Question:
I would like plastic surgery on my cheeks. They have gotten very thin. I am interested in fat transfer for this. Where do you get the fat from on my body? How much do you remove and is it treated before it is put into my cheeks? Is it injected into the cheeks?
Answer:
Fat transfer is a procedure that is gaining not only a lot of interest but we are seeing many years longevity. As we age we lose volume in the upper cheeks, mid face and the area around the mouth. By using a patient’s own fat, much of the fullness and a more youthful appearance can be achieved. The area that we harvest the fat does not require a lot of fat removal, however, it is individual based and we have no real preference so in some patients we will take fat from their abdomen, others from the outer thigh, and yet other patients who do not have a lot of fat to spare we can easily harvest from the inner thigh area. Essentially the broken fat cells are separated from the viable or living fat and once the fat has been processed, spun down in a centrafuge, cleaned; it is tediously injected back into the areas where the volume loss has occurred.
We tell patients that they will continue to age and while I do not necessarily feel we will see 10 years of results, we are seeing many years of result from this. On some occasions many patients opt for having some additional fat transfer performed years later.