Larger Breasts, Smaller Fat Deposits

December 10, 2009
breast implants beverly hills

The desire for larger, fuller breasts is very common among the women I see at my practice. As a response to the demand for breast enlargement in Los Angeles, a variety of techniques have been developed. Of course, you have your traditional saline or silicone implants, new “gummy bear” implants, and a variety of other methods. And, as a part of the push for new ways to enlarge breasts, some surgeons have been trying fat transfer.

The Procedure

It’s actually pretty simple. Here’s how it works: fat is removed via liposuction from your butt, thighs, or other areas with excess fat deposits. That fat is then purified before being injected into your breasts.

The Facts

Sure, the thought of “natural” breast enlargement sounds appealing, but is it too good to be true? The truth is:

  • The technique has been used with relative success after a breast lift or breast reconstruction or in conjunction with breast implants to provide a fuller, more natural appearance.
  • A study that used fat transfer as the primary method of breast augmentation showed that women only saw a very slight increase in breast volume.
  • The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) currently does not endorse this breast enlargement technique and is awaiting results from additional studies before reconsidering their position on the procedure.

The Future

I don’t want to completely rule out future potential for the use of fat transfer for breast augmentation. But, the fact remains that there are a lot of things to get sorted out before this technique enjoys widespread application, such as whether or not fat transfer could affect the results of mammograms, whether or not injected fat will actually survive the transfer, and if the injection of fat cells could actually encourage the growth of cancer cells.

There’s a lot to be said for the use of traditional breast enlargement methods. After all, my patients are thrilled with the beauty of their results from breast augmentation with implants.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 8:58 pm and is filed under Body Contouring,Breast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.