Breast Augmentation with Fat Transfer
Sometimes called a “boob job”, breast augmentation usually involves placing breast implants to enhance the appearance of the size of your breasts. However, augmentation can also be done using your own fat, transferred from your abdomen, hips, and/or thighs to increase your breast size.
Who can benefit from Breast Augmentation with Fat Transfer?
- Women seeking to increase fullness of the breasts
- Women trying to improve the balance between the breasts and the hips
- Women striving to restore breast volume lost after pregnancy
- Women looking to restore breast volume after weight loss
- Women desiring a more rounded breast shape
- Women with natural breast size asymmetry
What breast augmentation with fat transfer can't do
- Breast augmentation with fat transfer will not correct drooping breasts.
- Breast augmentation with fat transfer will not significantly alter the shape of the breast
Where does the fat come from?
We can take fat from any other area of your body. We use liposuction techniques to obtain the fat. The most common sites are the abdomen, hips, or thighs.
What to Expect
Our team will:
- Ask about your goals and expectations for breast augmentation with fat transfer
- Ask about your overall health, including other medical conditions, prior surgeries, medications and drug allergies
- Ask about any Personal or Family history of breast cancer. We will discuss prior results of any mammograms or breast biopsies
- Examine and measure your breasts, including detailed measurements of their size and shape, skin quality and placement of your nipples and areolas. Examine and measure your potential fat donor sites.
- Take photographs
The Consultation
- You will have a detailed discussion with Dr. Elkins-Williams to determine your goals and realistic outcome of the surgery. Dr. Elkins-Williams will discuss all of your options and recommend a course of treatment
- Every woman has unique breasts and unique goals. Dr. Elkins-Williams is broadly trained in a wide variety of surgical techniques that he can adapt to each individual patient to deliver the very best results.
Recovery
- Breast Augmentation with fat transfer typically requires about 3 hours to perform under general anesthesia. All sutures are underneath the skin and are absorbable.
- You will be put into a soft post-operative bra after surgery. There are no dressings to change or drains to bother with.
- You will wear a compression garment under your clothes in the areas from which the fat came.
- You will have some pain and swelling immediately after surgery. We encourage our patients to resume normal activities of daily living as soon as possible. You will need to hold off on aerobic exercise for at least 2 weeks after surgery;Dr. Elkins-Williams will advise you when strenuous activity can be resumed.
- Swelling will gradually improve over a period of around 3 months. Though results are visible immediately, the final outcome will reveal itself over several months as theswelling resolves
Deciding to Schedule
You will receive a surgical quote and any clearance forms required at your consultation. Should you decide to proceed, we will connect you with our patient care coordinator, Shannon Jones. To finalize your preferred surgical date, a non-refundable, non-transferrable booking fee will be required upon scheduling. Once the surgery date is set, we schedule a pre-operative appointment two weeks prior to surgery.
Pre-Op
At your pre-op, you will have ample time to discuss your upcoming procedure in great detail and have all your questions answered. We will review all pre- and post-operative care, prescribed medications, and any provisions we may give you for use pre- and post-surgery. You will review and sign the consent for surgery, and the balance will be due at the conclusion of this appointment.
What to Avoid Before Surgery
Avoid blood thinning medications/supplements for two weeks prior to surgery. This includes any aspirin or aspirin-containing products as well as any anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen or naproxen (including Motrin, Aleve and Advil). Generally, you may take Tylenol (Acetaminophen). Avoid supplements such as Vitamin E, multi vitamins, and omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil and flax seed oil.) You will be given a complete list of medications/supplements to avoid at your pre-op. All these medications can contribute to bleeding problems following surgery and can increase the amount of bruising.