Should I Get a Fat Transfer Breast Augmentation After Mastectomy?

A mastectomy can affect the psychological well-being of breast cancer survivors. This is understandable since they have likely lost a significant amount of breast tissue, resulting in a loss of one or two breasts, and grapple with this fact every day. However, there is still life after a mastectomy.

You are already in the stage of rebuilding yourself after a challenging experience. And the field of reconstructive surgery offers fat transfer breast augmentation as among the procedures readily available to survivors. In fact, it has already helped many patients move on from the traumatic experience of breast cancer followed by a mastectomy.

The fat transfer breast augmentation utilizes the fat grafting technique. It starts with the surgeon harvesting fat from the patient’s body via liposuction. The typical donor sites are the belly, thighs, and love handles.

This reconstructive technique is performed under local or general anesthesia, depending on the amount of fat that will be needed for the operation.

The collected fat will be sterilized and processed into pure fat with a centrifuge. For the best possible results, only fat and stem cells will be injected into the breast area for effective reconstruction.

If the patient does not have enough fat, there are other natural breast reconstructive procedures that they can choose from. The DIEP Flap uses skin, muscle, and blood vessels from the patient’s abdomen. Collectively, they will be shaped into a breast mound that will improve the breast shape and size.

What Benefits Can You Get From Fat Transfer?

Fat transfer breast augmentation offers a lot of benefits to breast cancer survivors who have opted for a mastectomy. The fat used in the procedure will come from your own body, thus it cannot be rejected as a foreign object since it is your very own tissue.

It will feel and look remarkably similar to breast tissue because the procedure is all-natural. This significantly lowers the chance of an allergic reaction since no breast implant is used.

Fat transfer breast augmentation is an outpatient procedure with minimal downtime. The recovery period is brief and straightforward. You will need to wear compression garments for one to two weeks, and you can gradually return to performing light activities after this period. Please avoid any heavy lifting and other strenuous activities for the next six to eight weeks.

Improve The Quality of Your Life After Mastectomy

The autologous fat transfer procedure is generally safe. But in the hands of a surgeon who lacks the necessary skills to perform the surgery, there is a huge chance that you might develop fat necrosis. This is the death of injected fat tissue after any breast surgery including the fat grafting procedure.

Our board-certified plastic surgeons here at Midwest Breast & Aesthetic Surgery have a combined experience of more than two decades doing fat grafting.

And in support of the body positivity movement, we also perform the Flat Closure procedure on those patients who opt to not go for any breast reconstruction procedure.

We have helped a lot of breast cancer survivors move forward in their lives, no matter their choice, as they face the future after their mastectomy procedure.

You are welcome to schedule a consultation with us to know more about the surgical options that you can take after your mastectomy.