An opinion piece published last May at Physicians News Digest discussed the advantages that fat transfer procedures had over breast implants when reconstructing breasts after a mastectomy. The author asserted that breast reconstruction using fat transfer techniques creates breasts that “look and feel natural,” have increased sensation, and are less likely than implant reconstructions to interfere with mammograms. We agree with this assessment, but we’d like to add that the benefits of fat transfer procedures go even further. It’s worth highlighting several specific points mentioned in the article regarding these significant pluses:

• Non-interference With Future Mammograms – While it is certainly possible to conduct accurate mammograms with breast implants, the process can sometimes be more complicated, involving more thorough imaging. Some patients, still reeling from the emotional burden of cancer, want to do everything they can to ensure future cancer detection is as easy as possible, and opting for fat transfer reconstruction is one of those things.
• Natural Results – The Physicians News Digest article states that breast reconstruction using a fat transfer can give the breast a more natural look and feel compared to implants. While true, the fact that the reconstruction is completed using only materials that are naturally occurring in each patient’s body is also important. Many women, especially after going through invasive cancer treatments, do not want to any more foreign objects in their body, so the idea of using their own fat rather than implants is comforting.
• Cosmetic Boost to Other Areas – An additional, wholly cosmetic benefit of the fat transfer procedure is that, to get the fat for the reconstruction, fat must be taken from another area of the body via liposuction. BHP notes that, while this benefit is usually not the primary reason why reconstruction and augmentation patients choose a fat transfer, the bonus of getting rid of a stubborn pocket of fat from somewhere else on the body can tip the scales when weighing the advantages of each procedure.

By using what is already natural in the patient’s body, our skilled surgeons are able to achieve outstanding effects that may not have been possible without fat grafting techniques. These techniques have gotten a boost by the recent popularity of other procedures using fat transfers, including buttock augmentation and lip injections.