Do you have small pockets of excess fat that you wish you could rid yourself of? Do you feel like your self-confidence would improve if you were curvier in certain areas? If so, Dustin C. Derrick, MD, the leading cosmetic surgeon at Cosmetic Surgery of DFW for mommy makeovers in Fort Worth, TX may be able to help you. Today, we’re looking at the benefits of fat grafting, including how long the results last and how soon you can see the results.
How Long Does Fat Grafting Last?
The final results of fat grafting are permanent. However, you shouldn’t expect to see your ideal results immediately after your procedure. It takes a while for your skin to adjust to your new contours, especially in the areas that your excess fat was taken from.
Also, you should be aware that the recipient area is overfilled slightly to account for the fact that not all of the transferred fat cells will take hold in the recipient area. It is not until these fat cells have taken hold and the other donated fat cells have starved that you will be able to see your final, permanent results.
How Quickly Do the Results of This Procedure Become Apparent?
As a good general rule of thumb, you can expect to see the final results of your procedure after six months. Depending on how much fat was removed from the donor areas, your skin may adjust to your new contours in just one to three months. However, it can still take up to six months for the transferred fat cells to take hold in the recipient area.
How Can I See the Final Results of My Procedure Sooner?
To see your final results as quickly as possible, you need to ensure your skin adjusts to your new slimmer contours as quickly as possible. To help improve your skin elasticity, make sure you drink plenty of water and make sure your skin can produce enough collagen to heal itself and settle quickly by eating lots of bioavailable protein and vitamin C.
To help the transplanted fat put down roots as quickly as possible, you must follow all of your post-op instructions. For example, if fat is transferred to your breasts, you will need to sleep on your back for several weeks post-op. If fat is transferred to your buttocks, you will need to sleep on your stomach for several weeks post-op. Regardless, you will need to wear a compression garment for several weeks to increase circulation in the recipient area.
Am I a Good Candidate for This Procedure?
We can determine whether you are a good candidate for fat grafting when you come in for an initial consultation. The first step in ensuring you’re a good fit for a fat transfer is discussing your health to verify that you are healthy enough to receive this procedure. The second step in ensuring you’re a good fit for a fat transfer is talking about your goals and assessing your regions of concern.
Once we have determined that you are healthy enough for a fat transfer and it will help you achieve your goals, we will determine whether you will also need complementary procedures to achieve your desired aesthetic. Sometimes, a fat transfer is not enough for people to achieve all of their goals. Sometimes, a mommy makeover is necessary for women to restore the self-confidence they had before becoming a mother.
What Does a Mommy Makeover Entail?
What’s great about a mommy makeover is it can be customized to the individual. Some women want to increase the size of their breasts and improve the position of their breasts. In such cases, it is not enough to excise a small amount of fat from one region of the body and inject it into the breasts. A breast lift will also be necessary. Here’s a closer look at some of the most popular procedures performed during a mommy makeover.
Labiaplasty
Labiaplasty is one of the most commonly performed mommy makeover procedures following vaginal childbirth. It is a highly advanced vaginal rejuvenation procedure that is usually performed once a woman is done having children because future vaginal childbirths may affect the results of the procedure. The scope of the procedure is tailored to treat the individual’s unique concerns, but often involves shortening the labia minora, improving comfort.
Brazilian Butt Lift
A Brazilian butt lift is also commonly performed during a mommy makeover. This procedure involves grafting fat from one or more regions of the body, cleaning them, separating the strong, healthy fat cells from the damaged ones, and injecting the strongest, healthiest cells into strategic regions of the buttocks. The results of this are twofold.
First, one or more regions of your body will be slimmer due to the removal of the donor fat. Second, the size and shape of your buttocks will be improved. However, for enough of the transplanted fat cells to take hold in the buttocks, it is very important that you wear a compression garment diligently for several weeks, taking it off only to bathe. The compression increases blood flow to the area, ensuring plenty of nutrients and water are delivered.
Liposuction
Liposuction is another incredibly commonly performed procedure during a mommy makeover. It is often performed in conjunction with a fat transfer to the breasts or buttocks. While some fat is removed to inject into other areas of the body, the volume of fat removal may not be enough for women to achieve their ideal aesthetic. In such cases, liposuction is required in addition to fat harvesting to achieve contours that are slim enough.
Liposuction can be performed virtually anywhere to remove excess fat. However, the regions of concern need to be examined thoroughly to ensure there is enough fat in the areas but not too much fat. To be considered a good candidate for liposuction, you need to be within 30 pounds of your ideal weight. Liposuction can only remove roughly 26% of excess fat from a large area of concern.
Breast Augmentation
Sometimes, a fat transfer is all that is required to augment the breasts sufficiently. This is particularly the case when augmentation is sought to correct asymmetry that occurred following breastfeeding. However, there is a limit to the volume of fat that can be harvested from regions with excess fat and injected into the breasts. If the goal is to increase the breast volume significantly, a traditional breast augmentation may be required.
Note, even if you are concerned about asymmetry, you can still correct symmetry with traditional breast implants. During your initial consultation, we will assess the extent of your volume loss and the size of your ribcage, waist, and hips to determine whether a fat transfer or implants are more appropriate for you and how much of a volume increase you can receive.
Breast Lift
Women also often find that they benefit from a breast lift following pregnancy and nursing. During a breast lift, excess skin is removed and loose skin is tightened. If you think you could benefit from your breasts being lifted, be aware that you can lose up to half of a cup size once your excess skin is removed.
If you are currently happy with the size of your breasts, you may benefit from having fat injected into your breasts to replace the volume lost during the excess skin removal. During your initial consultation, we will evaluate the current position of your breasts to determine whether you could benefit from a lift.
The Bottom Line
It will take approximately six months for your final fat grafting results to become apparent. However, once the final results have become apparent, they will last for the rest of your life. Your body will not grow new fat cells to replace those removed from the donor area. The fat cells that survive the transfer process to the recipient area will not die once they have attached to the healthy tissues and established a strong blood supply.
If you think your self-confidence would increase if you removed fat from some regions of your body and volumized other regions of your body, we can help. Contact us today to schedule an initial fat grafting consultation with Dustin C. Derrick, MD at Cosmetic Surgery of DFW in Fort Worth, TX, and find out whether a mommy makeover, including a fat transfer, is right for you.
