Say you want a fuller face.  A surgeon sucks out a little fat via needle and syringe or cannula from your belly or hips, then injects it into your cheeks or lips, smoothing wrinkles and restoring a youthful plumpness.  Since the cells were yours to begin with, there’s no chance of allergic reaction or rejection.  Sounds like stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, doesn’t it?

Still, fat grafting is the lowest rated procedure at RealSelf.com, primarily because of its unpredictability.  Fat is living tissue and has to be kept alive to properly plump its new location.  Fat grafting involves harvesting, processing and re-injecting, and some of the fat cells are going to die during the process. The question is, just what percentage will become useless.  As one plastic surgeon on RealSelf put it, it is highly dependent on technique.  Another variable is that the fat could be reabsorbed into your body, and the so-called experts can’t seem to agree whether the results are permanent.

Additionally, if you want to kick up a little controversy, get a few plastic surgeons together and ask about fat transfer for breast augmentation. In 2007, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons came out against the procedure for breast enlargement, because there is little or no data that shows it is better or safer than using silicone or saline implants.  Some doctors also argue that if the transferred fat dies, it can leave behind scar tissue or calcifications. It can also hamper cancer screenings, and it remains a hot-button issue..

From people who have had it done, however, especially in their cheeks and hands, fat grafting usually wins high praise.  Some recent studies show that because the fat is rich in mature stem cells, fat grafts to your face and cheeks may improve your complexion.  It is outpatient surgery, requiring a day or two of downtime to allow the harvest sites to heal.    The cost of the procedure varies widely, not only by region and surgeon, but also depending on where you having the injections (lips will be less than butts).

For more information, PlasticSurgery.com is a good resource.

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Stem cells are known to regenerate tissue and repair damage.  The controversial part is that stem cells with the most potential for serious medical treatment are embryonic in nature, and that poses ethical problems.  But now, clinicians are testing the results of using a person’s own fat-derived stem cells in various cosmetic treatments to reconstruct and rebuild lost tissue in less invasive ways. Injecting adult stem cells into the face can make pores become smaller, and make general skin tone fuller brighter and fuller.  Fat grafting, which has always been problematic because of uneven reabsorption issues, becomes less problematic when stem cells are added.  It seems to cause the fat to stay in place longer and even generate new cells. Who knew? Fat could be the gift that keeps on giving!

Plastic surgeons have high hopes for stems cells, too.  The Stem Cell Facelift is a new procedure being tested in the European Union and Japan, where physicians inject the patient’s own stem cells into the wound of the facelift.  Reports claim that with the addition of the cells, healing is quicker and the results of the facelift continue to improve as the new cells keep regenerating.  For breast reconstruction, using fat that has been enhanced with stem cells may replace the need for silicone or saline implants.

Don’t get too excited – the FDA has yet to weigh in on this and much more research has yet to be done in the U.S.  Of course, that hasn’t stopped the cosmetic companies from capitalizing on the concept.   Never mind that real stem cells could never be put into products because they would die immediately.  Several anti-aging creams are targeting stem cells in the skin for repair, using plant stem cells – specifically from apples – as ingredients and producing conditions “around existing stem cells” that would cause them to grow.  You can bet there will be more products, and soon.

The most unusual product we’ve seen is C’ELLE, a $500 system for capturing your own stem cells from menstrual blood and sending them to the company for preservation of up to a year ($99 for each subsequent year.)   Someone isn’t all that keen about this idea, though. “The C’ELLE service is not currently available to New York state residents.”

Do we have something to thank Andrew Cuomo for again?

• MakeMeHeal.com published a fairly extensive review of the Stem Cell Facelift.
• Stem cells basics, including the use of adult cells, can be found on the National Institute for Health website.
• How the fat-derived cells are harvested is no small matter, as this doctor explains.