{"id":13212,"date":"2020-02-10T13:24:57","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T21:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/?p=13212"},"modified":"2023-10-12T13:32:06","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T20:32:06","slug":"facial-fat-grafting-terms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/facial-fat-grafting-terms","title":{"rendered":"Facial Fat Grafting: 10 Terms That Define the Procedure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walking into a cosmetic consultation can feel like entering a foreign country for the first time—you’re wholly unsure of your surroundings and don’t know a lick of the language. Which is why we’re launching <\/em>Beauty Speak<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, where, every month, leading experts help us break down popular procedures into 10 key terms with easy-to-understand definitions. Consider it the Google Translate of aesthetics.<\/em><\/p>

All natural. 100% recyclable. Zero waste. Fat may very well be the most sustainable beauty product yet. Throw in a little anesthesia, and the harvesting of this renewable resource could even qualify as cruelty-free. <\/p>

(Too much?)<\/p>

The technique that allows us to reuse and redistribute our own fat reserves is called fat grafting<\/a> or fat transfer. During the two-part procedure, a surgeon liposuctions<\/a> fat from areas of excess and reinjects it, post-purification, into less well-endowed parts of the face and body. <\/p>

Interested in facial fat grafting?<\/small><\/div>Find Doctors Near You<\/a><\/div>

Surgeons began experimenting with fat grafting in the late 1800s, but the surgery didn’t go mainstream until the 1990s, after lipo protocols had been thoroughly researched and refined. It was then that New York City plastic surgeon Dr. Sydney Coleman<\/a> introduced fat grafting as a revolumization remedy for HIV patients suffering from facial wasting. “As time went on, Dr. Coleman noticed his patients’ skin quality was actually getting better with treatment—but he had no idea why,” says Dr. Ashley Gordon<\/a>, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Austin, Texas. The answer came in 2001, when scientists discovered <\/a>the vast community of stem cells living within human fat, giving the tissue its regenerative superpowers.<\/p>

Today, surgeons enlist fat grafting techniques to restore time-worn faces and to boost the breasts<\/a> and butt<\/a>. Since fat grafting methods for the face vary from those used on the body, we’re focusing on facial fat grafting alone for this piece, with 10 terms that best capture the procedure, as explained by Dr. Gordon.<\/p>

Adipose tissue <\/h2>

Adipose tissue, or body fat, is considered an endocrine organ<\/a>. “We used to think of fat as something that we have to insulate us and as a reserve for calories, but now we know it’s a super-complex and dynamic structure,” says Dr. Gordon. It secretes hormones and actually communicates with other organs and tissues throughout the body. “There’s much debate as to the best areas to harvest for fat grafting, but I typically find the flanks, outer thighs, and lower abdomen—areas resistant to diet and exercise—work best and have good viability long-term.”<\/p>

Related: The Treatments and Ingredients Actually Proven to Reduce Wrinkles<\/a><\/em><\/p>

Autologous<\/h2>

Obtained from your own body; one person serving as both donor and recipient. “This is a really important concept in fat grafting, because I have women all the time asking if we can use their husband’s fat,” says Dr. Gordon. “It has to be your own fat—it cannot be your husband’s beer belly,” she says, laughing. There is currently no “matching” process for fat as there is for other organs, “and your body would likely just reject someone else’s fat.”<\/p>

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