Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation
Enhance Your Figure Without Implants at Chicago’s Iteld Plastic Surgery
Implants are not your only option for enhancing your bust. Fat transfer breast augmentation at the Chicago area’s Iteld Plastic Surgery allows women looking for a more modest increase to put their own fat to work for them. Rather than adding volume by inserting a silicone shell filled with saline or gel, the fat transfer breast augmentation technique involves harvesting fat cells from one area (where you have an abundance) and inserting them elsewhere (where you need a little oomph). Sounds amazing, right?
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Discover more about fat transfer breast augmentation from Chicago board-certified plastic surgeon Lawrence Iteld, MD. Send a message online or call 312.757.4505.
Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation 101: Why Breasts Lose Their Volume and Shape
Your breasts are typically developed during puberty, but as you go through later years in life, it’s completely normal for them to keep evolving because of hormonal changes, genetics, weight fluctuations, pregnancy, and menopause. Asymmetry is very common. Changes to cleavage (the distance between the breasts) or upper pole fullness are also something many women are concerned about in addition to size.
There are many factors to blame for unwanted changes: During pregnancy, breasts may go up several cup sizes as blood flow to the area increases and more fatty tissue develops in addition to milk ducts. The breasts sometimes shrink after pregnancy and lose their natural contours because the skin has been stretched out beyond its ability to “snap back.” Aging causes estrogen levels to decline, and many women notice a wider space between their breasts or a flatter bust.
Fat transfer breast augmentation can help restore the breasts’ appearance in all these situations.
Strengthening the chest muscles with exercise can improve the appearance of the upper chest, but one of the only ways to creating a lasting change to the size, proportions, and shape of the breasts is with surgery, such as fat transfer breast augmentation.
How Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation Works
For fat transfer breast augmentation, a patient’s own fat is used for enhancing the breasts, restoring their shape, improving cleavage, or making uneven breasts more balanced.
After a consultation determines that fat transfer breast augmentation is the best route for you, your journey to modestly larger breasts starts with a procedure very much like liposuction. Dr. Iteld will make a small incision in an area where there is fat to spare (think the abdomen, love handles, or thighs), then will remove excess fat cells and collect them in a sterile container.
This means that fat transfer breast augmentation has the additional benefit of creating more balanced, leaner body contours by removing some of the exercise-resistant fat in the donor areas.
This purified fat will next be strategically injected into the breast tissue with Dr. Iteld working to make the breasts proportionate and natural looking. These tiny incisions will be hidden in natural creases or other camouflaged sites and will be closed to create the least-noticeable scars possible.
It’s better to hold off on strenuous exercise like sports or heavy lifting for at least a few weeks after fat transfer breast augmentation. As the extracted fat is from the patient’s own body, the risk of allergic reactions and other complications is very low.
Fat transfer breast augmentation results look and feel more like real breast tissue than implants would. Your breasts will look noticeably different right away, but their profile may change slightly when the swelling eventually goes down. You can expect a small amount of the transferred fat not to take, and be absorbed by the body over time, but that’s just nature taking its course.
MeetLawrence Iteld, MD
Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon
RealSelf VERIFIED doctor
Lawrence Iteld, MD, is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, and a highly regarded Chicago based plastic surgeon, receiving awards from Chicago Magazine’s Top Docs, and Castle Connolly Top Doctors®.
Meet Lawrence Iteld, MD
Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon
RealSelf VERIFIED doctor
Lawrence Iteld, MD, is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, and a highly regarded Chicago based plastic surgeon, receiving awards from Chicago Magazine’s Top Docs, and Castle Connolly Top Doctors®.
Fat transfer Breast Augmentation FAQs
During your consultation, Dr. Iteld will discuss your overall medical history with you and may perform a physical exam to decide whether you’re healthy enough for surgery. Patients are likely to be asked to quit smoking several weeks before fat transfer breast augmentation and avoid taking medications or supplements like antiinflammatories that increase the risk of bleeding.
Since fat is both harvested and injected, you can expect multiple incisions that will heal in the days and weeks after your fat transfer breast augmentation surgery. Side effects, recovery time, and scars from the liposuction are very minimal. As with any procedure where fat is removed or added, there will be some bruising and swelling to watch for after fat transfer breast augmentation, but this should resolve on its own. Patients are encouraged to wear compression garments for several weeks to control swelling from the donor sites.
If it works for implants (spoiler alert: it does), it works for fat transfer, too! Since Dr. Iteld pioneered narcotics-free surgery, he is the ideal surgeon to apply the sophisticated approach, no matter the surgical specifics. This means fat transfer breast augmentation patients can enjoy their enhancement without the burden of significant pain that demands to be managed with opioids.
Breast reductions are also on the narcotics-free menu, as are tummy tucks, body lifts, and more.
If you’re mostly satisfied with your existing breast shape, size, and skin elasticity, this can be a good choice. While this procedure is very effective, it is only available to women who have the fat cells to spare and who want just a modest increase in their breast volume. In some cases, very slender, petite women may not have enough body fat to be suitable candidates for fat transfer breast augmentation.
Fat transfer breast augmentation typically increases breast size by only a small amount, as opposed to the fuller appearance of implants. Most women can expect an increase of half to one full cup size with fat transfer alone. Fat transfer breast augmentation can also be used to further refine the results of traditional implants by fixing irregularities or disguising telltale signs of augmentation, like rippling, since the fat can be injected here and there where needed for an exceptionally natural look.
As we mentioned above, standard breast augmentation with implants may be an option for women who want fuller, rounder breasts or a more dramatic increase (more than one cup size). Aside from fat transfer breast augmentation, breast surgery options available at Iteld Plastic Surgery also include breast lifts, which tighten lax skin to raise sagging breasts higher on the chest. This can also impact their shape. For large breasts that cause back and neck pain, a breast reduction to remove some excess fat and skin can be helpful.
You are encouraged to speak up during your fat transfer breast augmentation consultation with Dr. Iteld, letting him know exactly how big (ahem) your dreams are when it comes to your breasts. Whether you’re looking for a subtle enhancement or a major bump in size, he can help to ensure your procedure of choice is the best for the job.