francois j duminy
Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon
CAPE TOWN PLASTIC SURGEON CV
Francois J Duminy
PLASTIC & RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGEON
Micro Fat Grafting
Volume loss can be restored in many parts of your body by the grafting of your own fat.
Yes, unfortunately, it has to be your own fat. Otherwise I would be a great donor!
The procedure is usually done under Local Anaesthetic and Conscious Sedation
It is also often done along with other rejuvenating procedures.
The fat is harvested by fine liposuction techniques from a suitable donor area. in our practice, all harvesting is done by syringe liposuction with closed system handling of the harvested fat.
The fat cells are separated from oil and other fluids and then used for injection into the areas where they are needed.
The injection is done through thin cannulae that have smooth bullet-nosed blunt tips to prevent injury to vessels and nerves.
during injection the fat cells have to be laid down in thin strings to ensure that they will be surrounded by healthy tissue and thus able to pick up a blood supply before they die.
Many will die, but the survivors, 50% or more, will continue to live in their new position for the rest of your life.
Besides the fat cells, the graft also contains thousands of adult adipose derived stem cells.
These stem cells had been sitting in the donor site all your life, waiting for an injury to happen. An injury would activate them so that they could help in the healing process.
When we transfer them, they become activated by the "injury" that we cause and they then try to improve their environment. This results in improvement in skin quality and tissue quality in that area.
The Photographs on the Right show the skin under the eye, before - and one year after Micro Fat Grafting.
Note the changes in volume and skin quality
The final result of Micro Fat Grafting is only seen at about 7 months after the procedure.
This is due to the fact that initially, the dead or damaged cells are removed, the surviving cells lose volume due to the stress of trying to survive.
Once they have survived, they take a vacation for a while before they actively start storing fat to catch up with the surrounding cells.
We call the low period the "Dip Phase" and it is this phenomenon that has, in our opinion, led to "bad press" for fat grafts that have seemed to "disappear" 6 weeks after the procedure. (See graph below)
In this Practice, we have used micro fat grafting since 1995 and we have had many opportunities to see how the grafted fat has lasted for many years.
Many of our patients have come back for further fat grafting and for fat grafting in other areas after their initial successes.
For us, it is one of the cornerstones of facial rejuvenation.
We have expanded the use of the procedure into other areas such as Breast Sculpture, Breast Reconstruction, Buttock lifting and Penis Enlargement.
Benefits Experienced by most of our patients
1. Correction of Volume Loss
2. Improvement of skin quality
3. Smoothing of wrinkles
4. Lifting of eyebrows
5. No visible scars
6. A subtly rejuvenated appearance with lasting effect.
Negative Effects
1. Swelling and Bruising that may last 10 to 14 days
2. The "Dip Phase" seems to take forever, so patience is required.
