I had fat transferred to my lips a couple of days ago, and they're great! They have obviously been overfilled to prepare for fat absorption, and I am expecting them to go way down, but is there anything I can do or avoid doing that may encourage the fat to remain? Does eating/talking/kissing affect the results, or is it just completely up to my body? Thanks!
September 8, 2015
Answer: Normal activity will probably not interfere Generally, after any type of tissue transfer, whether it be skin graft, cartilage graft, bone graft or fat grafts, immobilization is of some importance. That said, I don't think it's possible to immobilize lips. In order for transferred tissue like fat to survive, each piece of grafted fat has to develop a new blood supply. This usually happens between the fifth and eighth day after grafting. It's referred to as neovascularization. If the microscopic capillaries are disrupted during this phase, they can cut off the necessary blood supply to the grafted fat, causing it to die. I suppose if somebody theoretically kept their lips absolutely still for 10 days that fat grafting survival may be improved somewhat. Since this is not realistic, I suggest you just take it easy. Keep your fingers crossed that the amount of fat that survives will be the ideal amount. Sometimes getting the results patients want requires having a procedure done more than once if the amount transferred is conservative. In my opinion, it's easier to do the procedure twice than it is to remove excessive grafted fat.If you were treated by someone with ample experience, they should've gotten it just right for you.I hope your results turn out the way you wanted.Best of luck,Mats Hagstrom, M.D.
Helpful
September 8, 2015
Answer: Normal activity will probably not interfere Generally, after any type of tissue transfer, whether it be skin graft, cartilage graft, bone graft or fat grafts, immobilization is of some importance. That said, I don't think it's possible to immobilize lips. In order for transferred tissue like fat to survive, each piece of grafted fat has to develop a new blood supply. This usually happens between the fifth and eighth day after grafting. It's referred to as neovascularization. If the microscopic capillaries are disrupted during this phase, they can cut off the necessary blood supply to the grafted fat, causing it to die. I suppose if somebody theoretically kept their lips absolutely still for 10 days that fat grafting survival may be improved somewhat. Since this is not realistic, I suggest you just take it easy. Keep your fingers crossed that the amount of fat that survives will be the ideal amount. Sometimes getting the results patients want requires having a procedure done more than once if the amount transferred is conservative. In my opinion, it's easier to do the procedure twice than it is to remove excessive grafted fat.If you were treated by someone with ample experience, they should've gotten it just right for you.I hope your results turn out the way you wanted.Best of luck,Mats Hagstrom, M.D.
Helpful
