A patient with quite uneven breasts wants to know:
My concern is to adjust shape and volume of both of my breasts. The left one is much smaller than the right one. Do you think we have to fill a bit of the body’s own fat also into the right bigger one to achieve the same shape and thereby remove the asymmetry?
Whether we have to treat only one or both breasts depends on the specific shape dissimilarity. If there is only a difference in size, we recommend wearing a suction bra several weeks prior to the procedure and then filling autologous fat only into the smaller breast. Owing to the suction bra breast tissue is stretched and therefore the breast is more flexible and more receptive for the autologous fat injected later on. As an alternative to the suction bra the breast tissue can also be pre-stretched by the use of repeated saline solution injections, by which the breast is temporary swelling up and making the tissue more flexible.
Exactly as in breast augmentations with autologous fat or stem cells liposuction is performed as well at the beginning of a correction of breast asymmetry in order to obtain the autologous, natural “filling material” – a portion of the body’s own fat. Fat is mostly harvested in the areas of thighs, buttocks, hips, or the belly. When using extra thin tissue-conserving microcannulas the risk of post-operative dent development is reduced to a minimum. After the fat extraction the autologous fat is injected right into the breast for reasons of balancing the asymmetry either in stem cell-enriched form that involves an elaborate procedure or without further treatment. Stem cell enrichment allows for breast volume that is usually retained on the long-term. Thus there is – contrary to standard fat transfer – no need of repeat treatments in most cases. Results may vary from patient to patient. Please note that in medicine generally no guarantee for a certain treatment result can be given.
Because we only work with local anesthesia in our clinic the aftercare is considerably simpler and more comfortable. The patient is discharged home immediately after the treatment and already able to work a few days later. After the procedure it is recommendable to wear compression clothes or (depending on the breast type) possibly a sport bra for several weeks.
The method with autologous fat and stem cells is suitable for breast augmentation for aesthetic reasons, correction of asymmetry, and breast reconstruction after tumor removal. For women who attach importance to naturalness, autologous fat treatments can be seen as an appropriate alternative to artificial silicone implants, which not only look unnatural but also cause undesired scars.
DDr. Heinrich, MD