An overview of Facial Fat Grafting

Introduction

Loss of volume in the face makes a face look aged, dull, tired, and hollow. Apart from this, a lack of facial fat can cause many other aging symptoms, including the appearance of mid-cheek wrinkles and a deepening and prominence of the nasolabial fold. These fine lines and wrinkles on the face appear with advancing age because the face begins to lose the necessary facial fat which is required to keep the face plump. The lost facial fat can be regained by a procedure called facial fat grafting.

What Is Facial Fat Grafting?

Facial fat grafting is a popular minimally invasive surgical procedure for facial rejuvenation. It is known by many names such as fat transfer, micro-lipo injection, facial fat rejuvenation, autologous fat grafting or sometimes it is called fat injection. In this surgery, fat is taken from the other parts of the body where abundant fats are present. This fat is then transferred to the face with the help of an injection to fulfill the deficiency of facial fat and to fill the hollowness in the face.

What Can a Facial Fat Grafting Do?

Facial fat grafting can improve several conditions which are caused due to loss of facial fat. These conditions are listed below:

• Corrects facial wrinkles and fine lines.

• Enhances facial contour.

• This procedure also corrects scars caused by acne, chicken pox, smallpox, or accidents.

• Corrects mid-cheek lines on the face.

• Help in diminishing the appearance of the deep nasolabial fold (laughing lines) on the face.

• Correction of frown lines.

• Corrects the under-eye hollowness.

• Corrects the hollowness in the temple area.

• Corrects the lip that has lost volume.

Who Are the Good Candidates for Facial Fat Grafting?

Not everyone can undergo this procedure. There are some conditions in which facial fat grafting can not be done. The ideal candidate should have the following characteristic:

• Smokers are not good candidates for this procedure as smoking interferes with healing.

• Patients should not have any serious medical conditions like bleeding or clotting disorder, uncontrolled diabetes and other such disorders.

• The patient should be physically and mentally fit.

• The patient should have realistic expectations from the procedure and should accept the fact that this procedure can result in asymmetrical results.

How Is Facial Fat Grafting Done?

This is a minimally invasive procedure and does not require general anesthesia except in cases where a very large amount of fat is required. The area of the body from where fat has to be taken is called the “donor site”. On the other hand, the part of the face where this fat has to be placed is called the “recipient site”.

Both sites are made numb with local anesthesia. After achieving numbness, the fat is extracted with a syringe and cannula which is a narrow metal tube inserted into the body. The extracted fat is then purified to remove the blood and damaged cells. After that, this fat is injected into the part of the face which is fat-deficient. During this step, the fat is overfilled at the recipient site so that the results of the surgery may last longer as the fat is absorbed by the body with time.

What Are the Complications of Facial Fat Grafting?

The complications of facial fat grafting are discussed below:

• This procedure can result in asymmetrical results. The left and right sides of the face might look uneven and irregular. This results in patient dissatisfaction and may need for a second procedure to correct the asymmetry.

• The formation of lumps of fat can also occur as a complication of this procedure. These lumps are usually palpable and the patient can feel them on touching. Because of this type of complication, the injected fat cells begin to die and need to be taken out of the face. These dead fat cells are removed either by surgical excision or can be dissolved by lipo-dissolve injections.

• Infection can occur as a result of this procedure.

• Hematoma (collection of blood outside blood vessels) can occur.

• The risk of nerve injury may be associated with this procedure.

• Pain and swelling.

• Fat embolism can occur which is a serious complication. Fat embolism is part of fat particles that enters the blood circulation and can block the blood vessels thereby stopping the blood flow.

It should be noted that all these complications are rare and do not occur frequently. However, still, there is a risk of developing these complications.

In addition, there are certain measures taken by the surgeon to prevent the complications such as infections. For example:

• Areas that might be contaminated by the bacteria such as lips are injected at the end of the procedure. The procedure never starts with injecting the lip area first.

• Patients who had been infected by cold sores (painful blisters caused by viral infection) in the past are given antiviral medications (prophylactic Acyclovir) prior to the procedure.

• For the prevention of the occurrence of fat embolism, the injection site is injected with local anesthesia first.

What Are the Benefits of Facial Fat Grafting?

The facial fat grafting procedure has several benefits which are listed below:

• Gives a youthful appearance to the entire face.

• Boost the self-confidence of the patient.

• This procedure is minimally invasive and does not require large cuts or incisions like other plastic surgeries.

• There is less downtime.

• The result of this procedure is enhanced when it is done in conjunction with other facial rejuvenation surgeries like facelifts or eye lifts.

How Long Do the Results Last?

The results of this procedure usually last around one year or even more, depending upon the patient's condition and the procedure. The results start to improve with time. However, this procedure can not stop the aging process. Aging is a natural process that will occur even after facial fat grafting.

How Long Does It Take to Recover From Facial Fat Grafting?

The swelling will fade away within four weeks. Pain will last for a few days, for which painkillers will be prescribed. Mild bruising and swelling will be present, which will resolve after a few days.

Conclusion

Facial fat grafting is a less invasive procedure for facial rejuvenation and can be opted for instead of major plastic surgeries or dermal fillers to achieve a youthful appearance. The results of this procedure last longer than dermal fillers.