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Micro Fat Grafting
Autogous Fat Transfer Procedure
Many people seeking a perkier, firmer backside use fat transfer to add volume and improve the texture of the faces, breasts, or buttocks. Other areas that can be treated with fat grafting include the hands, sternum, hips, biceps, triceps, and calves. Fat transfer can effectively diminish superficial scars by filling in the area surrounding the scar tissue and creating a smooth, firm surface.
Micro Fat grafting can be used to create a nicely rejuvenated face, in someone with loss of fat over the years from his/her face, or someone who has had a facelift and wants more plumpness in their face.
Fat can also be used to correct the body contour deformities from liposuction that has yielded unsatisfactory results to car accidents, or to aging hands to make them look more youthful.
Fat transfer is an effective way to remove the signs of injury, surgery, or scarring from almost any part of the body. Using fat from other areas of the body, it is possible to smooth out the surface of your skin to create a fuller appearance.
MAJOR BENEFITS
• To restore volume lost with aging
• To enhance the cheek bones or augment the cheeks
• To enhance the chin
• To add shape and frame the bone around the eyes which softens their appearance
• To raise the eyebrow
• To straighten the jaw line or hide the Jowl
• To shape the nose
• To add volume to the earlobes
• To fill the Naso-labial fold
• To augment the lips
• To repair scars
• To rejuvenate the skin
Recently, fat grafting has been shown to have the added benefits of stem cells, found in the injected fat, which not only provide volume, but also create skin improvement, wrinkle improvement, and other positive changes that are not explainable by volume alone.
A highly specialized procedure that takes years to perfect and master, Dr. Jane has been using Micro-Fat Grafting technique to rejuvenate and contour his patients since she learned the original technique from many doctors from Europe, South Korea, and US as well. Dr. Jane modified and created her own technique to provide long lasting, pleasing aesthetic results, and adapted the technique to contour the face, hands, breasts, and buttocks.
BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is microfat grafting?
Microfat grafting or microfat tranfer injection relies on the premise that by adding more volume to certain areas of the face with micro injection technique for longer lasting result, Dr. Jane can improve signs of aging. It is a well-known fact that as we age, the face loses volume of muscle, fat, and bone. For many decades, we thought of aging as an excess of skin. It is now recognized that the apparent excess of skin is at least in part due to the loss of soft tissue bulk, or fat from the face. Fat may be transferred from other parts of the body (usually from the abdomen, flanks, or thighs) to areas of the face in need of volume enhancement
What can microfat grafting achieve?
Microfat grafting can smooth certain deep wrinkles, enhance the volume of thinning lips or soft tissue of the cheek and chin, and can help the appearance of sunken eyelids. The main advantage of fat injection is that it is a 100% natural filler. The other advantage of fat is that there is usually an adequate supply of fat for areas requiring a large volume of augmentation.
What is the procedure like?
The procedure is relatively simple and straightforward. A patient, who is deemed a good candidate for this procedure, is given antibiotics, and anesthetized in the operating room. The body is injected with tumescent solution to the donor area such as abdomen or thighs, where the fat is usually removed via a special technique and specially designed syringe and annular to increase the survival rate of the fat cells and to keep as much of the fat cells alive as possible. Afterwards the fat is harvested using a small syringe, then prepared and placed in other small syringes for the injection. The fat is placed in very tiny amounts, mostly on the deep layer, next to the bone and inside of muscle layers. Special placement of micro sized-fat droplets at various layers also improves the percentage of fat survival. A small cannula is used so that small packets of fat are placed and they easily take on a new blood supply and survive. The popular treatment areas are the cheeks, smile lines, lips and the pre-jowl area.
What type of anesthesia is used?
Microfat grafting to small areas may be performed in the office under local anesthesia. For larger volumes of fat injection, we use mild sedation which involves giving sedating medication that will make you very relaxed and sleepy during the procedure but does not require putting a breathing tube in the throat.
What is the recovery like?
You are encouraged to resume normal activities as this decreases the amount of pain and increases the speed of your recovery. The areas of the face where fat was placed should be left alone unless you are instructed by Dr. Jane to massage the area. Massaging of the areas where the fat was harvested, particularly over the flanks, will speed the healing process. A Compression Garment may be needed for one to two weeks after surgery, depending on the degree of swelling. You may wear tight Lycra instead of the surgical garment if you prefer. No Sutures or drains are used.
My staff will instruct you on how to massage of the donor sites on the third day following surgery. Bruising may be present for up to 3 weeks in the donor sites. Changes in size will occur for the first month as the swelling resolves. Facial bruising can last up to three weeks. There may be some degree of persistent swelling for two months, after which more fat may be added if additional contouring is required.
How long will the results last?
Fat grafting is longer lasting than most other injectable fillers (such as Collagen, Restylane, Hylaform, and even Radiance). Because fat is a natural substance, there is typically less reaction to the injected fat by the body. The fat does however absorb over time and repeated injections may be necessary to maintain the desired fullness of the treated areas.
Micro Fat Grafting generally requires three to four treatments to achieve lasting results. Approximately 65 percent of the injected fat is absorbed back into your system during the first few months following the procedure. About 25-35 percent of the injected fat will remain in place. When patients notice the results fading, they can receive another fat transfer. After a few treatments, skin can maintain its firmer, smoother appearance for years.
Are there any limitations to what microfat grafting procedures can achieve?
Autologous microfat grafting is often not able to treat severe surface wrinkles, which are better treated with Active FX laser resurfacing or deep chemical peels or Fraxel laser treatments. In addition, a browlift or eyelift can typically better treat deep folds in the face or brow caused by loose skin or overactive muscles.
Will it be possible for me to drive myself home after the fat transfer procedure?
Fat transfer procedure typically involves little or no downtime, though patients receiving sedation should not drive themselves home after the procedure. If you don’t need sedation medication, you can drive yourself.
Will I need to take off from work after a fat transfer procedure?
Patients can typically return to work and other normal activities shortly within 2--5 days after the procedure depending on the areas treated.
How many treatments do I need?
No two individuals are the same, and results may vary. Some conditions can improve dramatically in some patients and not respond in others. Overall, patients with severely volume loss can have satisfactory improvement with 3 times of fat grafting 1-3 months apart.
Can micro fat grating be combined with other procedures?
Microfat grafting procedure may be used to enhance the results of another procedure, such as Active FX Laser Resurfacing, Exoderm nonsurgical facelift, chemical peels, eyelid surgeries, brow lifting, or smartlipo liposculpting for double chin and thick neck.
Where is the fat harvested from (fat donor sites)?
Fat is harvested from areas with excess fat – typically the tummy, flanks, lateral or medial thigh – depending on the area the patient prefers, the volume of fat required, and the quality of the fat. The key is to avoid creating a defect in the donor area. A compression garment may be worn after harvesting but this is not always necessary.
How do I prepare the microfat grafting procedure?
As with all surgeries performed by Dr. Jane, patients are prescribed medications to take before and after the surgery, to help prepare and recover faster and without complications.
What are the advantages with microfat grafting procedure in comparison with conventional facelift?
For the right patient, fat grafting can be an extremely gratifying operation. The advantages are natural looking results, long-term enhancement, quick recovery period, and no scarring. This procedure takes about 1-3 hours, depending on where and how much fat grafting is going to occur.
How to achieve the best result?
At the Jane Aesthetics Surgery Center, we take pride in making sure we provide for our patients the best cosmetic surgical experience possible , anticipating problems or set-backs, and addressing them before they happen. This is a process that includes the pre-operative preparation, the actual surgery, and the after care. |
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