With the disaster of the PIP breast implants still very fresh in the memory, which is seen in France as a disaster of national importance, the future appears to belong very much to Autologous Fat Transfer.
The traditional methods developed by Dr Coleman have proven a little unpredictable, while the stem cell enriched fat transfer still has uncertainty concerning its long term safety. Fat harvested by Water Assisted Liposuction devices appears to offer the best option, with a fat survival rate of 85%. Such systems have been used in the NHS with great success for 18 months in breast reconstruction after mastectomy, and are certainly an option when removing Breast Implants. So this is certainly an alternative for someone caught up in the PIP fiasco.
With the predictability of fat transfer improving so much, together with the development of ultra slim walled flexible cannula, Autologous Fat Transfer is now seen as the ultimate volumizer/filler for the face, hands and décolletage.
The Fat gives an instant improvement, but with its naturally high content of Stem Cells, the volume and skin condition continue to show an improvement for up to a year. Reported longevity of the result is about 10yrs, although this can be greatly reduced by underlying ill-health or excessive weight loss. Also you should note that most practitioners will refuse to carry out the procedure on smokers.
For the surface of the skin, the ‘it’ machines appeared to be the new generation of Fractional Radio-Frequency devices. The crown previously worn by the Fractional Carbon Dioxide Laser appears to be under threat, however it remains to be seen how effective, pain free with little downtime these treatments’ will prove to be in the real world of clinical practice.
Photo Dynamic Therapy continues to be used extensively in the US and Europe, but strangely very little in the UK. It is proving very effective with Skin Photorejuvenation, Severe Sun Damage, Superficial Skin Cancers and Acne. For Acne a new device ‘The Lustre’ was launched in Paris for home PDT to be used by patients, and has already proved very popular.