How many times can you have your breasts injected with fat transfer? (Photo)

Question

How many times can you have your breasts injected with fat transfer? Is this covered by OHIP from a previous botched surgery. Surgeon has retired.

Brian Bassiri-Tehrani, MD · Answer

There isn't necessarily a limit of number of procedures per se - you may need multiple sessions to get you to the desired size and shape. This may be contingent on the amount of fat available for liposuction/harvest. Based on the photograph provided, you would benefit from a revision of the left side to address your areola being too high and bigger and matching the other side. 
Typically, cosmetic surgeries are not covered by insurance, even for the unfavorable outcome. In general, fat grafting is covered by insurance for breast reconstruction after breast cancer, not after a cosmetic revision.
Hope this helps!

Randal Haworth, MD, FACS · Answer

The number of times you can have your breasts injected with fat transfer may depend on various factors, including the condition of your breasts, your overall health, and the amount of available donor fat. Generally, multiple fat transfer procedures can be performed if there is enough donor fat and the recipient area can accommodate additional grafting.

in general, OHIP covers medically necessary procedures and treatments. To determine if coverage is possible for a previous botched surgery, you would need to consult with a healthcare professional or contact OHIP directly for information on their coverage policies and any requirements for qualification.

Since you mentioned that the surgeon who performed the initial surgery has retired, you may need to consult with a different surgeon or seek legal advice to understand your options for addressing the issue and potential coverage possibilities.

I hope this helps,
best of luck !

Fernando Ovalle Jr., MD · Answer

Hello and thank you for your question! The short answer is, there is no "limit" to how many times a certain body site, including the breasts can receive fat as a transfer procedure. However, every patient and case is unique. There may be a lack of quality donor site to harvest the fat from that limits the number of fat transfer procedures, or there may be certain factors of the donor site such as the quality of the skin/tissue envelope, amount of scarring/fibrosis from prior procedures, etc that may limit the number of fat transfer procedures that a particular surgeon would recommend doing. Ultimately, an in-person consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon will be best to counsel you the best options for your unique case! With regards to your secondary question, I am not familiar with the acronym OHIP, but assuming this is an insurance plane, typically fat grafting may only be covered through insurance as a reconstructive surgery after mastectomy/lumpectomy. Speaking to your insurance provider about your specific case would give you the most concrete answer there.

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear job47,
fat transfer is not covered by insurance. 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, MDCertified, American Board of Plastic SurgeryMember, American Society of Plastic SurgeryMember, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Ronald J. Edelson, MD · Answer

People get fat transfer multiple times because so much of the transferred fat goes away. It would be simpler to remove some tissue from the larger side if symmetry is the main issue. The low nipple can be moved up a little as well

Ashley Thorburn, MD · Answer

The number of times you can have a fat transfer to the breasts, also known as autologous fat grafting, depends on several factors, including the availability of donor fat, your overall health, and the recommendations of your plastic surgeon. Multiple fat transfer procedures can be performed, but there are limits to how much fat can be safely harvested from other areas of your body. It’s essential to consult with a board-certified plastic surgeon who can assess your individual case and provide guidance on the feasibility and safety of multiple procedures. Additionally, there may be specific regulations or guidelines related to fat grafting in your region that your surgeon will consider.

Connie Hiers, MD, FACS · Answer

As long as you have donor fat, fat can be added to breasts waiting at least 6 months between each donation.  Fat transfer for volume is cosmetic and I would suspect (I do not work in Canada) that this is not covered by insurance. It is not covered in the US except for ladies who need reconstruction after cancer and some trauma.

Darryl J. Blinski, MD · Answer

Unlimited sessions can be offered. But based on the 1 posted photo, you need surgery to correct asymmetry by relift lower side with fat grafting. Fees from $10,000. Plus no insurance pays for cosmetic surgery. Best to virtual consult with.....

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

There’s no limit to how many times someone can have breast fat transfer. Personally, I’ve done four rounds of fat transfer in a few cases that were primarily related to breast cancer surgery. In those cases, the procedures were covered by insurance, because the underlying diagnosis was breast cancer. I don’t think you have an underlying diagnosis that will pay for breast fat transfer. I don’t know what criteria Canadian insurance companies use it in the United States The only insurance based indication for fat transfer to the breast, is in patients with breast cancer. The procedure is generally billed as a symmetry surgery after cancer, surgery, or revision of reconstructed breast.
Breast asymmetry is very common in most women’s left breast is higher on the chest wall than the right. This is usually easily confirmed by comparing your inframammary fold. And most women the left inframammary fold is half an inch higher than the right.
I don’t think you’re going to get medical health insurance to pay for Aesthetic breast surgery and personally I don’t think medical insurance should pay for it. Medical insurance is a communal fund used for helping people in need to treat illness. 
Breast-fed transfer, and the Liposuction that goes with it. It’s a little more difficult than most people realize. A number of plastic surgeons who are truly mastered this procedure or in a small minority. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having sufficient numbers in person, consultation, and properly vetting providers before choosing that as an appropriate option.
Breast-fed transfer, and the Liposuction that goes with it. It’s a little more difficult than most people realize. A number of plastic surgeons who have truly mastered this procedure are in a small minority. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having a sufficient numbers in person, consultations and properly vetting providers before choosing that as an appropriate option. It would be helpful to know what previous procedures you’ve had, including seeing before and after pictures if you want us to make an assessment. The number of bread transfer procedures is ultimately going to depend, I need patience, candidacy, financial means to pay, motivation to have multiple operations, etc. etc. Patient’s candidacy for the procedure may improve or decrease with further fat transfer. 
Typically the most important variable is finding the right provider. I suggest patients do that by having as many in person consultation as possible. During each consultation as each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of before and after pictures of previous patients, who had similar body characteristics to you around and had the procedure you were interested in. And experience plastic surgeon should have no difficulty showing in the before and after pictures of at least 50 previous patients for commonly performed procedures. Being shown a handful of preselected images, representing the best results of the providers career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like in the hands of each provider or how many of these procedures anyone surgeon has actually done . With fat transfer results make absolutely sure you get confirmation of the timeframe of when after pictures were taken in relationship to the date of the procedure. Early for the transfer results can look very impressive but do not in anyway represent final results. After pictures from fat transfer outcomes should never be taken less than 3 to 6 months from the date of the surgery.
Breast-fed transfer can increase breast size by approximately 1/2 cup. The procedure is not particularly good at changing the shape of the breast. 
Best,
Mats Hagstrom, MD

How many times can you have your breasts injected with fat transfer? (Photo)

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