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Autologous Fat Injection
Atlanta, Georgia
 Dr. Kun Kim is committed to finding the best surgical and noninvasive treatment options for you. As part of this commitment, Dr. Kim offers a full array of injectable fillers that can plump up the areas of your face that have lost volume as a result of aging. Many of these advanced materials are based on the natural materials your body loses as you age. Collagen treatments and hyaluronic acid-based injectables like Restylane are examples of this approach.
Autologous fat injection is a step beyond this. Instead of simply using a compound derived from a natural substance, actual fat is taken from other parts of your body and used as a filler to smooth out the wrinkles in your face, fill in deep folds, and correct hollowness resulting from age or stress. Many of us, unfortunately, have many suitable donor sites, areas with a surplus of the right kind of fat for use as a facial filler. The abdomen around the navel, the thigh, the hip, and the lower back are typically selected as donor sites.
Once a donor site has been selected, the fat is removed using a more careful version of tumescent liposuction that maintains as much of the structure of the fatty tissue as possible. The fat is then washed and purified. It is normally combined with either saline or lactated Ringer solution. Your fat can also be stored and used at a later time.
The fat injection itself is similar to the injection of other facial fillers. It can take a little longer, as the fat is more likely to survive when injected in microscopic quantities, so more smaller injections are performed in the treated region. You may experience some minor irritation and redness at the site, but avoiding scratching or massaging the site for a while after the injection to improve the survival rate of transplanted fat.
At best, 50-75 % of the fat injected can survive, but what does survive represents a permanent transplant, meaning that, unlike other fillers, you may not have to be treated. Because the transplantation rate is uncertain, you may need several treatments to achieve your desired appearance, but once reached, your fuller-contoured face will last many years, several times longer than can be achieved with artificial fillers.
The variables determining your suitability for autologous fat transfer and the likelihood that you will achieve a permanent lip augmentation, contouring of the cheeks, or improvement of other areas are very complex, and can only be assessed during your consultation. To learn more about the procedure and promise of autologous fat injection, please email us or call our office at 770-458-4255. Thank you.
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