Fat grafting, also referred to as fat transfer or fat injections, is the surgical process by which fat is transferred from one area of the body to another area.
Lipofilling literally means using fat to fill. It is also referred to as Fat Grafting and Fat Transfer. Lipofilling has been around for decades but it has become a lot more successful recently with better understanding of fat cells and more sophisticated techniques to maximise the survival of the fat cells and success of the treatment.
The main advantage is that you are using your own tissue and that is always the safest option. The next important advantage is that the benefit achieved is very long lasting or even permanent. Further, fat is the richest source in the body of regenerative cells called the SVF (Stromal Vascular Fraction) so when you perform Lipofilling you are also stimulating regeneration with visible improvement of the skin in that area.
There are two aspects to the use of fat therapy, filling and regeneration. This treatment can be used wherever filling is required, for example anywhere on the face such as lips and cheeks and tear troughs, the backs of hands, the breasts (instead of or to add to breast implants), and so on. The regeneration benefits can be useful in improving skin quality from sun and age effects, improving scars, healing wounds and ulcers, and also treating joint damage from osteoarthritis.
Fat is harvested by a mini-liposuction, usually from the abdomen or thighs, and processed to purify it and prepare it for injection. This prepared fat is then infiltrated into the area being treated according to a precise protocol to maximise the successful uptake and survival of the fat and SVF cells. The entire procedure is carried out under local anaesthesia and is a comfortable procedure.
If you have a medical condition that concerns you we will discuss your options with you. If you are very lean and have little fat for us to harvest then the treatment may not be possible. Otherwise anyone regardless of skin type or colour can have this treatment.
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It is common to have a degree of swelling and / or bruising on the face but this is variable. Most can get back to work within a few days.
The fat cells survive long term and so results will be long term or even permanent
Although advances have improved the fat and SVF cells survival there is still a proportion that die off. If this proportion is only small then you will likely not need another treatment. However, in some patients there may be significant loss and then you will likely need another treatment to top this up. The proportion of lost cells varies between 10 – 50%.
This is going to vary greatly depending on the site and size of the area treated, and starts from $1500
Most concerns have more than one course of treatment. Feel free to contact us so one of our team can discuss options for your unique concern.
