alloClae™ in Chicago

What if you could achieve the soft, natural-looking volume associated with fat grafting — without having to harvest fat from your own body?

At Northwestern Specialists in Plastic Surgery, we are proud to offer alloClae™, an innovative structural adipose tissue designed to restore volume, smooth contour irregularities, and refine areas of the breast and body where fat naturally exists.

Unlike traditional fat grafting, alloClae does not require liposuction to harvest your own fat. And unlike traditional synthetic dermal fillers, alloClae is derived from donated human adipose tissue.

This creates an entirely new option for body contouring — particularly for patients who are thin, do not have enough donor fat for traditional fat transfer, want to avoid a surgical fat-harvesting procedure, or need precise correction of smaller contour irregularities.

No liposuction. No implants. No synthetic body filler.

Just targeted structural adipose tissue placed exactly where additional volume and support are needed.

Both alloClae and Renuva are derived from donated human adipose tissue, but they are not the same product.

Renuva is primarily an adipose extracellular matrix, meaning it provides a biologic scaffold that the body can gradually remodel and replace with the patient's own tissue.

alloClae is a structural adipose tissue allograft designed to provide immediate physical volume and support while preserving important components of the natural architecture of adipose tissue.

This structural difference makes alloClae particularly well suited for larger-volume and body-contouring applications, including breast contour irregularities, visible implant rippling, hip dips, and localized contour deficiencies.

Neither treatment requires liposuction or harvesting the patient's own fat. The best option depends on the treatment area, amount of volume required, and the patient's individual anatomy.

alloClae may be an excellent option for patients who:

• Want subtle, natural-looking volume enhancement
• Have limited donor fat for traditional fat grafting
• Want to avoid liposuction
• Have visible breast implant rippling
• Want to improve small breast contour irregularities
• Have localized hip dips or asymmetry
• Have small contour irregularities following liposuction
• Need precise volume restoration rather than large-volume augmentation
• Prefer to avoid synthetic body fillers
• Want an option with limited downtime
• Have realistic expectations about the amount of volume alloClae can provide

Patients seeking dramatic or large-volume body augmentation may be better candidates for surgical body contouring or traditional fat grafting when adequate donor fat is available.

Your consultation allows us to determine not only whether alloClae can be used — but whether it is actually the best tool for the result you want.

One of the most exciting aspects of alloClae is its versatility.

Because alloClae is designed for placement in areas where fat naturally exists, it can be used to address a variety of breast and body contour concerns.

Breast Contouring

alloClae can be particularly useful for subtle breast contour correction.

Potential applications include:

• Improving visible breast implant rippling
• Adding soft-tissue coverage over an implant
• Refining the cleavage or décolletage
• Correcting small contour irregularities
• Improving breast symmetry
• Restoring localized areas of volume loss
• Refining the appearance of reconstructed breasts
• Adding subtle volume without placing an additional implant

For patients who have undergone breast augmentation or reconstruction, small contour irregularities can sometimes remain even when the overall surgical result is excellent.

Traditionally, we may use fat grafting to camouflage these areas.

alloClae allows us to accomplish similar targeted volume restoration without requiring liposuction to harvest the patient's own fat.

Hip Dips and Lower Body Contouring

Hip dips are natural indentations between the hip and upper thigh caused largely by skeletal anatomy and the distribution of soft tissue.

Some patients love them. Others prefer a smoother transition from the waist into the hips.

alloClae can be strategically placed into localized areas of volume deficiency to:

• Soften the appearance of hip dips
• Improve hip symmetry
• Create smoother transitions between body contours
• Refine smaller areas of gluteal contour
• Restore localized areas of volume loss

This is not intended to replace a surgical Brazilian Butt Lift or create dramatic large-volume augmentation.

Instead, alloClae is particularly exciting for precision contouring — making targeted adjustments that can create a meaningful difference in overall body shape.

Correcting Liposuction Irregularities

Even well-performed liposuction can occasionally leave small areas of indentation or contour irregularity as the tissues heal.

These irregularities may be especially visible in thinner patients.

alloClae provides another tool for correcting these localized areas.

Rather than performing additional liposuction or harvesting fat from another part of the body, structural adipose tissue can be carefully placed beneath the skin to provide support and smooth the transition between surrounding tissues.

