We live in an overweight society and fat is the enemy most of the time. Fat can however be a very important tool for restoring contour in places that have too little fat. Here are a couple of recent cases in my practice where fat transfer made an important difference in outcome.

Allen is 44. He developed gynecomastia (male breasts) as an adolescent and had always been very uncomfortable about being seen without his shirt on. was referred to a general surgeon that takes care of breast cancer patients. Allen’s breast tissue was removed by this general surgeon, but the end result was very unnatural. The chest area was sunken in and uneven.

He consulted me to see if a plastic surgeon might be able to improve his chest shape. Though Allen was trim we were able to harvest fat from his abdomen and “love handle” region. The fat was then transferred to his chest to fill in where too much tissue had been removed. 

His pictures are taken before and six weeks after his fat transfer. Allen is very happy with the natural appearance of his chest. He has a beach vacation scheduled later this summer. Without fat transfer as a technique it would have been difficult to make Allen’s chest look normal again.

Elizabeth is 48. She recently lost 20 lbs by putting herself on a disciplined exercise program. She wanted to have a breast enlargement at the same time as a tummy tuck but did not want an implant. She elected to have fat transfer from the areas of liposuction to her breast. She went up one cup size with the procedure which made her happy at bathing suit season.

Fat transfer to the breast provides shape improvement and usually a small increase in size, on average one cup. For the right person it is a great way to redistribute unwanted fat.