Fat transfer breast augmentation is a growing trend in cosmetic surgery today. We offer the best results, at an affordable price. Our patients range from those in their 20s, to those in their 70s, who want to increase their cup size by transferring fat that is normally non-reproductive fat into their breasts
If you’re looking for cost of breast augmentation in Ontario and you want more information on other procedures, check out my blog. Here I review the costs of various cosmetic surgeries including fat transfer breast augmentation and liposuction in Toronto, Markham and other areas. If you’re interested in having a breast augmentation, speak with your surgeon about the various types of implants available. In this guide, we review the aspects of Fat transfer breast augmentation cost Ontario, fat transfer breast augmentation bc, fat transfer breast augmentation toronto, and fat transfer breast augmentation risks.
If you are looking for a breast augmentation in Ontario, liposuction fat transfer can be the perfect option. This procedure involves moving fat from other parts of your body to your breasts in order to increase breast size. The procedure is similar to traditional breast surgery, but can lengthen the recovery time and has a lower risk of implant rejection.
Breast augmentation with fat transfer is a safe and effective procedure that has been performed for over 20 years. Over the course of my career, I have performed hundreds of breast augmentations with fat transfer on patients from all over North America and Europe.
fat transfer breast augmentation bc
The term breast fat transfer refers to the process of taking unwanted fat from one part of the body (through liposuction) and using it to fill out the breasts, effectively making them fuller and plumper.
Many people who desire breast augmentation prefer this method of creating fuller breasts as it has multiple unique benefits. Below, we’ll go over these benefits and answer some common questions regarding the procedure.
3 Facts You Should Know About Breast Fat Transfer
When most people think of breast augmentation, they think of the silicone breast implants that can be inserted into each breast and used to increase volume and change breast shape.
Unfortunately, many patients don’t know about an alternative method of breast augmentation called breast fat transfer. Likewise, they are unaware of the many benefits that this procedure has to offer.
Here are 3 to be aware of.
First, breast fat transfer is ideal for the patient who only wants a slight change in the size or shape of their breasts. For example, if they feel that there is an asymmetry between the right and left breasts, this is often best fixed with breast fat transfer. Alternatively, with this procedure (unlike traditional augmentation), more nuanced changes can be made. For example, just a small amount of fat can be added above the nipple or to another specific area where added volume would enhance appearance.
Next, breast fat transfer is an ideal solution for patients who are looking to increase the volume of their breasts while at the same time reducing body fat in other places. It’s worth pointing out that a smaller amount of fat is usually taken out during breast fat transfer than would be taken out with a traditional liposuction procedure. But the overall effect can still be successful for many patients looking to change the overall appearance of their silhouette.
Finally, many patients find that breast fat transfer is a more natural solution to their desire for bigger, fuller breasts. Instead of a foreign object being inserted into the breast, their own body fat is simply being transferred from one area to another. In this way, not only is the substance being used less invasive, it also provides that natural look that breast augmentation patients nearly always desire.
Schedule Your Breast Fat Transfer Consultation Appointment
If you have been considering a breast augmentation, consider breast fat transfer. If you’re not sure whether you’re a good candidate for this procedure, call us today to discuss your options with Dr. Stark.
Dr. Stark is a double board certified Philadelphia plastic surgeon with extensive experience helping patients achieve their ideal breast shape and size. He is happy to sit down with you, examine your current silhouette, and give you the best assessment of your options, including the possibility of breast fat transfer.
To start making moves towards the breasts of your dreams today, contact us to book your virtual consultation appointment.
Breast Augmentation With Fat Transfer
During this procedure, liposuction is used to harvest excess fat from an area such as the abdomen, flanks or thighs. This fat is processed during the surgery and re-injected to the breast area to improve the overall shape and to provide additional volume for augmentation. If fat grafting is combined with implant exchange or removal, switching to a smaller implant often requires modification to the remaining breast tissue. This can be performed with a breast lift and/or fat grafting depending on the amount of extra skin and breast tissue remaining. In many cases, fat grafting to the upper and middle areas of the breast alone can help with improving the shape of the cleavage area.
Your consultation with your surgeon is designed to maximize your outcomes and minimize complications by ensuring that the appropriate procedure is selected and that you have a full understanding of your pre and post-operative instructions. Our office is a constant resource for you in this regard and will carefully guide you through this exciting experience.
fat transfer breast augmentation risks
Recently, plastic surgeons as well as other physician providers have begun offering fat grafting as an alternative to breast implants for breast augmentation. This technique, more popular in Japan and some parts of Europe but gaining popularity in the United States, holds promise but is not well-studied and quite controversial.
Currently, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) supports the use of fat grafting for improving contour after breast reconstruction, but does not endorse its use in cosmetic breast augmentation. Click here to read the official position statement from the ASPS and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). Unfortunately, in some cases, the potentially attractive real and theoretical benefits of fat grafting have been marketed to the public without disclosure of the potential problems of this technique and how they could affect breast health.
