Hi,
I am in my early 30s, never had children, and had breast fat transfer and facial fat transfer at SW1 with Dr. Tan Ying Chien. I am sharing my experiences for those who might be interested in this procedure. As I probably will not check back on this forum often, I am leaving as comprehensive a review as I can. For reference, fat was transferred from my tummy, love handles and back to my breasts, forehead and undereye hollows.
I did a lot of research on breast fat transfer beforehand. Unlike implants, where you can go to your ideal size in one surgery, I understand that on average, you can only go up about 1 cup size per round of fat transfer. This is because the fat must find a blood supply to survive. If too much is transferred at one go, then the fat will die and get re-absorbed, or, worse, form large calcified lumps inside the breast. Surgeon skill does have an impact on these results, since the appropriate amount of fat must be removed, processed, and injected very meticulously to maximize their chances of survival.
I chose to consult with Dr. Tan because, firstly, he’s a licensed and experienced plastic surgeon. I did ask about pricing before my initial consult. Although there were cheaper options both locally and abroad, I saw that in some of the overseas clinics, surgeries are performed by GPs, and I preferred to go to a plastic surgeon to get mine done. I believe that Dr. Tan is priced competitively for his qualification and experience level.
Further, from my research, I saw that Dr. Tan is experienced with doing breast work, and this turned out to be important for me since he was about to correct the asymmetry in my breasts in a way that was aesthetically pleasing. For me, one breast was noticeably smaller and less round, so Dr. Tan had to be creative in injecting the fat in different areas of the breast to not only increase its volume but to improve the shape.
During my initial consult, Dr. Tan was candid about his track record for this surgery (results achieved, what percentage of fat on average ‘took’ for most of his patients). Since I said outright that I would not consider implants, we only talked about fat transfer. He checked to see if I had enough fat to do the surgery in the first place (I appear quite slim), asked where I would prefer to have fat removed, checked my skin laxity etc., then advised me that he felt I would be a good candidate for the procedure. He did not hard sell me anything and only offered me solutions in direct response to my aesthetic concerns.
Since I was doing breast fat transfer, which happens under General Anesthesia, I decided to also ask about transferring some fat to my face during the same surgery. With regards to facial rejuvenation, Dr. Tan was able to advise me on more options than another aesthetic doctor that I have consulted with in the past. Although the other doctor was also quite good, as a GP, he had a more limited number of options (mostly just artificial fillers/botox/laser), so I think that this is another upside to consulting an actual plastic surgeon – they have a larger array of options to offer, and can talk about their personal experiences with regards to the success of the more creative options. The downside is that Dr. Tan has a waitlist for surgery, so I had to wait around 2 months to schedule my actual surgery.
Dr. Tan did 6 months of checkups with me. Although I could walk immediately after the surgery, and resume normal activities very soon after, full recovery from all the bruising and swelling associated with liposuction actually takes 6 months. During this time, I was free to text Dr. Tan’s assistant, Phyllis, with any questions, and she would check these with him immediately to alleviate any concerns in a very expedient manner. I don’t think that I could have had the comfort of this level of post-surgery care had I gone overseas to do this (assuming air travel post-Covid resumes, of course).
I am now approximately 1 year post surgery. My breasts are 3 inches larger, and my waist is 1 inch smaller. My breasts look symmetrical. I can wear bikinis with confidence. I don’t bother with my push up bras anymore. I can’t fit into them anyway.
Due to swelling, breast size is very large immediately post-surgery, then starts to go down with time. I think that mine stabilized within 3 months post surgery.
A well fitted bra for me now is a 70D. Before, I used to be about 70B. That said, do note that a 70D is not so large since it is a small band (Maybe comparable to a 75B). As I am overall quite slim, it would never have been possible for me to go very large with fat transfer, as I don’t have that much fat anyway. That said, the size difference is significant and apparent on my frame. Whilst I was very bottom heavy with a pear shape before, the surgery has helped to balance out my figure.
I did experience weight fluctuation post-surgery as I started exercising a lot. That said, every time I lose or gain an inch on my waist, I also lose and gain an inch on my breasts, so that my overall shape post- surgery is still improved at every weight.
Before:
Waist: 69cm / 27inches
Chest: 74cm / 29inches
1 Year Post Surgery (in conjunction with small weight loss)
Waist: 66cm / 26inches
Chest: 81cm / 32inches
Regarding the facial fat transfer, I transferred some fat to my undereye hollows and forehead. The fat has remained. As a pleasant side effect, my crows feet that had started to appear actually diminished significantly. Dr. Tan only told me post-surgery that this sometimes happens, due to the stem cells inside the transferred fat. The lessening of the crows feet was actually quite significant. I used to botox that area but now I don’t have to.
Post Surgery:
There was a lot of bruising from the liposuction, as was to be expected. The bruises faded quite quickly for me. There is some discoloration from the insertion points of the liposuction and fat transfer. The ones on my face faded very quickly (as they were small to start with), the ones on my body have faded over time. Post liposuction, you have to wear a compression garment for a few weeks to help with the healing.
If I press my undereye area, I can feel some slight small lumps under the transferred fat there. Dr. Tan says that this is scar tissue, as sometimes happens. The undereye area is quite delicate. Nonetheless, the lumps are quite small and harmless. It is not visible at all, nor do I notice it unless I press hard on the area to feel if its still there. Versus hollow under-eyes, I would still have done the fat transfer here.
The main side effects I was concerned about were lumps in my breasts and loss of fat volume from the dying fat cells. I experienced no lumps in my breasts and no loss of fat volume after the initial 3 month mark.
Overall, I will say that the bruising and other discomforts are quite trivial as compared to the result. Facially, my friends say I look younger even though they can’t pinpoint why. And, my breasts are visibly bigger, fuller, and rounder with nicer cleavage. I only wish I had done this when I was younger. As it is my own fat, I do feel that the result is very natural.
Results are dependent on both the doctor’s skill and the patient’s physiology as well. For example, I am keen to do the surgery again, but Dr. Tan has advised me that since I am slimmer now, I will probably not see as much an improvement in volume as before. Nonetheless, the size increase that he told me was achievable seems meaningful to me, so I have decided to schedule myself in for another round. I am doing this again with Dr. Tan as I was very happy with the first round of results, and I trust that he will give me the best result possible.
