What are the safe areas for liposuction/breast fat transfer

Question

I'm wondering what are the safest areas in the body to do liposuction with less possible complications? I'm interested in breast fat transfer. Is inner thighs considered a good option? Is it possible to have hip dents if too fat is taking from outer thighs?

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear maryoma7,
it is hard to tell for sure without an examination. Generally speaking, abdomen,, back, flanks, inner thighs are good donor sites. If you are considering a surgery, I would suggest you to 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

Yannis Alexandrides, MD, FACS · Answer

Hi, 
Thank you for your question. 
The areas that the surgeon will choose for the harvesting of the fat for Fat Injection To The Breasts depend on the availability of the fat and also the preference of the doctor and the patient. Overall, for females, the thighs can be a good donor area. However, the inner thighs are one of the most sensitive areas for liposuction and you should be warned that if the skin elasticity is diminished this can create laxity of the skin which then would have to be addressed with further surgical or non-surgical treatments.

Gerald Minniti, MD, FACS · Answer

What's most important when considering fat transfer is considering the doctor doing it. Most people pick the surgeon with the nicest results from the fat transfer without ever scrutinizing the liposuction quality. There are no 'safe' areas for harvesting fat; they all have potential for defects, so surgeon skill and experience with liposuction is essential. In addition, you should know that fat grafting will yield a different result than an implant.

Kenneth Hughes, MD · Answer

In general, the abdomen and thighs are preferred donor sites but fat from other areas can be used. Thinner patients are outstanding candidates in my opinion, because the fat transferred is extremely resistant. The fat must be injected through multiple planes in small amounts to the tissue through one tiny incision under each breast. About 50% of the fat obtains permanence.

Gary M. Horndeski, MD · Answer

The area most frequently used is the anterior thigh. The inner thigh would not be a good site, which can result in rippling, hanging skin and require a thigh lift. The anterior thigh is more concealed when looking straight on and contours can be more hidden. Also, fat transfers is only good for a small amount, usually 1 cup size.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

Connie Hiers, MD, FACS · Answer

Fat is best taken where you have excess fat. An experienced plastic surgeon can be careful and avoid dents.

Douglas Taranow, DO, FACOS · Answer

Maryoma,
Any area of the body is safe for liposuction in the right hands.  A good plastic surgeon will tell you where you would have the best results and which areas are at risk for lumpiness or skin issues.  Fat transfer to the breast is OK if you only desire a half cup size increase (in the absolute best cases, a full cup size MAY be obtainable).
Dr. T

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

The best place to harvest fat for breast fat transfer as the area that’s going to give you the most complementary and best aesthetic outcome from Liposuction.

For the great majority of patients I do breast fat transfer this means liposuction of the torso.

In our practice we sell the full torso as a single anatomic unit. A full torso includes upper abdomen, lower abdomen, love handles, waist, fall back and under arm area.  reducing the subcutaneous fat of the entire torso complements enhancing the breast volume ideally.

Inner thigh Liposuction gives lesser patient satisfaction and results that are typically not as desirable compared to treating the torso.

There are some patients who get good results from inner thigh Liposuction but it tends to be limited to those who are young and have tight skin.

Inner thigh Liposuction is also prone to contour irregularities when done by providers for like skill or experience.

When things go wrong with fat transfer procedures it is most often undesirable outcomes from the liposuction part of the procedure.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of choosing providers who have a proven track record for Liposuction once using this procedure.

To get the best results and have an overall positive experience I recommend the following.

I recommend patients avoid traveling long distances for elective surgical procedures. There are of course instances where there is a lack of local talent and traveling to some degree is inevitable. If traveling for the procedure patients should be ready to travel to have the consultation, post operative appointments and follow up should there be issues or complications.
Patients sometimes do not appreciate the importance of in person consultations, that complications do happen or the number of people who have issues with their results or need revisions.

Schedule multiple consultations with different providers in your area who seem to have a good reputation for the procedure you’re interested in. Starting with at least five consultations seems like a reasonable number to me.

Whenever possible schedule in person consultations.  
During in person consultations ask each plastic surgeon to show all of their before and after pictures for the procedure you’re interested in.

The goal is not to see the best results of their career but to get an idea of what average results look like and get some type of confirmation of how many of these procedures that provider has performed.

Ask to see results that were not as good as the doctor would’ve hoped for and talk about the differences in outcomes.

Honest and experienced providers should have no problems presenting this type of information.

A highly experienced plastic surgeon should have hundreds of before and after pictures for the procedure you’re interested in. At a minimum at least 20+.

Read all the reviews on various physician review websites paying close attention and avoiding providers with any significant number of justified negative reviews.  Providers with an abundance of reviews often have aggressive marketing campaigns.

The plastic surgeons I respect most all have the single variable of not having justified negative reviews on their online profiles. 
In my opinion justified negative reviews are far more telling than an abundance of positive reviews.

Avoid scheduling for surgery or making a deposit on the day of the consultation.  Give yourself some time to think about the decision and make sure you finished all scheduled consultations before committing to having surgery that will permanently and irreversibly change your body.

When in doubt slow down and schedule more consultations.

Choosing the right plastic surgeon is the single most important variable to having a positive experience.

Don’t go chasing after technology or names of certain equipment. Instead focus all your efforts on finding the most experienced and talented board-certified plastic surgeon.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD

Frederic H. Corbin, MD (license restricted) · Answer

Thank you for the question and your surgeon will determine what area he feels will be best for fat transfer to the breast. So go on some consultations with experts and compare recommendations after a full examination and discussion of desired results

Dr Corbin

Dr Corbin

Ashok Govila, FRCS, MCh, MS - Account Suspended · Answer

Thanks for your question. I would think in careful hands all areas are safe. I think those areas which are disfiguring the shape of the body like prominent love handles lower back lower abdomen trochanteric region and posterior aspect of thighs are safe if a uniform layer of fat is aimed to be harvested with 3 mm power-assisted canulas.An area for liposuction that is not flat like hips I will consider will have more chances of contour depressions and dents \,Inner thigh usually have loose skin and I don't think is ideal for the job

What are the safe areas for liposuction/breast fat transfer

Answers (11)

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