Fat Transfer
Did you know that your own unwanted fat makes an excellent aesthetic filler? Whether you are interested in adding facial volume or enhancing other areas of your body, Dr. Christa Clark can help you achieve your goals at our Granite Bay office with fat transfer procedures. Men and women from Sacramento, Roseville and other nearby cities have benefitted from fat grafting with Dr. Clark. Also known as fat transfer, this is a safe procedure that achieves natural looking, long lasting results in the face, body and breasts.
Dr. Clark takes the time to get to know you and understand your lifestyle and your needs. She is committed to helping you achieve results you’ll love from your fat transfer. Contact us for more information about Dr. Clark or the procedures she offers.
Is Fat Transfer for You?
Dr. Clark uses fat transfer to re-contour specific areas of your body by harvesting and injecting your own fat cells. This technique has several possible applications, including:
- Adding facial volume and smoothing wrinkles
- Filling indented scars
- Repairing volume deficits resulting from past liposuction procedures
- Improving breast contours
During your personal consultation, Dr. Clark will discuss whether fat transfer will help meet your specific needs. Your procedure will include some degree of liposuction to harvest your fat cells. Dr. Clark will explain the benefits of fat transfer as a component of facial rejuvenation or breast enhancement procedures.
Because many women desire a significant change in their breasts when it comes to a size increase, Dr. Clark cautions against undergoing breast augmentation solely via fat transfer. Women who are looking for a large breast size increase may be disappointed with fat transfer only. Better candidates for fat transfer to the breast are women who want only a very small increase in breast size, who want to cover rippling of an implant or those who wish to fill in a defect, such as one created by a past lumpectomy. Fat transfer can also be used to round out or soften the results of a breast augmentation with implants.
Fat Transfer Explained
Your procedure will take place at our plastic surgery center near Sacramento. Dr. Clark begins by performing a gentle form of liposuction to harvest your donor fat while you are under general anesthesia. Common donor areas include the hips, midsection, back, and arms. She then adds the vials of fat to a device called a centrifuge. The centrifuge spins the fat very quickly, separating it from blood and other impurities.
Once the fat is purified, she sterilizes and anesthetizes the injection sites. Finally, she injects the fat to these sites to add volume and improve your contours — whether it’s on your face, buttocks, or even areas of your body that have been affected by a past liposuction procedure.
Because fat transfer uses tissues originating from your body, it poses no risk of allergic reaction or rejection.
Recovery and Results
The length and nature of your recuperation will depend on the areas treated and the amount of fat transferred. Liposuction generally results in some bruising and swelling, and most liposuction patients need to wear a compression garment for 3 to 6 weeks. Dr. Clark typically places dressings over the treatment areas and removes them after a few days. To account for some fat loss, Dr. Clark “overfills” injection sites. Your final aesthetic results will appear as the fat cells adapt to their new location and the swelling subsides.