This makes alloClae particularly useful for small, precise contour corrections where only a limited amount of additional volume is needed.

One of the biggest limitations of traditional fat grafting is something patients cannot control:

You cannot transfer fat that you do not have.

Very lean patients may have excellent skin quality and otherwise be ideal candidates for contour enhancement, yet have insufficient donor fat for meaningful fat grafting.

Even when some fat is available, performing liposuction in an already-thin patient may not be desirable.

alloClae changes that conversation.

Because the adipose tissue does not need to be harvested from your body, patients with limited donor fat may now have an option for targeted volume restoration that previously would have been difficult to achieve.

This can be especially helpful for:

• Thin or athletic patients
• Patients with visible breast implant rippling
• Patients with very little donor fat after breast reconstruction
• Patients with localized hip dips
• Patients requiring small-volume contour correction
• Patients who want fat-like volume without undergoing liposuction

For the right patient, this may open the door to treatments that previously were not practical.

Both alloClae and traditional fat grafting can be valuable tools for restoring natural-looking volume. The better option depends on your anatomy, goals, available donor fat, and the amount of volume required.

Source of tissue: Donated human adipose tissue

Liposuction required: No

Donor site required: No

Additional surgical site: No fat-harvesting site is necessary

Best for: Targeted, localized volume restoration and contour refinement

Particularly useful for: Thin patients, implant rippling, small breast contour irregularities, hip dips, asymmetry, and smaller-volume corrections

Treatment setting: May be performed as an in-office treatment or incorporated into a surgical procedure when appropriate

Downtime: Typically limited compared with surgical fat harvesting

TRADITIONAL FAT GRAFTING

Source of tissue: Your own fat

Liposuction required: Yes

Donor site required: Yes

Additional surgical site: Fat must be harvested from another area of the body

Best for: Patients who have adequate donor fat and require moderate or larger-volume fat transfer

Particularly useful for: Breast reconstruction, breast contouring, larger areas of volume restoration, and patients who also desire liposuction

Treatment setting: Surgical procedure

Downtime: Includes recovery of both the treatment area and liposuction donor sites

Neither treatment is universally better.

For patients with adequate donor fat who also want body contouring through liposuction, traditional fat grafting may remain the better option.

For a thin patient who only needs a small amount of precisely placed volume, however, alloClae may eliminate the need to perform an additional procedure simply to obtain fat.

For some patients, the best approach does not have to be alloClae or traditional fat grafting — it can incorporate both.

Some patients have enough donor fat to harvest, but not enough to achieve the degree of volume or contour correction they desire. In these cases, your surgeon may recommend a hybrid approach combining autologous fat grafting with alloClae as part of the same treatment plan.

Your own fat can be harvested through liposuction, purified, and transferred to the treatment area. alloClae can then provide an additional source of structural adipose tissue to help achieve the desired volume and contour when the amount of available donor fat is limited.

This approach may be especially useful for thin or athletic patients who have some harvestable fat but not enough to accomplish their aesthetic goals with fat grafting alone.

A combined approach may be considered for:

• Breast volume enhancement when available donor fat is limited
• Breast implant rippling or contour irregularities requiring additional soft-tissue coverage
• Breast reconstruction where additional volume or contour refinement is desired
• Hip dips and body contouring when greater volume is needed than the patient's available donor fat can provide
• Patients who want the benefits of liposuction and fat transfer but need additional volume beyond what can safely or reasonably be harvested

The amount of your own fat and alloClae used will depend on your anatomy, available donor sites, treatment area, and desired outcome.

For patients with abundant donor fat, traditional fat grafting alone may still be the preferred treatment. For patients with very little donor fat, alloClae alone may be appropriate. And for patients who fall somewhere in between, a customized combination approach gives us another option for achieving the desired volume without being limited solely by how much fat can be harvested.

Patients often ask whether alloClae is simply a "body filler."

It is important to understand the distinction.

Traditional injectable fillers are manufactured products commonly composed of materials such as hyaluronic acid or other synthetic or biosynthetic substances.

alloClae is different.

It is derived from donated human adipose tissue and is designed specifically for placement in areas of the body where fat naturally exists.

