Looking to have fat transfer done 2nd time - how soon after previous lipo can I have it? (Photos)

When considering a second round of fat transfer to the breasts, it's important to allow enough time for healing from the first procedure before undergoing another. The general recommendation is to wait at least 6 months between fat transfer procedures. After your first fat transfer, your body needs time to heal, both from the liposuction and the fat grafting itself. The fat that's transferred may not all survive, so waiting ensures you have an accurate assessment of the results from the initial procedure. Finding enough (good) fat for another round of transfer may be a challenge; this is something to discuss with your surgeon, as liposuction also needs to be performed to harvest fat, and there’s a limit to how much fat can be safely injected. It's important to understand that fat transfer typically doesn't achieve the same dramatic volume increase as implants. Multiple rounds of fat transfer may be required to achieve significant fullness.
Consult with an experienced plastic surgeon who can customize your surgical plan and determine the best technique for you based on your individual anatomy and goals.
Krishna Vyas, MD, PhD, MHSHarvard, Hopkins, & Mayo Clinic Trained Aesthetic Plastic SurgeonNew York, New York

You should wait at least 6 months, and up to one year preferable to allow the tissues to fully recover. But the more important question is where to get 1,200 ml of pure fat . . . that is a lot of fat, and you are very thin. Thank you for sharing.

Hello,
Thank you for the question and photos.
Breast lipofilling using fat grafting may require a few sessions (surgeries) to achieve a fuller cleavage, which is an important consideration for many patients.
I typically recommend to wait 3-6 months between lipofilling sessions.
I suggest that you seek an in person consultation with a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon specializing in Breast Surgeries in order to discuss your goals and concerns for the best cosmetic results.
I hope this helps.
Best regards,
Dr. Irena KaranetzBreast Fellowship-TrainedBoard Certified Plastic Surgeon

Hello @lovelye46, and thank you for your question. You may have a more significant benefit with a breastlift with either a periarelic or L-shaped incision to improve the upper proportion of the breast, otherwise each time you add fat the breast will tend to look fuller but more saggy. Best wishes! Alan Gonzalez MD, FACS. American Society of Plastic Surgery Member (ASPS), International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science” Member (IFATS), Colombian Society of Plastic Surgery member (SCCP)

Where are you going to get that amount of fat? You’re too thin. Your first go around with fat injection should make you realize that a second fat transfer will be no more successful. You need a lift with implants. Worried about silicone? Saline works just fine. I answer questions on real self nearly every day about failed fat transfer

Dear lovelye46,
you need to fully recover prior to another liposuction and fat transfer. If you are considering surgery, I would suggest you consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. Only after a thorough examination, you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Hi,
I generally recommend to patients to wait at least 6 months between procedures. This allows most of the swelling to dissipate and gives the fat a chance to settle into its new position.
As for your desire to go with 500-600 cc, there are a couple things to consider (and may be why your surgeon injected 200 cc per side last time). The first is that you look very thin, so finding that amount of fat can be a challenge. The second is the there is a limit to how much fat can be safely injected into the breast. When the fat is injected, it has no blood supply of its own. This means the blood vessels in the breast have to grow into the fat cells so that they can survive in the breast. Through this process, not all the cells will get blood supply fat enough to survive, which is why you lose a portion of the volume that's injected. If you inject too much fat into a breast and overwhelm the blood supply, you can end up getting pooling of dead fat, resulting in oil cysts and hard lumps of what is called fat necrosis, that can be very difficult to correct (typically cutting the areas out is the only permanent solution).
Fat is a great option for many patients, but if you're looking to go up a substantial amount of volume, then an implant may be a better option. If not, it unfortunately can take multiple procedures to get to where you want to go safely, for the reasons I outline above.

You will need to wait at least 6 months before the second transfer to let your new fat grafts survive and settle. Adding 500 to 600 cc's next time may not be realistic.

Hi lovelye46, great questions. There's no set timeline, but I would wait at least 3-6 months prior to another round of fat grafting to see how your breasts settle. You're expected to lose about 50% of the grafted fat - I do notice a small difference between your before and after pictures in the upper pole, but understand that you want more volume.

Delivering consistent quality liposuction and fat transfer results is more difficult than most people believe. this also includes utility to make an accurate assessment and accurately predict and convey exactly what can or cannot be delivered with the procedure.
The ability to stratified patients into good average and not so good candidate and show accurate representations of results for each type based on numerous before and after pictures it’s not something that all plastic surgeons can do equally well.
Most plastic surgeons generally recommend waiting six months before doing a second surgery in an area where a previous procedure was performed.
The goal is to allow results to find a life and to allow that that doesn’t survive chance to be reabsorbed and to allow internal scar tissue to become mature before doing a second procedure.
It’s generally better to wait at least six months before the procedures but the actual decision may vary from provider to provider.
The amount of fat grafting is important. Probably more important is how the fuck to Grafton and also the ability to understand and clearly explain what the procedure can and cannot accomplish.
Fat transfer is not a good procedure for changing the shape of breast and it’s not good at giving projection or upper pole volume.Attempt at trying to get implant type results are significantly limited when grafting fat is the procedure and to get quality results typically take several rounds of fat transfer.
Provider selection to get quality grafting and liposuction results is paramount for this procedure.
To find the right provider I suggest patients have multiple in person consultations.
During each consultation ask each provider to open up your portfolio and show you their entire collection of before and after pictures. Ask each provider specifically the exact time frame that after pictures were taken in comparison to the date of the procedure.
Early postoperative results can look very impressive but do not at all represent final results
Final results can be seen around three months but six months is a more accurate time frame to judge final results after fat transfer.
During consultations ask providers to show you examples of previous patient who are very similar breast and body contour sent to your own.
Ask them to show you examples of excellent outcomes, average outcomes and outcomes that didn’t turn out as well as they had hoped for.
For reference a highly experienced surgeon should have no difficulty showing you at least 50 sets of before and after pictures for commonly performed procedures. highly experienced surgeons for love hundreds or even thousands of before and after pictures of procedures
Recognize that patient having fat transfer procedures are going to have two operations done at the same time.
Patients should be assessed for both Liposuction and fat transfer and patient need to vet the provider regarding their skills for both procedures.
It’s possible to be a good candidate for fat transfer but not be a good candidate for Liposuction, a good candidate for Liposuction but not a good candidate for fat transfer, a good candidate for both or not a good candidate for either.
When reviewing before and after pictures look very carefully at all areas treated with Liposuction to make sure there’s no skin contour irregularities anywhere among any of the treated areas. look very carefully between treated areas and untreated areas to make sure transition zones blend naturally.Ask each provider what their revision rate and revision policy is for each of the procedures.
The importance of choosing a efficiently talented and experience surgeon cannot be overstated. Being bored certified in plastic surgery with overall good reputation is not sufficient to confirm someone has mastered either one of these operations.
There are substantial numbers of well-meaning well-educated board-certified plastic surgeons who do not have sufficient skill to consistently deliver quality Liposuction or fat transfer results.
The number of providers who have truly mastered these procedures it’s relatively few.
Patients should consider that results especially for liposuction are permanent and generally irreversible.When done poorly it can be very difficult to improve on the outcome.
I suggest patients start by having a minimum of five consultations of people who have a proven track record with these procedures and continue scheduling more consultations until they feel very comfortable they found a sufficiently skills and experience provider for their needs.
Breast fat transfer even one done well give quite subtle results. Patient looking for more dramatic results should consider alternative procedures that are much more effective.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD