How much bigger can you make breasts with fat transfer?

In general, one can expect about a single cup size increase with fat transfer breast augmentation.  Breast implants have a better capacity for volume increase.

Thanks for your question.This is a difficult question to answer without any photos of your breast and your body. Thare are so many variables. If you were an ideal candidate then you may expect a one cup size change after several surgeries.

While the concept of using your own fat for breast augmentation is great, in reality it has some significant limitations.Most fat grafting experts in the field will tell you at best 50% of the injected fat will survive, the rest will not.  Second, you need fat to inject into.  If you no breast tissue or your breast is made of all gland and very little fat, it is not possible to inject into the glandular tissue itself.  Given these limitations, 1/2 a cup (rarely a full cup) of augmentation is possible.  Next come the lumps.  Not all fat survives and the fat that doesn't will either get removed by the body or form solid little nodules.  Those can be a source of anxiety given that 1 in 8 women have breast cancer.  And although radiologists are able to distinguish between a fat lump and cancerous lump, you will still go through the anxiety of being sent of tests to make sure your lumps are not cancerous.Overall, while this is a very promising field, i don't think it is the best choice for most people.  Only women with good amount of excess fat (most skinny women wanting larger breasts do not!), who want a very mild increase in breast size, and are absolutely opposed to breast implants are good candidates for this procedure.

The amount transferred is determined by the size/shape of your breasts and amount of donor fat available.  A portion of the fat does dissolve after the transfer.  Patients undergoing fat transfer to breasts should have reasonable size expectations and understand that additional procedures may be necessary if the desired size is not achieved.  The results are natural and rarely more than one size per procedure.  Implants can provide more significant changes in one operation.  Each have their own risks.  Please consult your surgeon for an evaluation to best determine your options.  Dr. Michael Omidi

The only limit to breast enlargement by fat transfer is the amount of fat that you have elsewhere on your body to move to the breasts and the number of procedures that you can undergo. The secret to successful fat transfer is to have spaces in the recipient areas(your breasts) to put the fat. Think of fat cells as very small machines that need fuel to survive. Each fat cell transferred has to be placed next to a living cell so that it can draw oxygen and nutrients from it. If the transferred cell is surrounded by only other transferred fat cells, it will die and disappear. So it is important to transfer only enough fat cells that can be spread around in the native breast tissue. A glob of transferred fat cells will all die except for the few cells on the outer edges of the glob. For example, starting with A-cup breasts, the transfer procedure may increase breast size by one cup size. Now you have B-cup breasts and with a second surgery more new fat can be accepted into the breast tissue, leading to a C-cup breast size. And so on and so forth.Many women choose to have two or three surgeries to get to the size they want. After each surgery, they can decide if the breasts are large enough. The results are permanent and there are no implants to worry about or to ever replace.I hope this helps.

I see many patients who would like larger breasts but do not want breast implants. Sometimes women already have implants and are tired of them and want to downsize. Fat transfer is a great technique to create fullness in both of these cases.Breast augmentation with fat is very different from augmentation with implants - it is more variable and will not change the shape of the breasts the way that implants do. The best candidates are patients who like their breast shape, do not want implants, who are looking for a half a cup to a cup size increase in volume, and have some fatty deposits that can be used (hips, thighs, tummy, arms).There are techniques which can enhance the results of fat transfer:- The first is using the BRAVA suction system to pretreat the breasts, which is worn for 12 hours a day for about a month before surgery - the engorgement created in the breast creates more room for fat, and the engorgement helps the fat live through the transfer process. - The second important technique is cleaning and processing the fat after it is removed from the body, before it is injected into the breast. This ensures that the fat is pure which decreases the risk of getting cysts and hard lumps and also makes sure your results are maximized for the longest lasting fullness possible. Old techniques include centrifuge and strainers. Newer techniques include the revolve system, and my preferred system - Puregraft, which clinical research has shown to have the best survival of fat cells.Patients looking for a significant change in their breasts should consider implants instead, but for a modest all natural boost, fat is the way to go.

We women are incredibly aware of our breast appearance -- maybe even more
than men are. Breasts are sexual and sensual, a big part of what makes us
women, and they can dictate our sense of attractiveness and desirability (for
better or worse). There are various factors regarding how you want your breasts
to look and feel, but if you and your doctor have a good, open line of
communication, you shouldn’t need to go back and forth on your decision.

It is now possible for you to enlarge your breasts without resorting to
implants! Specially prepared fat taken from another part of the body,
such as the stomach or hips, is placed under the breast tissue to provide
increased breast size without the need for artificial implants. The technique
is called autologous fat transfers and autologous simply means "your
own." You can expect to be fuller after
the fat transfer and perhaps increase almost a cup size after one session and
the procedure can be repeated if you want a greater size. If you want to
be substantially larger than you are probably a better candidate for
implants. These are issues you should discuss with your doctor so you can
make an informed decision.

Fat transfer to the breast is a bit variable, and can often require additional procedures to increase to the desired volume. I prefer to sue breast implants at this point because I find them to be more reliable in terms of achieving the desired volume.

Dear Lisaham,

In general, the amount of volumetric augmentation that cover
fat grafting is dependent upon numerous variables. The first variable is the size of the breast
you’re implanting in to. Because each
fat grafting is to pick up a blood supply to remain and be permanent, small
breasts have very little vascularized tissue and only small augmentations can
be performed. Often patients need to
come back at one year to perform a second fat grafting session. With larger breasts and loss of vascularized
tissue and with careful harvest preparation and reinsertion techniques fat
graft survival can approach 50-70%. In
general, 180-220 cc’s of fat can easily be injected safely and effectively into
the breast of the average natural augmentation patient.

In general, most women can get half to three-quarter cup size
increase with a single fat grafting session and by returning at one year can
often make that more than a cup size improvement.

I hope this information has been helpful in helping you make
a decision. Best of luck.

For more information,
please review the link below.

R. Stephen Mulholland, M.D.

Certified Plastic Surgeon

Yorkville, Toronto