fat is injected into your breasts, the survival rate of the fat cells is dramatically decreased. However, if an appropriate amount of fat is injected into your breasts and all conditions are ideal, only 70-80% of the fat cells usually survive. For this reason, your breasts should receive good quality fat so that the results will last longer and the risk of complications is relatively low.
- The elasticity of the skin: Elasticity refers to the skin’s ability to “snap back”. If you have good skin elasticity, your breasts will look more natural and younger after the procedure since they can house the transferred fat effectively.
How long do the results of breast fat transfer last?
Knowing how long the results of a breast fat transfer lasts allows you to evaluate your breast augmentation options.
Initially, 70-80% of the injected fat cells usually survive. This is an expected part of the procedure. For the first 6 weeks, your body will naturally absorb some of the injected fat cells and they will be eliminated from your system. Once the remaining fat cells have established themselves with new blood vessels, their chance of survival significantly increases and you will begin to notice an improvement in the volume and fullness of your breasts. After 1 month, the final results of breast fat transfer can be observed.
It is important to keep in mind that the results of breast fat transfer will greatly depend on several factors. First and foremost, you will need to commit to a healthy lifestyle after the procedure as the size of the fat cells can increase with future weight gain. Lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking can also contribute to breast droopiness by affecting blood circulation in your skin and tissues. Another factor to consider is that your new breast contour can still be affected by the ageing process. This can cause your breasts to gradually sag as the surrounding skin loses its elasticity.
Asking questions before your breast fat transfer surgery allows you to be fully informed about various aspects of the procedure and clarifies any doubts that you have in mind. This does not only reduces anxiety but also allows you to better prepare yourself for the surgery.
