Facial Fat Transfer

Surgical Face Facial Fat Transfer

While too much fat is a common frustration, fat loss in the face can also negatively affect your appearance. Age often brings facial volume loss, which can be magnified by a decrease in collagen that leads to skin laxity and wrinkles. If you’ve noticed under-eye hollows, sunken cheeks, or thinning lips, a facial fat transfer is one of your most effective treatment options to restore volume.

What is a Facial Fat Transfer?

Fat transfer, also called autologous fat transplantation or micro-lipo injection, is used to restore lost volume or augment certain areas. This is done with the patient’s own (autologous) fat rather than synthetic or foreign materials, making it a safer and more natural enhancement option. 

A facial fat transfer involves taking unwanted fat from the body and injecting it into the face for a softer, more youthful appearance. Fat grafting can be used in any area of the face needing volume restoration. It can also correct the aging of the hands and body areas with uneven contours resulting from surgery or trauma. Dr. Langdon offers other fat transfer procedures to enhance the body, including breast augmentation and butt augmentation

The most common treatment areas for a facial fat transfer are:

  • Nasolabial folds (between the nose and oral commissure, the corner of the mouth)
  • Lips (for volume enhancement)
  • Eye area and tear troughs
  • Marionette folds (between oral commissure and jawline)
  • Temples
  • Chin

Natural Eyelid Lift

For many people, the delicate skin around their eyes is the first to age and sag. Droopy eyelids, puffiness, and under-eye hollows lead many patients to seek blepharoplasty. Not everyone needs a traditional eyelid lift to correct these issues, however.
 
Dr. Langdon’s innovative natural eyelid lift is a fat grafting procedure that rejuvenates the eye area. Injecting small amounts of fat above and below the eyes can help smooth out wrinkles, restore volume, and fill tear troughs.

Facial Fat Transfer Guilford

*Individual results may vary.

Facial Fat Transfer results.

Frequently Asked Questions

In a facial fat transfer, only natural, non-synthetic material (autologous fat) is used to re-contour your face and improve creased and sunken areas. During the procedure, the patient’s fat is removed from body areas such as the abdomen, thighs, or flanks and re-injected into specific areas of the face to restore volume. Common injection areas include the cheeks, lips, under-eye, the area below the eyebrows, the temples, and the chin.

Dr. Langdon performs facial fat grafting with local anesthesia, which completely numbs both the donor and recipient areas. He then uses liposuction to remove excess fat from an unwanted area of the body. Depending on how much fat is removed, many patients enjoy the dual benefits of a fat transfer–increased volume in the face and a slimming effect on the donor area. 

After purifying the fat, Dr. Langdon injects small amounts strategically in the face to restore smooth, youthful contours. A facial fat transfer procedure typically takes two to three hours. It may take longer if you have fat grafting performed simultaneously with other procedures, such as a facelift.

A fat grafting procedure requires recovery both in the donor and recipient areas. The treated areas will be swollen and somewhat sensitive to the touch for one to three weeks. There may be mild bruising during the first several days, and patients may want to take the first week off work. 

Dr. Langdon will give you aftercare instructions and advise when to resume all your regular activities. Though patients typically continue their daily routine within approximately a week, you may need to wait a few weeks before doing strenuous exercise. You should avoid putting pressure on the injection areas during recovery. The transferred fat needs to establish blood supply, and excess pressure might inhibit healing.

Results from a fat transfer aren’t immediate because the area will be swollen for a while, and the grafted fat needs time to settle. The results will be evident after the initial swelling subsides in one to three weeks. However, not all the transferred fat will survive in its new location, so the final outcome won’t be apparent for several months. 

The fat that does stay is typically permanent, although weight changes can affect your outcome. If you maintain a stable weight, fat transfer results can last a lifetime. This makes it essential to lead a healthy lifestyle for optimal benefits.

Facial fat transfer is best suited for physically healthy people who are realistic about their expectations for improvement from this procedure. Those looking to restore lost facial volume and improve areas that are creased or sunken may benefit from fat grafting.

Because fat grafting is typically long-lasting, some patients may want to try a temporary treatment first, such as dermal fillers, to ensure they like the results. Many patients who have had dermal fillers but are tired of the constant maintenance treatments may choose fat grafting as a more permanent solution.

Take the next step.

To learn more about getting Facial Fat Transfer or to schedule your consultation with Board-Certified Cosmetic Surgeon Dr. Langdon, please fill out the form on this page or call The Langdon Center at (203) 453-8625. We look forward to working with you! The Langdon Center serves patients in the Guilford & New Haven, CT areas.