Who Are the Ideal Candidates for Fat Grafting Breast Augmentation?

Breast augmentation is still one of the most popular cosmetic procedures in the world. Augmentation with implants is a common method chosen for enhancing the size and shape of the breasts, as well as for sculpting more balanced body proportions, but autologous breast augmentation or fat grafting, according to St. Louis’ West County Plastic Surgeons of Washington University, is another, less-talked-about technique that can also create natural-looking curves.

The best way to find out for sure whether you qualify for fat grafting breast augmentation is to set up a consultation with a knowledgeable, board-certified plastic surgeon. Nevertheless, if you’re still in the consultation stage, it’s helpful to make yourself aware of what the surgery involves and what might make you eligible for the procedure. That will help you to think of some key points and know what to ask your surgeon when it comes to breast augmentation.

Some patients choose to have fat grafting on its own, while others may choose to combine fat grafting with implants to achieve the look they want. In this post, the West County Plastic Surgeons team outlines some of the factors that might indicate someone would be considered a good candidate for the procedure.

Fat grafting is ideal for patients who:

Don’t Want Implants

Modern implants are strong and long-lasting with a low rate of complications. In fact, they can potentially last for decades without needing to be replaced. However, implants aren’t for everyone. For one thing, there’s always a possibility that when you get breast augmentation with implants, you may need a secondary surgery at another time to replace or remove them. Not every patient may be comfortable with that reality. One of the biggest advantages of fat grafting is that it involves fat being suctioned from another area of the body, and no implants are needed.

Want a More Natural-Looking, Subtle Enhancement

Large implants can sometimes have an unnatural appearance on certain patients. The beauty of fat grafting breast augmentation is that the procedure results in a very natural look and feel, as it uses a patient’s own fat from elsewhere on the body. Although you can only create a moderate improvement to the size and shape of the breasts with fat grafting, it does look very subtle and realistic, making it preferable for many patients. The breast size can increase by up to one cup size.

Sculpt Other Body Contours

Fat grafting can not only add volume to certain areas, but also has the benefit of decreasing the volume of other areas. If you have some small deposits of unwanted, excess fat on areas such as the flanks, abdomen, and thighs, fat cells can be removed with liposuction during fat grafting for breast augmentation. This will slim down those areas and improve overall body proportions to create a more balanced appearance.

Enhance Their Cleavage

Sometimes, the main concern from patients is not so much the size of their breasts, but what they can do to improve their cleavage, which is the space between the breasts. In other cases, patients who have already had breast augmentation with implants may feel that their breasts are still too far apart.

Although fat grafting breast augmentation won’t significantly alter the size of the breasts, it can help patients to better fill out their bra. Adding volume to the top half of the breasts helps to stop the gapping of the bra at the top. For this reason, fat grafting is also an ideal way of optimizing the results after a breast augmentation with implants. With this customizable procedure, fat can be placed on any part of the breast or chest to sculpt the breasts and create the patient’s desired look. Patients can use fat grafting to define the cleavage, upper poles of the breasts, and chest wall interface.

Find more information about breast augmentation with fat grafting from St. Louis’s West County Plastic Surgeons of Washington University. Call (314) 996-8800 or send a message online to request a consultation if you’d like to learn about the advantages of this procedure.