My Face is Weight Sensitive to Within 2-3 Pounds. I'm Getting a Facelift and Am Concerned About Cheek Shape.

but at 112 cheeks return. Except for cheeks, I look best at 109. I plan on a face lift soon with facial fat to cheek area. I'm concerned that if I weight l08 during surgery that my cheeks will look too full if my weight changes a couple of pounds. It is amazing how weight sensitive my face is now - at 61yr. Previously I gained weight uniformly but now upper body is thinner than lower body and the significant flucuating cheek fullness is frustrating and makes me concerned at facelift result.

Tags:

Comment on this

10 Doctor Answers | Asked by Noy in Harrison, AR

Doctor Answers (10)
Community Comments (0)

Changes after a facelift facial surgey with weight gain and fat grafts

You are absolutely right. if fat is used. the fat grafts themselves may grow with weight gain. if another product is used and you gain your own weight , you will still look fuller. be conservative on filler or dont gain weight

Facial fullness after facelift

Facial aging generally involves laxity of skin and muscle as well as volume loss. This is why sometimes fat injections to the face help to add volume and thereby give you more fullness in combination with a facelift. However, how reliably your fat grafts will take is often unpredictable especially if your face changes so much in volume with even slight weight change. A more important factor you may want to discuss with your surgeon is what they plan on doing with your underlying muscle... more

Face lift + fat grafting

It sounds like you are a great candidate for face lift and fat grafting. It is best to do the surgery when you are at your most common weight and the grafted fat should come from a weight stable part of your body

Sam Naficy, MD

80 reviews

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattleface.com

Cheeks, Weight, Facelift & Fat Grafting

I find it fascinating (and highly unusual) that you observe such a significant change in your cheek volume with only a couple of pounds weight difference. Although I combine fat grafting with 98% of my facelift procedures, it still is a choice. Simply put for you, if you do not feel comfortable with the idea (and theoretical repercussions) of fat transfer, don't have it done. You will avoid a lot of potential disappointment given your uncommon weight change effects. more

Photos would help here.

My first advice is go with the recommendations of your treating surgeon. Reading your concerns, I would seriously consider not getting fat transfered to your face. Fillers like Restylane and Perlane are much more stable, do not fluctuate with body weight, and can be adjusted with an enzyme if needed.

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD

8 reviews

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Fat loss is a hallmark of facial aging

It is unusual today to consider a facelift without facial fat grafting as loss of fat is such a large factor in facial aging. At age 61, you might begin to notice that the fat in the cheek does not return as readily with weight gain. Structural fat grafting with facelift will rejuvenate rather than change facial shape if well done. Best of luck, peterejohnsonmd

My Face is Weight Sensitive to Within 2-3 Pounds. I'm Getting a Facelift and Am Concerned About Cheek Shape.

I have performed Face Lifts for over 20 years and back in 1990 did several hundred fat transfer procedures. My experience is that fat transfer is not as reliable at shaping the face and cheek area as fillers like Perlane, Radiesse or Cheek Implants and I have not used fat transfer since. Furthermore, if you are concerned about gaining weight and having it negatively impact the shape, of your cheeks, why would you have additional fat transferred to that area. Fillers... more

Cheek shape and facelift

I am going to give you what probably will be an unpopular response - if I were your surgeon, I would be worried that you are following your weight so closely (within 1 pound) and analyzing your face to such a degree. ( I would be concerned that you are not going to be happy with any result ). Most people can gain 2-3 pounds after a high carb/salty meal one evening with fluid retention! I completely agree that weight fluctuations can... more

Cheeks with facelift

It's really impossible to answer you without seeing a photo. I understand your concerns and if you are that "sensitive" when gaining weight than fat grafting might not be so great. You might do better with cheek implants which won't change with your weight.

Weight loss and facial surgery

Adding fat injections to your Facelift in your particular case of such a large difference with minimal weight change might prove a problem. In the event that the fat injections do survive, as you gain weight, the fat that is injected into your face will behave like the fat does in the area from which it came. You might want to lose the weight and then do the Facelift, keep at a steady body weight and skip the fat injections in order to avoid the potential pitfalls.