Lipofilling or fillers in nasolabial folds: what to choose?

Every woman has self-confidence, knowing that she always looks young and fit. But time is merciless, sooner or later everyone begins to grow old. For some, this process begins earlier and more intensely, for others - later and more slowly.

You can improve your appearance not only through expensive plastic surgery. In cosmetic surgery, several minimally invasive methods have recently been developed to help correct blemishes on the face, one of which is lipofilling

What is lipofilling?

This is a procedure that fills and shapes a specific area of the body using fatty tissue. This technique can replace implants or chemical fillers. In this case, fat cells can be taken from the thighs, abdomen or buttocks.

The procedure is performed under local anesthesia and lasts no more than three hours. General anesthesia is used for people with increased pain sensitivity or in case of extensive correction. Most often it is used in cases where it is necessary to fill folds on the face, eliminate wrinkles or sebaceous depressions. Surgeons, in some clinics, offer patients breast or hip augmentation using fat grafting.

Fat grafting is used to recontour the lips and lift drooping eyelids. This method guarantees maximum security. It is possible to use patient or donor fat, but then the cost of the method will increase significantly.

Lipofilling

Recently, it has become an increasingly popular procedure. In essence, it is a transplantation of your own fat tissue.

Numerous studies have shown that fat cells have a special ability to merge with the cells that surround them, thereby improving them and making them healthier.

Application area:

with facial asymmetry;
with unattractive shapes of lips, cheekbones, nose, cheeks;
with age-related aging;
with nasolabial folds;
with sagging contours.

The main advantage of this technique is that the filler is your own tissue. However, it is worth noting that very often the percentage of cell engraftment is only 50%, so the result may be poorly expressed and at least one more procedure will be required.

This is due to the fact that, unfortunately, there is no unified lipofilling technique in cosmetology and the effectiveness and prospects of fat cell transplantation have not been fully studied.

But even despite this, lipofilling has undeniable advantages over other injection techniques, namely:

high compatibility, as own cells are used;
does not cause allergies;
permanent result;
low-traumatic.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of lipofilling of nasolabial folds include:

A quick process of smoothing wrinkles in the nasolabial area.
The appearance becomes younger and fresher.
Minimal likelihood of an allergic reaction and complications.
A more affordable method compared to Botox, other injections and implantations.
In addition to improving and rejuvenating your appearance, lipofilling is a minimally invasive therapy and there are no side effects after it.
Reduces scars and makes the skin better and more elastic.

Flaws:

In the first days after the procedure, swelling and bruising may appear at the puncture sites.
Taking baths, visiting saunas and steam baths is prohibited for 30 days after surgery.
The final result can be seen only after a month, since the implanted tissue needs to take root.
If fat is applied unevenly, bumps and asymmetry may appear on the face.
Possibility of infectious infection.
Postoperative pain syndrome.

Stages of implementation

The fat grafting process begins with assessing the person's overall health and selecting the area for fat extraction. Usually the sampling is done from the thighs or abdomen. The manipulation is performed with a special syringe with an atraumatic cannula through small 5mm incisions.

Thanks to this, scars do not remain and bleeding does not start. Then the fat cells are separated into toxins, wastes, and fats using a centrifuge. The already purified fat is injected in small layers into the desired location on the face. If everything is injected at once, this will lead to necrosis and tissue rejection.

For this, very thin needles are used that do not leave marks. It will be easier for cells to take root in a new location, since the surface of the lipocytes will be preserved. The skin will turn a little red and there will be some swelling, but it will go away after a while. Some cells will resolve, but over time blood capillaries will grow into the rest, and they will finally take root.

The duration of the procedure can be from 45 minutes to 3 hours. It all depends on the amount of fat that needs to be injected. The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis and many patients only need a few days to recover. If you plan to inject a large amount of fat, then you need to be prepared to spend 5 days in cosmetology.

Before and after the procedure

Contraindications to the procedure

Before visiting a professional cosmetology office, be sure to consult with your doctor. You may have contraindications:

severe somatic diseases;
the presence of dermatological defects in the area of nasolabial folds;
herpes or other acute viral and infectious diseases;
blood clotting disorder;
During pregnancy and breastfeeding;
epilepsy and mental illness;
tendency to form colloidal scars.

We have listed only the main contraindications. Also, this technique may be incompatible with taking certain medications or individual characteristics of the body.

From this article you learned what fillers are and how they are used to correct nasolabial folds. The results before and after the procedure in the photos above indicate the high effectiveness of this technique. In conclusion, we invite you to watch a video in which a cosmetologist will talk about fillers, their types, advantages and disadvantages. This video will definitely help you make the right choice.

Recovery process

Since lipofilling is a minimally invasive method, recovery after it occurs almost unnoticeably. Some people go back to work within two or three days after the operation and begin to live in their usual rhythm. However, it is possible that unpleasant sensations may occur:

Slight swelling and tension in the nasolabial triangle.
The skin becomes less sensitive.
The appearance of bruises and yellowness at the puncture site.

The above effects disappear within 7 days. And after three weeks there will be no traces or symptoms reminiscent of the procedure. The fat mass needs two months to take root, then the nasolabial folds will smooth out. After this, the effectiveness of lipofilling can be assessed.

In some patients, the skin structure improves, it becomes smooth and elastic. The result of this method lasts for a long period, only in rare cases not for long.