Some information that should be taken into account when considering fat grafting as an option for breast augmentation includes:
Some advertisements say that unlike breast implants, fat transferred into my breasts will not affect mammography (breast imaging for cancer). Is that true?
How does fat grafting to the breast differ when we are considering breast reconstruction versus breast augmentation?
The short answer is that we don’t know and that’s the problem. There have been no rigorous studies in humans to prove or disprove that this could happen. Doctors who have expressed concern that your own fat when transferred to your breast could become cancer point to several issues. One is that in some animal experiments, transferred fat can be induced to become a cancer but at this point it is in an environment that does not closely resemble what actually happens in humans. Second, more than 10% of women will develop a breast cancer in their lifetime. This would suggest that there are cells in a significant percentage of women’s breasts that could be tipped from a normal state to a cancer-inducing state. Certain female hormones and other naturally occurring chemicals that exist in fat may be able to throw these vulnerable breast cells into a cancerous state. Some doctors are concerned that adding more fat – even your own – to the mix may be enough to induce or speed up the development of a breast cancer. There are no clear data to prove or disprove this.
2. Some advertisements say that unlike breast implants, fat transferred into my breasts will not affect mammography (breast imaging for cancer). Is that true?
No. Fat grafting can affect mammography. Injected fat can lead to the development of calcifications, cysts and a redistribution of the breast tissue.
Dr. Terry Myckatyn and Dr. Marissa Tenenbaum:
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Breast implants will also affect mammography by redistributing breast tissue and making a small percentage of the breast tissue more difficult to image. To get around this, a mammographer will perform additional views called displacement views. The implant is pushed out of the way, the images are retaken, and additional breast tissue, previously hidden, can be imaged. An alternative approach is to perform a screening breast MRI. Since breast implants have a much longer track record, protocols to improve breast imaging after implant-based augmentation are well-developed. By contrast, recommendation and techniques to improve breast imaging after fat grafting are not as well developed because the mainstream application of fat grafting for breast augmentation has not been around as long.
Frankly, any surgical procedure on the breast will affect breast imaging to some degree because the breast has been transformed in some way. A breast reduction, for example, will also cause calcifications, cysts and a redistribution of breast tissue.
Fat transfers can be enriched with stem cells. Normal fat contains a small fraction of adipose-derived stem cells. Like other stem cells, these adipose-derived stem cells can be manipulated to mature into other cell types. They are affected both by chemicals that already exist in our body, or that can be added to the body as a drug.
The fact that stem cells can change into other cell types is both a good and a bad thing. The good thing is that these cells can help to regenerate missing tissues to either replace missing tissue or augment existing tissue. This is potentially an extremely powerful tool as we reconstruct patients who have had cancer or whose bodies have undergone the natural aging process. Unfortunately, stem cells may also be transformed into rapidly dividing cancer cells.
The major challenge in dealing with these stem cells is control. Scientists need to develop reliable and practical methods for safely inducing stem cells into useful regenerative cells rather than cancer cells. It is not enough for the body to naturally regulate these cells. Cancers clearly form despite the body’s attempts to naturally regulate these cells. So, by the same token, doctors need a reliable means of regulating stem cells to ensure that they are doing what they are supposed to do – helping patients – rather than what they are not supposed to do – creating or worsening a cancer.
New technology has been developed to increase the percentage of stem cells in harvested fat with the hopes that these stem cells will improve the take and effectiveness of fat transfers. Early studies with these devices are under way in Asia.
Despite some premature marketing that has focused on the potential benefits of stem cell-enriched fat transfers, they are still being investigated for their safety and effectiveness and therefore remain experimental. Certainly, if rigorous evaluation concludes that stem-cell enriched fat is shown to be safe and effective, it may one day become a valuable tool. As more information becomes available on this topic, we will update this essay, our blog and Twitter pages.
Fat is harvested from areas of fatty excess such as the abdomen, flanks and thighs using liposuction and then reinjected into the breasts. The methods of liposuction used for fat harvest and processing of the fat cells after harvest vary and there is no clear consensus or scientific data to convincingly show what works best. The incisions used to harvest and reinject the fat are less than 1 cm. The procedure can be performed with the patient under local or general anesthesia. Some protocols recommend the use of an external breast splint that is worn for several hours a day for several weeks to provide a more conducive environment for fat graft take.
Protocols for safe and effective fat grafting for breast augmentation are still being developed. At this time, fat grafting for breast augmentation seems to be most effective for small- to moderate-sized breast augmentations. There is significant variation on how much of the grafted fat stays over time with reports ranging from 30-80%. Repeat sessions of fat grafting may be used to help retain the volume of grafted fat or to produce a larger breast augmentation.
