Grow Your Own Breast Implants… From the Fat on the Tummy

How can you use surplus tissue from your body to go from a 32 B to a C cup?

It is the cosmetic procedure that sounds like many women’s dream: increase the size of your breasts by up to a cup size, while taking inches off your tummy and thighs.

The operation, carried out under local anesthetic, involves the patient having fat removed during liposuction, mixed with other body cells, including stem cells, and then reinjected into the breasts. Quite common in Europe, still novel in the U.S., but unsurprisingly advocates believe this procedure will revolutionize the plastic surgery industry.

My patients are thrilled with the results, having gone from a 32B to a ‘natural looking’ C-cup.

Alternatives

Having silicone implants is not for everybody. Many women want a bigger chest but most do not want water melons. Some don’t like the idea of something alien in their breasts.

Another option to consider is injections of synthetic filler Macrolane – a procedure known as ‘the boob jab’, which can boost the breasts by a cup size. I have seen several reports of this filler turning lumpy, so there is risk of some long term side effects.

Fat transfer/grafting

Surgical fat transfer is nothing new. Like many cosmetic operations, it was developed in the late 19th century as a reconstructive procedure – and is considered the gold standard in post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. In theory, fat should be the perfect filler because as it is taken from the patient’s own body, there is no chance of an allergic reaction. And, as the fat is injected, no incision is needed.

Yet it is only relatively recently that surgeons have deemed it safe to offer it for breast enhancement, due to worries that the volume of fat needed may result in hard lumps forming, causing permanent deformity.

The procedure was also unpopular with many doctors as the body can quickly reabsorb the fat, at best negating the results, and at worst leaving the body uneven.

During the two-hour procedure, liposuction is used to remove fat from the patient’s stomach or thigh area. Traditional liposuction involves the surgeon manually breaking up the fat with a cannula – a tube that removes fluid – often rupturing blood vessels within the fat, causing bruising, bleeding and possibly nerve damage. So we need liquidize the fat to remove fat cells while causing minimal damage.

After the fat harvest, 50ml of the patient’s blood is placed in a centrifuge to separate cells known as platelets which contain stem cells, which are mixed with harvested fat and injected into the breasts.

The platelets slow the reabsorption process. Traditional fat transfers last approximately six months in total and require top-ups once a month. The enhancement I do should last for up to two years.

Fat can be refrigerated safely for up to two years before it starts to decompose, so we take a little more than is needed. We expect patients to have a first top-up at eight weeks and then one every six months, or until the supply runs out. After that, we would need to repeat the whole procedure.

There are always risks with surgery, even though we do not use general anesthetic – but the risks of an allergic reaction are minimal. The procedure would not cause any complications for breast feeding because it is entirely natural. And it is unlikely to cause calcification – nodules of hardened fat -as, in my experience, it is rare for this to happen with fat transfers.

Where do I take the fat from?

Anywhere you want to give it to me. The stomach, outer thighs… You will be given a compression garment for the areas and a sports bra to keep swelling to a minimum in the areas which had been operated on. We do the procedure in our own certified surgery suite. Once you are done you can drive yourself home.

You feel sore for a day or two. Don’t panic if you feel swelling in the breasts – it will settle down after a few days. In a week, I will remove the stitches around the puncture marks where the cannula had pierced the skin. The puncture sites will heal quickly without scarring. Your breasts will look and feel natural within a couple of weeks after the surgery.