I had fat transferred to my face six months ago for nasal folds and lines at corners of my mouth; when the swelling subsided; the folds and lines were still very visable; apparently the fat transfer didn't take; now a few days ago I had Restylane injections for the nasal folds and for the lines at the corner of my mouth; the next day the folds were back and so are the lines? Why didn't these two treatments work? Confused and angry!!
Answer: Fat Grafting Didn't Work? The survival of grafted fat is variable from procedure to procedure. As it is essentially impossible to quantify the survival of grafted fat as a percentage of the total amount of fat that was transferred, I instead tend to look at it in terms of what percentage of the overall improvement (that is seen early postoperatively) is still persistent at four months postop. If it's still there at four months, then it has a blood supply and will persist long-term. In my experience, most patients show a 50-80% persistence of the early improvement at four months. If less than 50% of the improvement has persisted, most patients need and want a secondary fat grafting procedure. We perform such fat grafting 'touchup' procedures at a significantly reduced cost compared to the initial procedure, and patients are advised of the potential expense before they have their initial surgery. Once in a great while we have a patient who experiences limited fat survival and who has very little long-term change in their appearance following their fat grafting procedure, and for such patients we offer a secondary procedure at no charge. Another way to look at this issue is to ask 'what percentage of patients require a secondary fat grafting procedure in order to get the result they are looking for?'. Because my approach to fat grafting is conservative, I have a fairly high number of patients who return for a second procedure. I would much prefer to have a patient like what they get and return for more, than to have a patient who is unhappy because they feel that their fat grafting was overdone. If you look at reviews posted by fat grafting patients who have had a very negative experience with the procedure, you find an abundance of patients that feel that an excessive amount of fat was placed in their face. They're not just unhappy - they feel disfigured. So a conservative approach is absolutely critical to success with facial rejuvenation by means of structural fat grafting. To be worth a patient's time and money, fat grafting needs to look natural, and not like a trip to the operating room.
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Answer: Fat Grafting Didn't Work? The survival of grafted fat is variable from procedure to procedure. As it is essentially impossible to quantify the survival of grafted fat as a percentage of the total amount of fat that was transferred, I instead tend to look at it in terms of what percentage of the overall improvement (that is seen early postoperatively) is still persistent at four months postop. If it's still there at four months, then it has a blood supply and will persist long-term. In my experience, most patients show a 50-80% persistence of the early improvement at four months. If less than 50% of the improvement has persisted, most patients need and want a secondary fat grafting procedure. We perform such fat grafting 'touchup' procedures at a significantly reduced cost compared to the initial procedure, and patients are advised of the potential expense before they have their initial surgery. Once in a great while we have a patient who experiences limited fat survival and who has very little long-term change in their appearance following their fat grafting procedure, and for such patients we offer a secondary procedure at no charge. Another way to look at this issue is to ask 'what percentage of patients require a secondary fat grafting procedure in order to get the result they are looking for?'. Because my approach to fat grafting is conservative, I have a fairly high number of patients who return for a second procedure. I would much prefer to have a patient like what they get and return for more, than to have a patient who is unhappy because they feel that their fat grafting was overdone. If you look at reviews posted by fat grafting patients who have had a very negative experience with the procedure, you find an abundance of patients that feel that an excessive amount of fat was placed in their face. They're not just unhappy - they feel disfigured. So a conservative approach is absolutely critical to success with facial rejuvenation by means of structural fat grafting. To be worth a patient's time and money, fat grafting needs to look natural, and not like a trip to the operating room.
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March 4, 2012
Answer: Fat injection and restylane
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
March 4, 2012
Answer: Fat injection and restylane
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