6. How does fat grafting to the breast differ when we are considering breast reconstruction versus breast augmentation?
The difference between fat grafting for breast augmentation and breast reconstruction is that in breast augmentation all of a women’s breast tissue is present. Because 10-15% of women will develop a breast cancer during their lifetime, this means that 1 in 8 women who undergo this technique will have cells in their breast that at some point will become cancer cells. By contrast, a woman who has had her breast removed for breast cancer has almost no breast tissue left. Breast reconstruction uses an implant or non-breast tissue to reconstruct the breast.
So, women undergoing fat transfer for breast augmentation have a much higher chance of having breast cells susceptible to becoming a cancer than women who have already had their breast removed. If it turns out that fat grafts can induce breast cancer in breast cancer-susceptible cells, then the breast augmentation patients will be at greater risk.
If you have questions or would like to book a consultation with one of the surgeons at West County Plastic Surgery, please call (314) 996-8800.
Frequently Asked Questions About Breast Fat Transfer
Yes. When performed correctly, the use of body fat as an augmentation material for the breasts is highly effective and long-lasting. This is yet another benefit to breast fat transfer. Many surgeons go so far as to call the procedure permanent.
The reason for this is the biological nature of the fat being used. In order for it to survive in the injection site (the breasts), it needs to form its own blood supply. To be sure, this doesn’t always happen. Sometimes 30% to 50% of the injected fat will not survive. But your surgeon will have prepared for this by slightly overshooting the amount of fat that they insert and also by (in some cases) performing the procedure in several stages.
How Much Fat Is Used in Breast Fat Transfer?
Most of the time, just a few hundred milliliters of fat will be inserted into the breasts to change the overall silhouette and cup size. This will always depend on what changes the patient would like to see in the final results of their procedure.
Are There Any Side Effects?
In some patients, side effects may occur after breast fat transfer. With any surgical procedure, however, side effects are always a possibility. Fortunately, your surgeon will be there to address any issues you may have.
When it comes to breast fat transfer, the most common side effects include cysts or dense lumps that can appear in the breast after fat grafting. Necrosis of fat, or the death of fat cells, is also a side effect that may occur. But as is explained above, your surgeon will have prepared for the possibility that some of the transferred fat will not survive by performing the grafting in stages and/or slightly overshooting the amount of fat that is grafted.
Are There Any Drawbacks to Breast Fat Transfer?
Because breast fat transfer actually involves two procedures, it’s worth noting that the entire procedure is slightly more invasive than traditional breast augmentation. It may also require more downtime as multiple areas of your body will be affected (the fat donor location and the breasts).
Likewise, it’s important to note that, even though it is an ultimate positive that breast fat transfer is a permanent solution to breast augmentation, this means that it’s also not able to be reversed. Alternatively, it is possible to remove a silicone or saline breast implant.
The good news is that, ultimately, breast fat transfer actually has lower risks than augmentation using implants. For example, capsular contracture, possible rupture, rippling of the implants, and poor positioning are all possibilities with implant breast augmentation. These events are rate, but use of fat from your own body has a much lower risk of complication. Because it is your own fat, your body will not reject it.
Can Fat Transfer Be Performed Anywhere Else?
Yes. Many patients are unaware that fat transfer is a procedure that can be used on multiple parts of the body.
For example, if you’d like to augment your face in some way — perhaps to fill in lines or wrinkles, add volume to the cheeks or lips, or plump the forehead — fat transfer can be the perfect solution. Again, the substance being used is all natural, the results look natural, and the positive effects are permanent. Fat transfer or fat grafting can also be used on the hands, buttocks, and other locations on the body.
If you are considering a breast augmentation or change in breast shape, a breast augmentation with fat transfer (also known as breast fat grafting) may be an excellent option. Fat grafting can be considered alone or in conjunction with a breast lift, augmentation, or revision. In this procedure, fat is removed from an area where it isn’t needed and is used to create additional breast volume or to enhance breast shape.
Who is breast augmentation with fat transfer right for?
Since fat must be harvested from elsewhere in the body, only patients with enough extra fat are good candidates for these procedures. The fat is most effective when used in combination with a breast implant or breast lift. In some cases, a breast augmentation with fat transfer can be performed alone to achieve modest augmentation or to fill in a specific area of deficiency.
What are the risks of breast augmentation with fat transfer?
In general, fat grafting is an excellent option in well-selected patients after a thoughtful consultation. The risk profile is very low and recovery is very reasonable, with most women returning to normal activity within a few days after fat grafting alone.
Risks specific to fat grafting are rare but include:
How long will the results of breast augmentation with fat transfer last?
Fat grafting outcome lengths can be highly variable. Fat is a natural living tissue that will heal differently in different people. As such, the amount of fat that stays in place after surgery can change over time. Some of the fat that is placed may be reabsorbed by the body, but the amount that stays in place is usually stable and permanent by approximately four months after surgery.