No Subcataneous Fat Between Facial Skin and SMAS, Have any of You Seen this Before?

I recently had a facelift. When my Plastic Surgeon lifted the skin, he found no subcataneous fat layer between the skin and the muscle. NONE! In his 30 years of practise he had never encountered this.I wondered if any of the plastic surgeons that contribute to this site have ever seen this in their surgeries? And if so, why would this occur? I never smoked, drink only an occassional glass of wine. I am 5'6" weight 120, mid 50's post menopausal,no health problems but had cosmetic laser treatments

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15 Doctor Answers | Asked by vanity now insanity

Doctor Answers (15)
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Absent subcutaneous facial fat.

I agree with all the other surgeons that your surgeon was implying that you had an extremely thin layer of subcutaneous fat. This could easily be the case given your body habitus and age. Although several other surgeons have recommended facial fat grafting, your situation can be quite challenging because relatively slight degrees of clumping or maldistribution during the grafting procedure will result in visible surface irregularities. This is analagous to fat grafting... more

Your problem is one that I have been interested in for years, but the answer is not fat grafting.

Patients who are athletic, maintain their youthful weight, and have low estrogen tend to develop a "gaunt" face. While many before me have recommended fat grafting, I have found that the patients who really need fat grafting tend to have a poor take of the fat and limited durability. This is after trying most of the available current techniques. My answer for patients such as you who need a better anwer is to use dermal-fat grafts. These are taken at the... more

Nathan Mayl, MD

7 reviews

Fort Lauderdale Plastic Surgeon

No Subcutaneous Fat Found in Facelift

Finding very little fat in thin patients is not extremely unusual. This will allow for little forgiveness for any SMAS irregularities. Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

No Subcataneous Fat Between Facial Skin and SMAS

For a thin face with minimal fat you should consider facial fat grafting as a way to augment the results of your recent face lift

Sam Naficy, MD

80 reviews

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattleface.com

No fat under skin?

As others have also eluded there us always fat (subcutaneous tissue) under the skin. It would be abnormal if there was not any subq fat. I would get clarification from your surgeon. There is more likely a very thin layer rather than no layer. Also any defects may be amenable to fat grafting or fillers if there are localized defects. But certainly you should visit a plastic surgeon to hone specifically on your needs.

Subcutaneous fat

Thank you for your question. Yes it is possible to see no gross fat under the skin especially in very thin patients.

Thin facial fat

What you are describing sounds like a very thin layer of fat rather than no fat that can occur with aging. Your height, weight, age all points to this. A nice treatment for this is structural fat grafting in which we use very small canulas to transfer the fat from your flank/abdomen to the face. This can be done in office/or as an outpatient procedure with minimal downtime.

Fat under the skin

It is possible that the fat layer under your skin is extremely thin. This can be due to a combination of genetics, low body fat, aging. If it affected our result, this can be remedied with fat grafting of ejectable fillers. If it has not, then it is not a cause for concern. All the best.

Lack fo facial fat responds to fat grafting

We think there must have been something lost in your surgeons explanation, as everyone will have a layer of fat under the facial skin and over the SMAS, even a thin one. We often will add structural fat grafting where needed for facial shaping during facelift, especially the area around the mouth and facial folds. Cheeks fill out well too when needed. Best of luck, Peter Johnson, MD

Fat in the Face

As you age, the fat layer in your face diminishes. This is part of what causes wrinkles and the need for a face lift. It is also why fat grafting and dermal fillers have become so popular to replace the missing volume. Other products that are also useful are Juvederm, Sculptra, Radiesse and Restylane to replace missing volume in the face. Good Luck.