Can Fat Grafting Fix Displaced Facial Tissues?

I'm a twenty-eight year old male recently judged a suitable canditate for fat-transfer by a surgeon here in Eastern Canada. The problem I presented with was significant displacement of tendons and tissue, a sort of drooping on the right side of my face stemming from 15 years of sucking my thumb and pulling everything far from where it should be.

The tissue supposed to be tucked around my nose, for example, has been displaced as least as far as the corner of my mouth, and in some parts even down to my jawline.

Can fat grafting compensate for these (non-skeletal) structural deviations? My concern is that adding fat on top of a displaced foundation could actually exaggerate the imperfections and end up making things worse. Since this is an irreversible procedure, I would greatly value any insight that could be given.

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5 Doctor Answers | Asked by RoyceMalone in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada

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Fat Grafting for Reconstructive Purposes

Fat Grafting for is an excellent tool for reconstructive purposes to fill in areas from lipoatrophy, and soft tissue deficits from both congenital and acquired deformities (e.g. tumor removal, post traumatic deformity). Without examining you or at least detailed photos it would be hard to say if it would be the right treatment for you. Seeing a reputable board certified plastic surgeon would be a good starting place to see if Fat Grafting is the right procedure for you. more

Fat grafting for asymmetry

Fat grafting can be a great option for facial asymmetry, especially if related to volume loss

Sam Naficy, MD

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Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattleface.com

Fat grafting to the face

Fat grafting is a very powerful and effective technique to recontour the face. This technique has been used to help rejuvenate the face, camouflage areas of lipoatrophy or birth defects, and help correct scars. A successful result is dependent on the quality of fat that is used in the technique in which it is applied. You may be a good candidate for fat grafting to the face. Be sure that you're working with board-certified plastic surgeon with regular experience not only in fat... more

Can fat grafting fix displaced facial tissues?

Dear Royce, I somewhat agree with the previous posting but would like to go further. As Plastic surgeons, we are visual people. We reach decisions, we plan and we execute surgical decisions based on visual data. Most importantly, we are judged based on the visual outcomes of our procedures. As such, it is very hard to give accurate advice without visual data (IE pictures). If you are a fan of the Sat AM "Car Talk" on NPR, you will know what I mean. Callers ask for help with car... more

Improved facial balance should be the goal

It is very difficult to comment specifically on your situation and anatomy without high-quality photographs or, better even, an examination. In general, fat grafting can help balancing facial proportions by adding volume to areas of deficiency. The result of 3-dimensional volume changes are usually rather subtle. If you have areas of soft tissue fullness (i.e. lower face), then increasing the volume in other regions (high cheeks) can enhance the face by redistributing the facial accent... more