General information
Skin wrinkles are considered one of the most obvious signs of the aging process. They are usually caused by a natural decrease in the intrinsic elasticity and resilience of the skin and underlying tissues. At the beginning of the 25th year of life, the body and its metabolic performance begins to change drastically, which is why we speak of the beginning of skin aging from this point on.
The signs of aging do not manifest themselves in the same way in every person and the aging process does not always progress at the same speed. External factors (so-called exogenous factors) can have a negative influence on skin aging. Excessive consumption of nicotine and/or alcohol is considered a radical accelerator of skin aging. UV light also has a negative influence on the skin’s own elasticity and resilience and therefore accelerates skin aging enormously.
Correction methods
In wrinkle treatment, a basic distinction is made between two methods:
- On the one hand, the skin and/or the underlying tissue can be tightened surgically (so-called facelift)
- On the other hand, the wrinkles and unevenness in the skin’s appearance can be evened out by filling in.
- Another, but very controversial, method is the use of Botox (botulinum toxin), which causes paralysis of the facial muscles and thus corrects wrinkles.
- In contrast, wrinkle treatment with the patient’s own fat is a very gentle procedure, which, in comparison to Botox treatment and facelifting, carries much lower risks.
Implementation
Wrinkle treatment with autologous fat is a transplantation of the body’s own fatty tissue (synonym: lipofilling). This procedure is particularly suitable for filling large skin folds and/or soft tissue defects, as large volumes can also be inserted into the folds. In wrinkle treatment with autologous fat, the necessary fatty tissue is aspirated from selected parts of the body with the aid of a small cannula and then inserted into the area to be treated following sterile preparation.
Since the fat tissue is exclusively the body’s own fat, there is no risk of an allergic reaction or the risk of a rejection reaction. The actual treatment takes place under sterile conditions. In most cases, a local anaesthetic is completely sufficient, even an inpatient admission following the wrinkle treatment with the patient’s own fat is not necessary. The duration of the treatment depends primarily on the initial condition, the degree of sagging of the facial skin and the planned final result. As a rule, wrinkle treatment with autologous fat takes about two to three hours.