Facial Fat Fills
Fat grafting is the process whereby fat is removed from a patient, fat cells purified before being transferred to another area of the body to restore volume. Fat cells contain relatively high portions of multipotential adult stem cells, capable of producing other cell lines i.e bone, muscle, nerve tissue under certain conditions.
Despite the obvious advantage of adding volume, the fat transfer also has healing benefits when it comes to radiation type injury following, for example, the treatment of breast cancer, as well as a host of applications of the stem cell components in treating chronic degenerative diseases.
Procedures
All fat grafting is usually performed under sedation and local anesthetic.(pain-free) In plastic surgery fat grafting is predominantly used for volume enhancement, to restore volume changes occurring with normal ageing.
It is paramount that the fat cells which are living cells be treated with the utmost care.
Minute droplets of fat, once they’ve been harvested and purified are carefully positioned in layers, forming a lattice. These transferred cells then need to be revascularized by small capillaries to keep them alive , allowing them to continue growing in their new area , rather than simply adsorb and disappear.
Areas typically treated are:
- Cheek areas
- Lower eyelid
- Upper eyelid
- Nasolabial folds
- Marionette lines
- Lips
Duration of the procedure may vary depending on the extent of the procedure, ranges from 0,5 -1 hour.
No overnight stay.
Recovery
Slight to mild swelling and bruising can be expected. No pain, only slight to mild discomfort will be experienced.
Down time of 3- 5 days.
Note: Do not take any aspirin containing medication 2 weeks prior to surgery, which could lead to bleeding/ severe bruising.
Also see list of substances/ medications causing increasing bleeding under pre operative instructions