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Sometimes, no matter how much you exercise, you’re unable to lose unwanted fat. An effective option that can work is fat transfer.
What is fat transfer?
Fat transfer, alternatively known as a fat injection or fat grafting, is a minimally invasive cosmetic surgery that aims to remove fat from a part of your body and move it to another body part that needs reshaping or more volume. It also aids in treating painful nerves and healing body tissues.
Every year, many people spend thousands of dollars to undergo fat transfer, which boasts more natural-looking results compared to temporary fillers. In fact, there’s a global facial fat market size of about USD$1.9 billion in 2021.
Why try fat transfer?
Body fat isn’t necessarily something unhealthy that you have to eliminate completely. It’s essential in storing excess calories for later use and releasing hormones to control your body’s metabolism.
According to ongoing studies, fat contains abundant stem cells like those found in your bone marrow. When you undergo fat transfer, the unwanted fats are moved to areas with painful neuromas (nerves with scars) obtained from physical injury to improve the scars’ color, texture, and contour. If you’ve undergone surgery in the past that caused some parts of your body to lose volume, fat transfer helps in filling those regions and enhancing your body shape.
Where does fat transfer work?
Most people undergo fat transfer to enhance their facial features, particularly in the lips, cheeks, chin, hollows under the eyes, eyelids, and temple hollowness. Aside from improving facial appearance, this cosmetic procedure can work on other body parts, such as:
- Breasts
- Buttocks
- Hands
- Hips
Plastic surgeons usually remove excess fat from thighs, bellies, and hips. However, fat transfer is not an alternative to a weight-loss procedure, which means you can’t expect to shed some pounds after the procedure. The only primary goal of fat transfer is to remove enough fat cells and inject them into specific areas.
What are the benefits of fat transfer?
1. It is a more natural method
If you don’t like the idea of injecting synthetic materials (fillers or implants) to improve your body shape, you may want to try fat transfer. Fat transfer is a much more natural method to enhance your shape and body contour because you’re using your fats as fillers.
Research also claimed that the chance of experiencing side effects, allergic reactions, or complications is minimal (5%) since you’re not injecting any foreign substance into your body. Therefore, fat transfer is a safer and more practical option than implants.
2. It can contour your body
Fat transfer can effectively contour your body in two ways. First, removing excess fat (liposuction) helps improve the body part where it was extracted. Second, the extracted fat tissues are processed into liquid before injecting them back into the desired body part, where you want to increase the volume and shape. People often choose to have the fat tissues injected or transferred into their buttocks and breasts for better volume and emphasis.
3. It can rejuvenate your skin
Another benefit of fat transfer is that it can help rejuvenate your skin. As you age, the collagen levels on your skin decrease, causing your skin to lose its elasticity and develop wrinkles. Fat transfer surgery can rejuvenate your skin and promote a more youthful appearance using your own fat tissues.
If you have droopy or sagging skin, fat transfer can make your skin look smoother on the surface. And since you’re using your own fat for skin rejuvenation, there’s a very minimal chance that your body will reject it compared to using implants or fillers.
4. It only causes minimal scarring
Getting implants will require a surgeon to create large incisions for insertion. As a result, your body will likely have scarring. In contrast, removing and reinjecting excess fat only requires minimal incisions.
5. It offers long-lasting results
Fat transfer can produce permanent and long-lasting results. During the first six months after the cosmetic procedure, you may notice your body reabsorb the newly injected fat. But don’t worry, as this is normal. Your plastic surgeon may advise you to let this absorption process pass. Then they will inject more fat until you achieve your desired result.
What is the recovery time for fat transfer?
Since fat transfer is a minimally invasive cosmetic procedure with small incisions, the recovery time is short. It may last between a couple of days to a few weeks, depending on the area being treated and the overall nature of the procedure. Your aftercare habits may also influence your body’s recovery time, so be sure to follow your surgeon’s post-surgery instructions.
Takeaway
Overall, fat transfer is a safe, fast, and minimally invasive cosmetic surgery that can help you achieve a more natural-looking appearance. If you’re considering this procedure, find a qualified plastic surgeon and discuss whether it’s right for you.
