Autologous Fat Transfer to Breast and Liposuction of the Tummy and Flanks

The first thing to know is that the public image of an ideal breast volume and shape, has been largely shaped by media pressures, which ignores natural human variations of size, shape and proportions.

While most female breast development will be complete by the age of 18 years, weight gain, weight loss, pregnancy, breast feeding, will cause many changes to the dimensions of the breast.

If you have reason to believe that you would feel happier if you had better volume and shape to your breasts, if you prefer to wear padded bras, you might be a good candidate for breast enlargement.

There are basically 2 ways of adding volume to the breast, either using Breast Implants or through the use of Autologous Fat Transfer or Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation. In some case both procedures are combined.

The question who is an ideal candidate for this procedure can be answered after a consultation, where your surgeon will evaluate the volume or capacity of the breast. If you have lost breast volume after breast feeding, your breast skin envelope will generally be roomier, compared to a young female who has a relatively flat chest, and a very taught skin envelope. The roomier the breast skin envelope the more capacity there exists for fat to be filled into the space.

An ideal Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation patient therefore will have adequate fat deposits on her tummy, flanks, thighs, and will also have a roomy breast skin envelop.

All patients will need to be carefully evaluated during the consultation and will be advised our standard pre-surgery advice that includes amongst many things, abstaining from active or passive nicotine consumption (smoking/vaping/chewing tobacco) for 3 – 4 weeks before the procedure; stopping medicines like aspirin, vitamin E and others a week or more before.

In patients who have a very tight skin envelope, as specialized external suction device called BRAVA or similar, will be applied to the two breasts for a minimum of 8 – 12 hours each night for 3 – 4 weeks.

This suction stretches out the breast skin and tissues, creating a roomier space more suitable for a Autologous Fat Transfer to the Breast.

Both procedures are done with the idea of increasing breast volume, while this is done using your own fat tissue in the former, a Silicone Gel Implant is used to increase breast volume, size and shape in the later.

As we discuss in our pros and cons section, fat transfer and Implants are not interchangeable operations. The best outcome of a fat transfer breast enlargement is generally a one cup size increase in breast size, this limitation does not exist with implants.

The operation is done under general anesthesia, and while the breast will feel swollen, tender and appear bruised for 2 – 3 weeks, it won’t be very painful. Dr Prashant will always advice you to be prepared for 2 breast fat transfers as sometimes one procedure does not give enough of a volume boost.

There are several limitations of fat transfer, the first being the availability of excess fat in your body, if you are underweight and extremely slim there will not be enough fat to harvest. We cannot take the fat from another person and transfer it into your breast!

The other limitation is the roominess of the breast skin, as explained above.

The pros of fat transfer to the breast are that you get a very natural, life long enhancement of your breast, without any obvious scars.

The cons of breast augmentation with fat transfer is that the outcomes are not as predictable as those of a breast implant. This is to do with the survival of the fat tissue in the breast, there might be between 30 - 40% loss of the transplanted fat.

Another con of fat transfer to breast, is the limitation of how big the breast can be made. The general consensus is that a successful AFT Breast Augmentation will give you one bra cup size increase.

You might need multiple sittings of fat transfer to achieve implant level breast enlargement.

You can return to work in about a week following the procedure, you will be advised to wear support bras and avoid heavy exertion and exercises for 2 – 3 weeks.

The result you get from your fat transfer will last you for your life, as long as you keep your weight constant. You will reduce or increase the result on the basis of weight loss or weight gain.

Dr Prashant generally advices his patients to wait for 3 – 6 months before evaluating their results following fat transfer breast augmentation. You can see the before and afters in our website results section.

At Reforme Medical, we specialize in doctor led cosmetic surgery tourism and go to great lengths to try to make your surgery as safe as possible.