January 2018
Posted on January 4, 2018 in Facial Plastic Surgery Information, Fat grafting
Fat transfer remains a valuable option for patients desiring a more natural improvement in facial contour and fullness.
Why?Â
Fat transfer uses your own tissue as a graft to improve facial volume and contour. Often patients are seeking facial and dermal fillers which provide temporary improvement at a significant cost with side effects such as delayed swelling or an unnatural look. Fat transfer is an alternative that reduces these complications (although it has it’s own risks ). Fat can be transferred into the cheeks, cheek bone area, temples, eyelids, lips and lower face (marionette lines).
How?
Fat is harvested from your abdomen or hips using local anesthetic It is then processed and transferred to small syringes which are used to inject the fat into the desired areas. The procedure can be done under local or general anesthesia depending on patient and surgeon preference.
Fat is transferred as a graft. This means it does not have its own blood supply, and the expectation is that it will develop its own blood supply in order to become permanent. Some of the fat will not survive. Typically patients can expect 40 – 50 percent of the fat to survive the transfer process. Once the fat has taken, the result is permanent. This is in contrast to most dermal fillers which are temporary. In general, fat that does not take simply disappears. Rarely, it can form lumps or calcifications.
Learn More.Â
Contact us today and schedule a consultation with Dr. Zeff to determine the best approach to provide natural correction to facial volume loss.
Posted on March 27, 2009 in Liposuction Information, Q & A
1. What should I ask my doctor during a liposuction consultation?
- Is there a safe limit to how much can be removed?
- How well will my skin respond to the procedure?
- What are reasonable expectations?
2. Is traditional liposuction outdated? With all of the new lipo procedures out there – tumescent, laser-assisted, ultrasound-assisted, and even fat-dissolving injections – is there still a place for traditional liposuction?
Traditional liposuction is still the gold standard. Most of the newer techniques are a variation of or an adjunct to traditional liposuction. Tumescent simply refers to the amount of numbing fluid that is injected prior to the actual liposuction. Laser and ultrasonic are enhancements that in most cases don’t alter the final result to any significant degree. Your choice of surgeon is definitely more important than your choice of technique. His or her results should speak for themselves.
3. Does liposuction in one body area make another get fatter?The Mayo clinic posted the statement that “It’s possible that if you remove fat cells from one area with liposuction, you may gain less weight in that area, but you’ll gain more in another area of your body.” Have you seen this with your patients? Please explain!!
Fat cells don’t move around. They simply get larger or smaller with your body’s fluctuations. The distribution or number of fat cells in different areas of your body give you your shape. By removing fat (cells) from specific areas, we are deliberately altering your shape. Weight gain following liposuction means that fat cells enlarge according to this new (hopefully better) distribution.
Posted on March 27, 2009 in Tummy Tuck Information
1. Is there a recommended target weight for a tummy tuck?
The most important issue is minimizing complications. What is removed during abdominoplasty is less important than what remains. The less fat remaining, the lower the complication rate. There is no precise target weight, as everyone’s different. Visit our Tummy Tuck surgery page to learn more or visit our gallery of before and after photographs.
2. How long should I wait to get a tummy tuck after pregnancy?
First, it’s important that this is most likely your final pregnancy. Once the condition of your abdomen has stabilized (or is no longer changing noticeably), tummy tuck can be considered.
3. Who should consider a tummy tuck? How do I know if this is a good option for me? Should l consider liposuction instead?
Some people need tummy tuck because the problem is purely excess skin. Others need both tummy tuck and liposuction, because they have both excess skin in the lower abdomen and fat in the upper abdomen and the hips. Still others have good skin tone and really only need liposuction. Only a full evaluation can give the right answer.
4. What procedures can help with excess skin after baby and weight loss?
The most common corrective operations are tummy tuck and breast lift, which address the excess skin remaining following pregnancy and/or significant weight.
