Can Fat Transfer Replace Breast Implants?

Artificial breast-implants has remains a popular aesthetic procedure among women seeking an ideal body through larger and fuller breasts. However, over fifty years has passed since silicon implants where first introduced in 1961. Since then, cosmetic procedures has changed and improved significantly with new techniques and medicines emerging every day. Among those new and uncanny procedures is fat transfer that we've cover last week.


Just like artificial implants, the purpose of fat transfer is to enlarge areas of the body that have aesthetic importance such as breasts and butts. As we've mentioned earlier, fat transfer procedures works by suctioning fat from certain parts of the body -often where it's abundant- then injecting it into the target area, e.g. breasts. Both fat transfer and artificial implants are effective as they serve their basic purpose of enlarging and improving the texture of breasts, butts or other parts of the body. Nonetheless, that doesn't change the fact that the two procedure are entirely different from each other and thus each has its own pros and cons over the other.

Breast implants

There are two types of breast implants, silicone gel and saline-filled implants. Silicone-filled implants consist of silicone shells filled with a silicone gel. Saline-filled implants, on the other hand, comprise of silicone shells filled with saline (sterile salt water). The implants are inserted in the breast via incisions created in parts of the breast where they are easy to conceal such as below the breast, around the nipples or upper left of the chest, close to the arm.

Silicone gel breast implants

After the incisions, the implants are inserted under the pectoral muscle, the positions and angle of the implants depends on the patient's breast size as well as patient desire. Unlike silicone, saline implants are inserted empty then filled once put in place. Although both implants bear almost the same results, women who've received silicone implants find them quite similar to real breasts in term of feel and texture.

Breast implants vs. fat transfer

When comparing any two aesthetic procedures that serve a common purpose, the comparison should be include answers to questions that people are likely to ask such as: which of the two procedures is more effective? which one requires less recovery time? how much they cost? what are the risks? and how long does their effectiveness lasts?


Which one is more effective, breast implants or fat transfer?

The effectiveness in this context is the level of satisfaction the procedure can give to the patient following the procedure. Breast implant and fat transfer are equally effective when performed by experienced surgeons using high quality equipments. However, some patients might have a better experience with either of the procedure bearing in mind variations such as the type of implants used or the amount of fat used during the transfer.


Which one takes less recovery time?

One of the major cons of breast implant procedure is the downtime or recovery time it requires. Since the procedure involves an open surgery, it takes days for the breast to recover and during this time, the patients are advices to limit their physical activities. Fat transfer, however, has a significantly less downtime, as it requires no surgery, thus far less invasive. Patients can resume their daily activities following the procedure. Nonetheless, because there may be some bruising and swelling, the physician often recommend waiting one to two before performing any rigorous physical activity.


How much do they cost?

The costs of breast augmentation procedures, both implants and fat transfer, vary from country to country and clinic to clinic. In Malaysia, women can pay around RM 8,000 - RM 12,000 for fat transfer, and RM 10,000 - RM 25,000 for silicon implants. From the prices, it seems as fat transfer is cheaper, but in fact the costs of the two procedure is highly dependant on the treatment quality and the completion in the industry.


What are the risks?

If performed by a well trained surgeon, breast implants will bear little no side effects or complications on the patient. Nonetheless, there are scenarios in which silicon or saline implants rupture or deflate causing pain and discomfort  for some patients. When such thing happens, surgical intervention might become a necessity to adjust or remove the implants.

Apart from minor soreness and swelling for some patients, fat transfer has general less side effects risks from other implants. This is because the augmentation substance used is not a foreign object but rather the patient's own fat. Therefore, the chance of getting an infections or developing complications is relatively low comparing to silicon or saline based implants.


How long does their effectiveness lasts?

Silicone implants need to be replaced or removed after 10 to 15 years. Therefore, one procedure can not be a lifetime solution. Fat transfer is also a temporary solution due to the natural volatility of the fat volume which increase or reduced based on several factors. However, unlike artificial breast implants that has an expire day, fat transfer effectiveness can be extended via proper diet and body weight management.


Can Fat Transfer Replace Breast Implants?

Though new, fat transfer is growing popular in the realm of aesthetic medicine. But whether or not it can replace the long practised silicon breast implants is a matter of debate among many doctors. Fat transfer is widely practised in some countries including Japan and South Korea but less popular the US and Europe. Nonetheless, it is only a matter of time before the procedure becomes legally recognized and gain enough popularity to compete with the breast implants for women's attention.