LAM FACIAL PLASTICS

Hi Dr. Lam -

There is various opinions related to the transferring of fat. Some are indicating it should be done in multiple steps as the blood supply can only accomodate so much. They recommend freezing some fat for future use. However, that is different from your method?

Can you tell me if the first one is acceptable as well? Pros/Cons?

Thanks.

I think freezing fat is fine. I know one doc in the East Coast that swears by it and one who shows terrible disasters with it. In my opinion freezing fat is perfectly fine and should be safe and effective. However, I have no experience with it. Here are my thoughts why:
1. most of my patients do not require a touch-up so freezing fat is not worth it.
2. to keep frozen fat that i will not use in 90% of patients is problematic for several reasons. i do a fat transfer almost every day or every other day. that means i will be storing hundreds of tubes in a refrigerator that i will not use. too much a risk for accidentally switching out with another patient to cause a problem. when do i throw it out? also, it is illegal to run a tissue bank without a license, back up generators, labeling process, etc. plus, i have my own surgery center so doing a touch up is easy and quick and i can use fresh fat in the process.
3. the people that use frozen fat keep stuffing a face every few weeks to months. my personal opinion is that the individual will be overstuffed at a year or two if they do it my way. if they are not getting the fat to stick as well then they probably should freeze the fat. most people that think their fat has gone away have forgotten what they used to look like. i just saw a lady 3 years lady who thought her fat had all gone away until i showed her her photo. her mouth dropped open. it was night and day. we all forget what we used to look like.
that's a short summary of my opinion.
best,
sml