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Dr. Kenneth Hughes, Harvard-trained, board-certified plastic surgeon, has expertly performed breast fat grafting in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills for over a decade. For several decades, breast implants were the only viable mode of breast augmentation in the US. Now, breast fat grafting offers a form of natural breast augmentation without the use of saline or silicone implants. Dr. Kenneth Hughes has performed hundreds of these breast transfer procedures in his fully accredited surgery in center in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.
Breast fat grafting, if enough fat is transferred, can produce about a 3/4 cup increase in breast size. In addition, breast fat transfer can be utilized to improve breast asymmetry. Breast fat grafting can bring the smaller breast up to the size of the larger breast as well. Finally, breast fat transfer can be used to improve upper pole fullness, which can give the appearance of a breast lift and greater cleavage.
Particularly in breast implant revision and breast implant reconstruction, breast fat transfer adds fullness, improves symmetry, and reduces the visible rippling known to occur with implant reconstruction alone.
The Acceptance of Breast Fat Grafting and Breast Fat Transfer by the Medical Field
In Europe, fat transfer for breast augmentation preceded the acceptance in the United States by about a decade. Plastic surgeons in the US were concerned about the possible implications of fat grafting to the breasts in regard to calcifications and interpretation of mammograms in regard to breast cancer detection and screening.
Radiologists have confirmed that any calcifications caused by fat grafting can be distinguished from any calcifications associated with malignancy. Therefore, this triumph has overcome the concern that fat grafting could possibly lead to more biopsies secondary to mammographic calcifications. In addition, breast fat transfer has not been shown to increase breast cancer risk.
Best Breast Fat Transfer Surgeons in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills
Dr. Kenneth Hughes was voted among the best breast surgeons in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles. Dr. Kenneth Hughes offers the full array of breast surgeries including breast augmentation with implants, breast augmentation and breast lift combination surgeries, breast implant revision surgeries, breast lifts, and breast reduction procedures, along with inverted nipple correction surgeries.
The Benefits of Breast Fat Grafting
Breast fat transfer is a great tool to balance breasts, improve symmetry, and gain up to one cup size in volume. The fat transfer volumes to each breast may range from 240 cc to 360 cc in most cases. About 50% of the fat survives, on average.
The process involves first using gentle liposuction to remove fatty tissue from areas of the body like the thighs, abdomen, and back. This tissue is purified so that only the healthiest fat cells are used for transfer. Finally, the healthy fat cells are carefully injected into the breasts in order to create new volume.
Breast fat grafting has the decided advantage of utilizing your own tissue and avoiding all of the implant-related complications, including rupture and capsular contracture. In addition, fat grafting by its very nature requires fat to transfer. Liposuction is performed to harvest the fat, and because of this, the patient can get improvement in not only the breasts but in those areas of the body that are liposuctioned as well.
Liposuction Expertise is Mandatory for Best Results
It is critical that the surgeon selected by the patient is an expert in liposuction as well as breast augmentation. Dr. Hughes has performed countless revisions to fix liposuction deformities from surgeries performed by other surgeons. The liposuction should improve contours and leave the areas liposuctioned smooth and as though no surgery was performed.
Breast Fat Grafting Recovery
Once your natural breast augmentation session is complete, the healing process will begin. This process is usually less painful than implant-based augmentation, as there is no need to deal with breast incision healing.
During recovery, you will need to wear compression garments on the areas that received liposuction. These garments control post-surgical swelling and bruising. You will also need to take time off from work for a few days to a week. You will be prescribed pain medication, which many opt not to take, as well as antibiotics and a medication to help with nausea.
The main complications of fat grafting to the breasts would include fat necrosis, wherein the fat injected can die and leave a hardened piece of tissue, which may need to be removed. Most of the time, these areas will soften and improve without need for intervention.
The fat grafting can cause calcifications, which may complicate mammogram interpretation (though probably insignificant). Finally, only 50% of the fat survives, and multiple operations may be necessary to obtain a stable, long-term result.
Breast Fat Transfer Results
The increase in breast volume following breast fat transfer will be apparent immediately, but the final results will not be apparent for 6 weeks to 3 months. The fat grafts must develop a new blood supply in order to live. Without that blood supply, the fat grafts will die and be removed by the immune system and cell scavengers.
The first few weeks largely determine how much fat will survive. Thus, pressure on the breasts should be avoided as should smoking, nicotine, and any other vasoconstrictors. Anything that jeopardizes blood supply will jeopardize breast fat grafting results.
Will I Need More Than One Session of Breast Fat Transfer?
Some patients will require more than one session of fat grafting to achieve the best results. In most cases, Dr. Hughes transfers more fat than other surgeons to help avoid multiple procedures, higher costs, and multiple recoveries.
In general, Dr. Hughes advises patients who want more than one cup size that breast augmentation with implants remains the most reliable method currently available. It is unreasonable to believe that fat grafting no matter how optimally performed can achieve more than 1 cup size.
3/4 cup size increase is about average for one fat transfer procedure. And though Dr. Hughes has performed up to 3 separate breast fat transfers in a few patients, Dr. Hughes believes that each subsequent surgery results in smaller improvements.
Other Fat Grafting Options
More recently, fat grafting has exploded in popularity primarily through buttock augmentation (Brazilian buttlift) and for facial volume enhancement. Dr. Hughes uses fat grafting techniques to augment calves, breasts, hips, traumatic defects, and previous liposuction defects.
Breast Fat Grafting Galleries
Breast Fat Grafting Video with Dr. Kenneth Hughes
What Is the Cost of Breast Fat Grafting in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, CA
- The cost of breast fat grafting is $16,000 to $25,000, and is largely determined by the number of areas liposuctioned to retrieve enough fat to get at least 300 cc of fat per breast.
The price of natural breast enlargement varies. The details of each patient’s procedure determine the final cost. The amount of fat transferred, the number of areas contoured with liposuction, and the exact techniques used all affect price.
Your Breast Fat Grafting Consultation
To arrange a consultation or schedule your breast augmentation with fat grafting surgery in Los Angeles, contact the office of Dr. Kenneth Hughes. Dr. Kenneth Hughes will be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding this form of natural breast augmentation.