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Fat Transfer or Fillers for Under Eye Hollowness?

asked 2 years ago by AUSTINMAN in Austin, TX
Latest answer by Michael Law, MD
Question viewed 2,741 times
Tags: under eyes, hollow

I have under eye hollowness post blepharoplasty with laser tightening. I'm 6 months out from my lower lid blepharoplasty and have the dreaded hollow under eyes. Can Fat grafting or fillers work? Which is better way to go? How do I find an MD with good technique that I can trust? What is the downtime? (I am a fair skinned northern European male who does not want to wear makeup Thank you!

15 answers to Fat Transfer or Fillers for Under Eye Hollowness?

Treating under eye hollowness post blepharoplasty

Hollowness alone is best treated by injectable fillers, Juvederm or Restylane if the patient cannot or does not wish to have surgery. This is a fine solution, and if patients don't mind the temporary and changing nature of filler injections, it is an excellent solution. In fact after any type of surgery, no matter how comprehensive or successful, fillers help to iron out small irregularities and hollow regions. Fat injections are indeed often lumpy and their survival is not always... more

Brent Moelleken, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

www.drbrent.com

Fat Grafting Post Blepharoplasty for Under Eye Hollows

With each passing year I find myself performing less 'invasive' lower lid surgery (i.e a formal lower blepharoplasty) and more lower lid rejuvenation by means of structural fat grafting. The reality of aggressive lower lid surgery - which involves some combination of skin excision, fat pad reduction and/or fat pad transposition, orbicularis (muscle) redraping and excision, and canthal support (to hold up the lateral aspect of the lower lid while everything heals) - can easily... more

Michael Law, MD
Raleigh-Durham Plastic Surgeon

michaellawmd.com

Fillers work for under eye hollowness.

Various fillers do good for under eye hollowness but expect it to be done in 2-3 sessions a week or 2 apart. Juvederm or Restylane ($550 per syringe) usually needs 2-3 syringes. Diluted Radiesse ($650 per syringe) usually needs 1-2 syringes. Fat injections are very variable and can look great initially but get lumpy as they disappear in 6 months ($1500-2500 per session) and are done every 3-4 months.

David Hansen, MD
Beverly Hills Dermatologic Surgeon

Fat works great for under eyes

Fat injections work very well under the eyes as well as loss of fullness from the cheeks. This procedure is very technique-dependant but can produce natural and lasting results

Sam Naficy, MD
Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

seattleface.com

Fat transfer to lower eyelids

You can use either a filler or fat. However, I personally like the results with fat better since it looks and feels more natural. Fillers are useful as a first round of evaluation. If you are happy with the result, you cna then move to a more permenant result with the fat.

Siamak Agha, MD, PhD
Orange County Plastic Surgeon

Fat and fillers work well for under eye hollowness

Fat injections and fillers (Restylane, Juvederm) are both excellent ways to address the lower eyelid hollows. I prefer fat as it has a longer lasting result that is very natural. I use the fillers for patients who want to "try it out" before they commit to fat injections. Often, I combine fat injection with lower blepharoplasty for a more complete result. This eliminates the kind of result that you are complaining about. Good luck!

Parham Ganchi, MD
Wayne Plastic Surgeon

Fat vs fillers for under eye hollows

Fat is a wonderful natural filler, especially in relatively young people and may take as a permenant graft. However, a word of caution, successful fat grafts can change with your weight. - so if you loose a lot of weight the correction may be lost, and if you gain weight, it may become lumpy. Fillers are a good way to find out how the correction will look with out having permenancy, and my choice in that area is Juvederm. It usually lasts 9 months to 1 year. Most dermatologists or... more

Stephen Mandy, MD
Miami Dermatologist

Hollow eyes

Treatment of post blepheroplasty hollowness can be treated by either modality fat transfer, or Hyaluronic acid filler. What is important is the experience of the surgeon doing the injection, simillar to the blepheroplasty, the results are dependant on the experience of the surgeon.

Samir Shureih, MD
Baltimore Plastic Surgeon

Fat Transfer or Fillers: In Your Case Fillers

I tend to use fat transfer as a permanent panfacial treatment, i.e., over the entire face for several reasons. 1. Although in my hands, fat transfer is permanent and smooth (non-lumpy), the take under the eyes can be variable in the sense that it can look better but may not be all the way filled. I think by forcing the fill, you take a risk in having problems, which I don't do. 2. Therefore, when I do full face work, if one area is not as perfect as possible, then the face still looks... more

Samuel Lam, MD
Dallas Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.lamfacialplastics.com

Fat grafting or fillers for under eye hollows

If your lower lid is hollow after surgery, fillers may improve your look. I prefer to use Restylane or Juvederm for this area, and place it underneath the muscle. This is an off-label use of the filler but many physicians do see great results. Lumpiness may occur, especially if the filler is placed above the muscle or close to the eyelid margin, and possibly a greater chance of lumps with fat than the hyaluronic acids such as Juvederm and Restylane.

Ronald Shelton, MD
Manhattan Dermatologist

Restylane or Fat to Fill Lower Eye Hollows?

Hi Austin, I would recommend having Restylane injections by an experienced and skilled physician. The results are long lasting, and even when the Restylane has been reabsorbed, the remaining hollow is less than the original hollow. It is thought that Restylane stimulates your own collagen production. If you should tire of getting Restylane injections, then find an expert fat transfer surgeon for this most delicate and unforgiving area. Good luck and be well. Dr. P

Michael A. Persky, MD
Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

Periorbital hollows: Try fillers first and fat later

I recommend that patients first try a filler as a trial to test the outcome of this approach. If patients desire longer term treatment than we can progress to autologcous fat.

Otto Joseph Placik, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Treating hollow eyes

It sounds like you had fat removal via an incision on the inner surface of the eyelid and laser resurfacing of the outer surface to shrink the skin. I do not perform this type of procedure because of the tendency to run into the problem you describe. Prior to the mid-1990s the majority of plastic surgeons removed eyelid fat while doing blepharoplasties. That approach has changed to repositioning the fat to avoid hollowing and removing smaller amounts of fat as needed for contouring purposes.... more

Aaron Stone, MD
Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon

Under eye Hollowness after Blepharoplasty

Greetings Austinman, The first step is to determine if either of the fillers will result in the improvement you desire. Remember, fillers can only the places up to the edge of the bone of the lower eyelid, or the orbital rim. As to fat vs. filler. I perform both in my practice and I advise people to undergo the filler first to ensure that it will get the result that they want. Then, if they like the result, undergo fat grafting once the filler has absorbed. While there is always the risk of... more

D.J. Verret, MD
Dallas Facial Plastic Surgeon

Fillers vs fat transfer for lower lid hollowness

In my opinion, fillers are far better and Restylane is the best of these. Fat can survive quite variably and can cause lumps and bumps. The fillers always add volume that lasts a year or more depending on how it was done and how much was used and require no surgery to harvest the material like fat does. You'll need to ask around to find a physician (not a nurse or aesthetician) who has done a lot of this and ask for photos.