The bottom line on fat grafting

The buttock area has reached new levels of interest thanks to the influx of the Latin culture from South America and pop culture’s fixation on the shapely, self-absorbed Kardashians. Surgeons on the cutting edge of buttock enhancement choose to use fat grafting instead of buttock implants to avoid some very difficult complications.

Thanks in part due to Dr. Simeon Wall’s concept of tissue equilibration in body sculpting, tissue can be removed from areas of excess and transposed to areas of deficiency. For example, we can take excess areas like the muffin top and the lateral thigh and place that fat into the under-projected gluteal areas creating the idealized shape of the buttock both in terms of the outer framing and the projection.

The breast is another area where fat is very important. Most of the breast volume under the skin is composed of fat with small islands of glandular material dispersed throughout. With aging, volume in the breast is lost by glandular atrophy and some fat loss. Previously breast rejuvenation or enhancement was only thought of with augmentation via implants, with or without tissue repositioning such as a mastopexy. Today fat grafting is critical to achieving superior results. Research suggests that over 60% of breast augmentation procedures could be improved with the addition of fat grafting performed simultaneously.

Furthermore, fat that is harvested contains peripheral stem cells. The presence of stem cells in harvested fat has implications for rejuvenation medicine and the potential growth of tissue such as bone, skin, solid organs and bone marrow cells. Unfortunately, the art of marketing has outpaced science, and many clinicians are calling fat grafting to the face a “stem cell face lift.” This is a misleading statement. Much energy has been directed toward the understanding of the stem cell, but it’s not ready for prime time yet.

Plastic surgeons employ biologic tissue as our medium to create beautiful forms of living art. Fat is a wonderful way to sculpt the human body. It is truly like airbrushing imperfections in three dimensions.

Regardless of the Kardashians over-developed assets, fat grafting is worth the hype. Call 865.218.6210 today or go online to thelucascenter.com to schedule your consultation. I look forward to discussing with you the myriad of options for face, breast and buttock enhancement via fat grafting.