That makes alloClae an exciting option for patients seeking soft-tissue volume restoration without using a traditional synthetic filler.

Rather than thinking of alloClae as facial filler for the body, it is more useful to think of it as structural adipose tissue for targeted body contouring.

One of the major advantages of alloClae is that treatment does not require liposuction to harvest your own fat.

Your provider will first evaluate the treatment area and carefully mark the locations where additional volume or structural support is needed.

The area is cleansed and prepared, and local anesthesia may be used for comfort when appropriate.

alloClae is prepared and then carefully placed beneath the skin in precise locations to restore volume, improve contour, or smooth an irregularity.

Because there is no fat-harvesting procedure, there are no liposuction incisions or donor sites to recover from.

Depending on the treatment area and amount of product required, alloClae treatment may be performed in the office or incorporated into another surgical procedure.

One of the benefits of alloClae is that volume correction is visible immediately after treatment.

The treated area may initially have some swelling, which can temporarily affect its appearance.

As swelling resolves and the tissues settle, the final contour becomes easier to appreciate.

The goal is not to create an exaggerated or artificial appearance.

Instead, alloClae allows us to strategically restore volume where it is missing, creating smoother transitions, improved symmetry, and natural-looking contour.

Because alloClae does not require liposuction or surgical fat harvesting, recovery is generally much more streamlined than traditional fat grafting.

Patients may experience:

• Mild swelling
• Tenderness
• Bruising
• Temporary firmness
• Mild discomfort at the treatment site

Many patients can return to normal daily activity relatively quickly, although recommendations vary depending on the treatment area and amount of product placed.

The manufacturer reports that many patients return to normal activity within approximately 24–48 hours.

Your provider will give you individualized instructions regarding exercise, compression garments, massage, sleeping position, and activity based on the area treated.

alloClae is designed to provide structural volume using naturally derived adipose tissue.

Results may be lasting, but the longevity of any aesthetic treatment can vary depending on the treatment area, amount used, individual anatomy, lifestyle, aging, and changes in body weight.

During your consultation, we will discuss realistic expectations for both the initial result and long-term outcome.

alloClae is marketed as a Human Cell and Tissue Product (HCT/P) and is derived from donated human tissue.

Donor tissue is subject to donor screening and testing requirements intended to reduce the risk of transmission of communicable disease.

alloClae does not contain viable cells and is intended for single-patient use.

As with any procedure, treatment is not risk-free.

Potential complications can include pain, infection, hematoma, cyst or nodule formation, allergic or immune reactions, and skin discoloration at the treatment site.

alloClae should not be used in the presence of active infection or in patients with certain severe allergy histories, including severe allergen sensitivities or a history of anaphylaxis.

Your medical history will be reviewed during your consultation to determine whether alloClae is appropriate for you.

alloClae may be an excellent option for patients who:

• Want subtle, natural-looking volume enhancement
• Have limited donor fat for traditional fat grafting
• Want to avoid liposuction
• Have visible breast implant rippling
• Want to improve small breast contour irregularities
• Have localized hip dips or asymmetry
• Have small contour irregularities following liposuction
• Need precise volume restoration rather than large-volume augmentation
• Prefer to avoid synthetic body fillers
• Want an option with limited downtime
• Have realistic expectations about the amount of volume alloClae can provide

Patients seeking dramatic or large-volume body augmentation may be better candidates for surgical body contouring or traditional fat grafting when adequate donor fat is available.

Your consultation allows us to determine not only whether alloClae can be used — but whether it is actually the best tool for the result you want.

For years, there has been a gap in body contouring.

Patients could use their own fat — but only if they had enough fat to harvest and were willing to undergo liposuction.

They could consider implants for certain areas — but implants are not appropriate for every contour concern.

And traditional synthetic fillers were not designed to replicate natural adipose tissue throughout the body.

alloClae introduces another option.

Real adipose tissue. No fat harvesting. Precise volume exactly where it is needed.

For thin patients, patients with breast implant rippling, patients with subtle contour irregularities, or anyone who wants targeted volume restoration without undergoing liposuction, alloClae may provide a solution that previously did not exist.

Schedule a consultation with Northwestern Specialists in Plastic Surgery in Chicago to learn whether alloClae is right for you.