Hand Rejuvenation with Fat Grafting

Turn Back the Hands of Time with Fat Transfer to Hands

When it comes to aging, we all worry about our faces, but your hands can give away your age in seconds. Maintaining an excellent facial skincare regime is great and all, but the moment you put your hand up to your face, the disparity can be stark.

Just like our faces, our hands are pretty much always out in the open, exposed and vulnerable to environmental elements like the sun's harsh rays. As a result, the backs of the hands are more prone to rapid aging due to sun damage and tissue atrophy. As volume is gradually lost from this area and skin loses its elasticity, hands that once appeared soft and youthfully full, now take on a texture that resembles crate paper. As hands lose their supporting fullness from under the dermis, underlying veins, joints and tendons become much more pronounced and enlarged. This loss of volume essentially gives the hands a hollow, almost skeletal appearance.

The good news is that with the propagation of newer, noninvasive filler materials and cosmetic treatments, effective hand rejuvenation has become much easier to achieve than it was years ago. Injectable fillers and volumizers have given physicians the capability to turn back the hands of time, often shaving off 10 - 15 years in the matter of a day.

While artificial fillers can successfully correct some age-related damage, it can get expensive if a large volume is required. With autologous fat transfer to the hands, because the material is harvested from your own body, and most people have more than enough to spare, larger deficits can in turn be filled in using this natural filler. In addition, using fat transfer (or fat grafting) for hand rejuvenation eliminates the risk of an allergic reaction since it is your body's own tissue being used. Furthermore, fat injection results are more permanent and will typically last anywhere from 3 - 5 years, whereas synthetic fillers last around 6 - 8 months before touch ups are required.

Fortunately, the techniques and technology used for harvesting fat for facial and hand rejuvenation have improved significantly in recent years. Fat used for hand rejuvenation procedures is typically removed from areas like the abdomen and thighs, where excess fat deposits frequently reside. The procedure is performed in our office using a safe, local anesthetic. The harvested fat is then purified and carefully reinjected into the hand, filling in hollow areas and restoring a more youthful and voluminous contour to the hands.

For more information about Hand Rejuvenation, please contact us at Parkway Plastic Surgery.