Your Feet Have Built-In Shock Absorbers

The bottom of your foot has a layer of fat tissue that works as a built-in cushion. This fat pad sits between your skin and the underlying bone, absorbing impact with every step. It is what allows you to walk on hard surfaces without pain.

Over time, this padding can thin out or wear down. This is known as fat pad atrophy.

What Causes Fat Pad Loss?

Several factors can cause the fat pad to thin:

• Aging, which causes the fat pad to gradually lose volume
• Repetitive stress from high-impact activities like running or jumping
• Years of wearing thin-soled shoes, sandals, flip-flops, or high heels
• Previous foot surgeries that may have altered the natural padding
• Medical conditions such as diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis
• Occupations that require prolonged standing or walking on hard surfaces

How Do You Know If You’ve Lost Your Fat Pad?

Patients with fat pad atrophy often describe very specific symptoms. Many say it feels like they are walking directly on bone, or that there is nothing between their feet and the floor. Others report a burning or sharp pain in the heel or ball of the foot, calluses that keep forming in the same spots, or pain that worsens when walking barefoot. Shoes that used to feel comfortable may start causing discomfort.

Without that fat pad, there is very little left between bone and ground. That leads to bruising of the bone, chronic pain, callus buildup, and in diabetic patients, pressure ulcers that can become dangerous.

Why Fat Pad Loss Matters for Diabetic Patients

For patients with diabetes and peripheral neuropathy, fat pad atrophy carries serious risk. According to a published clinical study, “plantar ulcers are the primary cause of amputations in patients with diabetic neuropathy, with a reported limb amputation rate exceeding 80% in this population” (PMC11349823). That same study reported that recurrence rates for plantar ulcers range from 20% to 80% within two months of wound closure.

Restoring the protective fat layer in these patients goes beyond pain relief. It can help prevent the pressure injuries that lead to infection, hospitalization, and amputation.

What Is Liposana?

Liposana is donated human fat tissue that has been processed and preserved while keeping its natural structure intact. It comes ready to use, so there is no need for liposuction or harvesting fat from the patient’s own body beforehand.

The product is made by Britecyte, Inc. and processed through LifeLink Tissue Bank, which is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and registered with the FDA and Health Canada. Liposana is regulated as a human tissue product (HCT/P) under Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act.

Its composition is about 90% fat cells and 10% extracellular matrix (ECM), which mirrors the makeup of the body’s own fat tissue. According to published clinical literature, it is “the only adipose allograft available to health care providers that retains the structure and cushioning function of native adipose tissue” (PMC11349823).

How Liposana Works

Liposana works in two ways once it is injected into the foot.

First, it provides physical cushioning right away, filling in the volume where padding has been lost. Second, it provides a framework that the body’s own fat cells can grow into and build on. The extracellular matrix in the graft gives those cells a structure to attach to and organize around.

As the graft integrates, the body gradually replaces it with its own tissue. The result is natural-feeling padding in the area that was treated.

The Procedure

Liposana is given as an in-office injection. No incisions or stitches are involved. The foot is numbed with local anesthesia, and the graft is injected directly into the area where padding has thinned. The process usually takes less than 30 minutes, and patients walk out of the office afterward.

A bandage is applied after treatment. Felt padding may be placed around the injection site to take pressure off the area and give the graft time to settle.

Recovery

Most patients return to their normal daily routine within a few days. The treated area should be protected for a short time while the tissue settles into place. High-impact exercise should wait a bit longer, but full activity including running and sports can typically resume within a few weeks. There is no need for prolonged non-weight-bearing recovery or wound care.

Results

Patients often notice improved comfort shortly after treatment, with less pressure on bone where the padding was thinned. Pain is commonly reduced or resolved. According to manufacturer data, benefits can last two years or more, with follow-up studies tracking results past 24 months. Safety data from the manufacturer reports more than 50,000 uses with no product-related adverse events.

Conditions Treated with Liposana

• Fat pad atrophy: the loss of the natural cushion under the heel or ball of the foot
• Metatarsalgia: or chronic pain in the ball of the foot
• Plantar heel pain
• Painful calluses and corns caused by bone pressing against thin skin
• Diabetic foot ulcers: both for prevention and management
• Pre-ulcerative lesions in patients with diabetic neuropathy
• Fat pad loss following previous foot surgery
• Calcaneal bursitis

Is Liposana Right for You?

You may be a candidate for Liposana if you have:

• Persistent pain in the ball of your foot or heel that has not improved with orthotics or padding
• A feeling of walking directly on bone
• Calluses that keep returning despite treatment
• Fat pad thinning visible on exam or imaging
• Diabetic neuropathy with a history of plantar ulcers or pre-ulcerative lesions

Before treatment, blood flow is confirmed through vascular testing, any active infection is ruled out or treated, and any underlying structural issues in the foot are evaluated.

Get Help for Your Foot Pain

If you are experiencing symptoms of fat pad loss and want to find out whether Liposana may be right for you, Parker Foot & Ankle in Houston, TX, is here to help. Contact our office to schedule an evaluation.