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Fat Grafting

Fat Grafting

Today there are so many methods and materials to restore a smooth youthful appearance to aging skin. Injectable treatments (fat grafting) are on of the most popular methods, and fat is the most widely used material.

Like other injectables, fat helps reduce or eliminate wrinkles. Fat comes from the patient’s own body, so there’s no chance of an allergic reaction. Instead of merely eliminating aging lines and crow’s feet, fat injections can provide a fuller, more youthful face with high contours and smooth skin. Injections of fat into the deep layers of facial tissue can virtually eliminate the angular, thin appearance that often accompanies age.

Dr-Braun-Fat-Grafting
A fat-injection procedure may require more than one visit. The fat must be harvested from somewhere on your own body – typically from the abdomen or hips. After it is extracted, it is placed in a centrifuge or filter to separate the fat from surrounding tissues. The injected fat plumps and tightens the skin, thereby decreasing wrinkles, scars and lines from sagging skin.Fat injections are commonly used to rejuvenate the lips, bags under the eyes, cheeks and chin.

Patients may be familiar with the use of fat injections for lip augmentation, but there are many other uses in the face. For example, fat injections can also be used to lessen the lines around the mouth, fill the bags under the eyes, fill out the cheeks and chin (areas which might have otherwise used facial implants), or as an all purpose filler in the face.
As we continue to understand the ageing process better, we have come to appreciate that in some patients, rather than stretching tissues, adding soft tissue volume (such as fat) will make the face look younger. We find ourselves using fat injections for ‘touch-ups’ and as a part of facelift surgery.

The procedure usually takes about 45 minutes and can be done in the rooms. Almost all patients will permanently retain some of the injected fat. However, this percentage varies from patient to patient, and a second procedure may be needed to completely correct sagging or wrinkling.

Plastic Surgeon Dr. Saul Braun operates from the Netcare Rosebank Hospital, situated in the up-market Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg.

Back to Face Plastic Surgery Procedures.