Many women frustrated with the small size of their breasts believe that breast implants are the only way to achieve the larger, fuller breasts they desire. This is not correct—at least not entirely.
Fat grafting offers fantastic results for women looking to slightly increase their cup size and improve the shape of their breasts.
This blog will explore fat grafting (as both a standalone procedure and in conjunction with breast augmentation surgery) to help you decide if this procedure is right for you.
What Is a Fat Grafting Breast Procedure?
Fat grafting, or fat transfer, is a common cosmetic procedure that involves extracting fat from one area with liposuction and injecting it into another. This fat—usually taken from the abdomen, waist, thighs, or back—is removed, purified, and injected into the breasts to increase volume.
While transferring fat can benefit many areas of the body (including the face and buttocks), fat grafting to the breasts—natural breast augmentation—can help women dramatically enhance the appearance of their chests and improve their sense of comfort.
Fat grafting to the breasts can be performed as a standalone procedure, where fat is harvested and then transferred directly to the breasts, or it can be performed along with breast augmentation surgery, which uses silicone breast implants or saline breast implants to enhance the size, volume, and shape of the breasts.
When combined, fat grafting and breast augmentation surgery can help you achieve a more natural appearance and feel than with implants alone.
What Are the Benefits and Limitations of Fat Transfer to the Breast?
Choosing between fat grafting and a combined fat transfer breast augmentation procedure is a major decision. While there are numerous benefits to natural breast augmentation, there are some limitations as well.
Benefits
Fat grafting can help you achieve natural-looking results that improve your appearance and confidence.
Like breast augmentation surgery, your results are entirely customizable to your cosmetic desires. Additionally, fat grafting is a minimally invasive procedure requiring a shorter and easier recovery time than a full breast augmentation. And, as an extra perk, you can look forward to a more contoured appearance in the area of the body where the fat was removed.
Limitations
While you can achieve stunning results when fat grafting to the breasts is performed as a standalone procedure, fat grafting cannot achieve the same level of enhancement that breast augmentation surgery can.
With fat grafting, you can expect an increase of around, if even, a cup size—for most women choosing augmentation, this increase is simply not enough.
If you are looking for more dramatic augmentation, a combined grafting and augmentation procedure is often best. Though fat grafting is simpler and less invasive, there is a chance that you will need multiple procedures to ensure that your results are what you desire, while implant surgery or a combination procedure often only requires one surgery.
It is important to note that neither fat grafting nor breast augmentation surgery significantly raises sagging breasts. This is because these procedures are designed to increase the size, volume, and shape of the breasts and not lift them to a higher, perkier, more youthful level.
If you are frustrated with your sagging breasts, a breast lift (mastopexy) would be necessary. The good news is that these three procedures (fat grafting, breast augmentation, and breast lift) can all be combined to completely transform your breasts!
Do You Want to Learn More?
To find out if you are a candidate for fat grafting to the breast and/or breast augmentation with implants, contact NOVA Plastic Surgery and Dermatology today. Our knowledgeable and skilled team looks forward to helping you achieve the appearance you’ve always wanted. Schedule your consultation today by calling (703) 215-9152 or completing our online contact form.