LIPOSTRUCTURE® - FAT GRAFTING TECHNIQUE
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INJECTED FAT REPAIRS AND REJUVENATES SKIN
Research points to natural healing by stem cells
By Dr. Sydney Coleman
Transplanted fat repairs damaged and aging skin naturally. Plastic surgery rejuvenation operations have traditionally focused upon tightening and more recently plumping out the aging face and hands. The next step in surgical rejuvenation is transforming the skin itself into a more youthful, healthy condition.
I have made an historic observation about the effect of injecting fat under skin using LipoStructure®, a specific fat grafting technique which I developed and is used by physicians world-wide. While performing fat grafts into the face and hands for two decades, I observed a consistent and dramatic enhancement in the quality of the skin overlying grafted fat. The condition of sun-damaged, aging skin improves much more than could be expected from merely restoring volume with the injected fat; and the improvement progresses for up to ten years. Likewise, I have observed remarkable repair of scars treated with fat grafting. I presented these findings at the 2005 annual meetings of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgery.
It is the observation of plastic surgeons the world over that transplanted fat is doing something much more important than merely replacing volume. The newly injected fat appears to be contributing to the healing of tissue around where it is placed. Recent scientific research indicates that these positive effects of fat grafting may be from the repair of skin by stem cells. Fat has the greatest number of stem cells of any tissue in the adult human body. Scientific research into the potential healing properties of fat has demonstrated that stem cells are involved in normal skin repair and may promote healing by creating a new blood supply for damaged tissues.
A recent study from Italy demonstrated that injecting fat under skin with severe radiation damage causes capillaries to create a new blood supply. With the new normal blood supply, severely radiation damaged skin becomes normal and healthy. This may explain some of the effect that I have observed when grafted fat is placed under aging, sun-damaged skin. The stem cells make capillaries and increase the blood flow, allowing the recovery of skin damaged from exposure to the sun’s radiation.
LipoStructure Fat Grafting - What You Can Expect
I tell my patients that within the first four months after one LipoStructure treatment there will be a remarkable improvement in the quality of their skin. The wrinkles flatten, the pores become smaller, and the color of the skin is more even and usually lighter. A subtle progressive enhancement of the quality of the overlying skin continues for five to ten years without further treatments.
Fat grafting is already being used in Europe, not only for treating radiation damage but also for treating chronic ulcers, vocal cord damage, and scars. These successful medical applications use the fat grafting technique I invented, LipoStructure. Our goal now is to figure out exactly what is causing the healing effect on tissue surrounding grafted fat. Most research points to stem cells contained in the fatty tissue. Research into the stem cells in fat is ongoing and accelerating at plastic surgery centers throughout the world.
For More Information, please visit www.lipostructure.com.
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Dr. Sydney Coleman
Dr. Coleman is board certified in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He is an assistant clinical professor at the New York University School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgery, International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the International Consortium of Plastic Surgeons. He is a member of the Technology Assessment Committee for the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation and a member of the Emerging Trends and Innovative Procedures Committee of the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
His hospital affiliations include NYU Downtown Hospital, New York Eye & Ear Infirmary, and Manhattan Ear, Eye & Throat Hospital. Due to the demand by other surgeons for training in the technique, Dr. Coleman has published articles on LipoStructure®, lectured extensively at conferences all over the world, and regularly receives other plastic surgeons for observations of LipoStructure at his office. He recently published Structural Fat Grafting, a 430-page medical textbook by Quality Medical Publishing (QMP.com) describing in detail the technique of LipoStructure for the hands, face, and body.
