Fat Grafting
Time takes its toll on our features. If you’ve noticed volume loss in your cheeks and around your face, fat grafting may be a solution for you. Fat grafting (sometimes called “fat transfer” or “autologous fat grafting”) is an option for many women and men who want to achieve a restored, fuller, and more youthful-looking face.
During facial fat grafting, fat cells are extracted from elsewhere on your body, such as the abdomen or flanks, and re-injected beneath the facial skin. Fat grafting is effective in treating many areas of the face such as temples, cheeks, lips, nasolabial folds or “smile lines,” marionette lines, jawlines, and foreheads.
Before & Afters
Facelift, Face Fat Grafting, Transconjunctival Lower Bleph
Facelift, Endoscopic Glabellar Lift, Upper Bleph, Lower Bleph, Face Fat Grafting
Benefits of Facial Fat Grafting
Facial Fat Graft Candidates
If you’ve noticed your face starting to thin out in places, or if you’ve noticed significant facial sagging, you may be a good candidate for our fat grafting procedure. Patients who’ve had facial filler procedures in the past will have a good notion of how they’ll look with a more enduring volume restoration. Fat grafting can help create a more youthful-looking face with softened lines and improved volume.
Facial Fat Grafting FAQs
As always, coming with your goals and desired outcomes foremost in your mind will help your surgeon guide the process to achieve the best results. You’ll also want to discuss any past treatments you’ve received dealing with soft tissue fillers–including botox and other minimally invasive filler procedures.
Fat grafting is a minimally invasive procedure and, similar to other fillers procedures, involves a series of small injections into the face. It is a two-part procedure that involves removing small amounts of fat from the abdomen, flanks, or other parts of the body using a very small straw-like instrument called a cannula. The fat is then prepared and injected into the recipient site with another small, blunt-tipped cannula to reduce bruising.
Not all of the grafted fat will survive the healing process, but after the healthy, remaining cells redevelop blood flow at their new site, the results should be effectively permanent.
Fat grafting is not a substitute for other weight loss procedures as it requires only a minimal amount of fat from other portions of your body. It’s unlikely to notice any apparent slimming effect on the donor portions of your body.
Fat grafting alone has a very short recovery period. When combined with other procedures, fat grafting may add a minuscule amount of time to the recovery process. We encourage patients to wear some minor compression at the donor site (where the fat was taken) to help improve discomfort and swelling.
Minor swelling and bruising are possible at the recipient sites (where the fat is placed). Fat is a living cell that has just been placed in a new home, so the fat cells that survive are permanently located in their new position.
Since it’s a minimally invasive procedure with a considerably minor recovery period, results will be rapidly noticeable. As the fat settles into its new home, you should get a quick idea of how youthful and full your face will be once the brief recovery process finishes.
Interested in fat grafting?
Dr. Klenke and her team are dedicated to you and take pride in helping you achieve your best results. At Pinnacle, we provide detailed consultations allowing us to understand each patient’s motivation and desired outcomes. Our goal is to customize a treatment specifically for each individual. In your initial consultation, our team will evaluate your health and define which surgical procedures are most suitable for you based on your body, and a personalized surgical plan will be created.