The difference between fillers and lipofilling of nasolabial folds

Fillers containing hyaluronic acid have many advantages. With their help, you can not only get rid of wrinkles, but also correct an asymmetrical face, add volume to your lips or cheekbones. They help speed up metabolism and stimulate rejuvenation processes. Due to their wide range, you can choose a filler for a specific part of the face.

Lipofilling was invented even before the advent of fillers, and has a number of disadvantages. During fat transfer, half of the cells die, so a repeat procedure may be necessary. However, it has one big advantage. Since lipofilling involves transplanting your own fat, it means that allergies or incompatibility are impossible. This is a good alternative for people who are intolerant to fillers.

Fillers

Fillers

are fillers that are used to rejuvenate and remove wrinkles. They may be collagen, polylactic acid or calcium.

Their main task is to replenish the lost volume in the tissues, due to which wrinkles are smoothed out. Fillers are also used to correct the shape of lips, cheeks, cheekbones, and chin.

This method of getting rid of wrinkles is very popular and has several positive qualities:

quick and non-traumatic procedure;
low percentage of complications;
the composition of the drug has a beneficial effect on the skin;
the product is quickly absorbed and eliminated from the body on its own;
if necessary, the drug can be removed.

When wondering what to choose: filler or lipofilling, you first need to decide what problem you need to deal with.

In fact, these are two identical methods with the only difference being the drug and its effect on the problem. They can eliminate wrinkles and correct facial features. A controversial issue arises only in the area around the eyes, where the skin is very delicate and thin. Here, cosmetologists have not come to a consensus on which procedure is best to carry out: lipofilling under the eyes or fillers.

Contraindications and indications

No ideal cosmetic procedure or plastic surgery has yet been invented. Lipofilling has its own characteristics:

Women with an athletic build may not have enough fat cells to perform this method.
If the surgeon is not experienced, there is a possibility that he will inject the fat unevenly, and then asymmetry of the nasolabial folds will be noticeable on the face. It is important to choose an experienced and qualified physician in advance.
Due to the destruction of a certain amount of fat by the immune system, an excess amount of material is initially introduced. Therefore, at first after the operation it will seem that the face is in a swollen state.
In many cases, the result of lipofilling remains throughout life, but there are cases when all the fat is absorbed after two or three months. The reason for this can only be the individual characteristics of metabolism or the patient’s immunity.

Before the procedure begins, the patient is prescribed a series of tests to help determine contraindications to the operation. Lipofilling is not performed:

Pregnancy and lactation period.
Severe chronic diseases.
Acute infectious diseases.
Disease of the skin of the face or at the site of fat collection.

Indications include:

The appearance of age-related folds in the nasolabial triangle.
Acquired defects in the nasolabial folds.
Hereditary predisposition to early facial wrinkles.
Wrinkles arranged asymmetrically due to characteristic features or certain diseases.

In which areas is lipofilling performed?

Indications for lipofilling are:

Natural flaws in appearance (excessively sunken cheeks or cheekbones, deep-set eyes, necessity);

Age-related changes in the hands (protruding veins and tendons, wrinkles, blood vessels);

Scars and tissue defects after operations and injuries;

Small volume of the breasts (lipofilling can enlarge the breasts by about one size), legs or buttocks.

Which is better: lipolifting or hyaluronic acid?

The question is incorrect for the reason that the result of contouring in both cases depends solely on the patient’s body.

Some patients may not have enough fat tissue to be transplanted, in which case hyaluronic acid fillers are the best option.

Other patients may have an allergic reaction to hyaluronic acid and their only option is lipofilling.

Contour plastic surgery with hyaluronic acid takes less time, it is a simpler procedure, and the result is visible much faster - in about 2-3 days - whereas after lipofilling the effect will be noticeable only after a month. Fat cells take root slowly and not all of them, and often, to fill the missing volume, more procedures may be needed than with hyaluronic acid injections. However, engrafted fat cells can, in some cases, retain volume longer than hyaluronic fillers. However, some plastic surgeons and cosmetologists note that predicting exactly how fat will be absorbed is much more difficult than with hyaluronic fillers.

The overall effect of both procedures is approximately the same: wrinkles are smoothed out, the skin becomes younger, cosmetic defects are eliminated, and in general, no specialist can say that one method is significantly better or worse than the other.

First-hand opinion: honestly about lipofilling

Plastic surgeons often hear requests from patients: give me facial plastic surgery to look younger. But rejuvenation does not always require surgery - there are many alternative ways to correct the oval of the face, smooth out wrinkles, and give the face volume and radiance, like in youth. One of these methods is correction using the patient’s own fat cells, or lipofilling.

Pirus Vladimir Petrovich,

plastic surgeon at the Visit-Cosmetic cosmetic surgery clinic, Master of Medicine. Full member of the All-Ukrainian Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons since 2002. Full member of the Russian Association of Plastic Surgeons since 2000. Representative of the French school of plastic surgeons in Ukraine.

Official certified international trainer of Allergan in contouring and botulinum therapy. Regular participant in international congresses and trainings on plastic surgery in near and far abroad.

Review

Olga At the age of 35, I decided to put my face in order, started going to a cosmetologist and finally decided to undergo lipofilling of the nasolabial folds. I was pleasantly pleased with the result. The procedure is almost painless, there was slight discomfort only at the beginning, then the anesthesia took effect and there were no sensations. Afterwards a small hematoma appeared, but the doctor assured that it would go away soon. And so it happened three days later. I had lipofilling done six months ago, the effect still lasts. I was satisfied with everything.