Can Stem Cells Really Be Used to Make Me Look Younger?

Many plastic surgeons who perform structural fat grafting report that patients often describe a variety of improvements in their facial skin following fat grafting surgery. This observation has led to the use of fat grafting in reconstructive surgery, for instance in the management of chronic wounds such as those seen in some patients following radiation treatment for cancer. Fat grafting into the tissues below a chronic, non-healing wound has been shown to stimulate successful wound healing... more

There is anectodal evidence that fat grafting may improve skin condition due to the inherent transfer of mesenchymal stem cells. Stem cells can then stimulate skin to repair itself and improve overall elasticity. There is a new device that allows extraction and injection of stem cells within fat harvest. Clinical trials are being conducted in Europe. I have been performing fat grafting for the past 7 years, have improved my technique and have many satisfied patients. I have noticed... more

Adipose Stem Cells work to rejuvenate the skin texture by bringing vascularity to the tissue . Vascularity provides blood supply and nutrients. The ideal method to isolate adipose stem cells is by enzymatic digestion. This method produces the most number of Adipose Stem Cells per cc. However, several papers at the recent 2012 IFATS meeting in Quebec reported that mechanical processing of fat without enzymes can yield a small % of stem cells. Therefore, even traditional... more