Dr Hollenbach is one of only a few cosmetic facial plastic surgeons offering lipofilling fat transfer in Australia and is the only one regularly performing this technique in Newcastle which he has now been doing for over 10 years. He has a vast array of experience in this procedure and with his experience and expertise, he has developed his own technique to achieve the desired result.
Dr Hollenbach’s technique was derived initially from the pioneering Coleman fat transfer technique, but has been modified significantly. The process involves a combination of millifat and microfat transfer of fat by a variety of methods including the use of the Adi light which helps stimulate the growth factors in the fat before transferring them. Tiny aliquots of fat are then injected much as would be done with injection of dermal fillers in desired areas.
A thorough assessment of the areas to be volumised are assessed and it is imperative to know how much fat needs to be transferred into these areas. Almost everybody will benefit from some fat injected into the cheek area and also into the temple area at the lateral parts of the eyebrows. In addition, filling is performed around the eyelid sulcus superiorly between the eyelid fold and the area above this beneath the brows and similarly around the tear trough area in the lower lids. Of course, tailoring is paramount according to individual desires and needs.
The treatment is performed either in a private hospital under general anaesthesia or in Dr Hollenbach’s rooms with a twilight anaesthesia.
Some of our patients benefit from a new procedure called the Lipocube™ Nano™ which allows deposition of even finer aliquots of fat into more superficial subdermal tissues. Dr Hollenbach will advise you as to which is the preferable technique for your particular case.
Scarily, lipofilling has the same side effect profile as dermal fillers and the most horrible of these can lead to blindness and also ischaemia of skin tissues resulting in permanent damage to the skin itself. These effects are caused by fat embolisation and must be avoided and therefore this technique should only be done by very experienced surgeons, utilising the safest techniques to minimise these side effects.
Other possible problems include lumpiness around the injection sites which usually settle with time, asymmetry of the two sides of the face, and resorption of fat leading to less than ideal volumisation. Once again it’s imperative to have a very experienced surgeon such as Dr Hollenbach to perform this technique if you have decided that this is for you.
Despite the possibility of these side effects, Dr Hollenbach has not to this date had anybody suffer any of these aforementioned catastrophic side effects and his results reliably and consistently meet exceptions and he has had few, if any patients who have been unhappy with their results.
Lipofilling is becoming increasingly popular and certainly this is the case at Preface Cosmetic where we are now doing many more lipofilling procedures compared to 5 years ago, which of course is improving our expertise in this procedure. We are happy to discuss this further in our clinic.