Facial fat transfer - how can I achieve a less sunken look? (photos)

Question

A Facial Plastic Surgeon is going to do a fat transfer to my cheeks. I want him to add enough so I look the way I looked in this first pic of me in 2011 after 6 Sculptra treatments but he said I look unnatural in that pic. Looking at that first pic do you feel this way? In the second pic is how I look now very sunken. Where would you put the fat at? I have deep acne scars, is fat transfer one of the best atrophic scar treatments to fix them?

Tim Neavin, MD · Answer

Fat transfer to the face can improve the sunken look.  Fat can be taken from the abdomen or flanks and injected into the areas of deficiency.  In this case it is below your eyes and probably some the buccal space.  Perhaps even the temple and around the upper eye, too.  Be sure to see an experienced plastic surgeon who does a lot of this for the most predictable and permanent results.  For more information about fat transfer please click on the link below or watch the video.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Fascial volume restoration can lead to impressive results.

It’s an art form that takes years and skill to master.

Fat transfer is finicky because the fat survival is related to not only injection technique but the absence or presence of sufficient host tissue to support the graft.  In other words thin areas lacking host tissue were volume may be most needed will have lower fat survival rates because of the lack of host tissue. This is part of the inherent challenge of working with fat grafting.  it is not simply a matter of injecting fat like fillers but is instead based on anticipating how fat will survive after the treatment.  uneven fat survival leads to uneven results.  any large individual collection of grafted fat that doesn’t survive can lead to palpable hard nodules of fat necrosis and scar tissue.

For this reason I usually recommend patient stay with fillers because they’re much more predictable and forgiving.

If fat transfer is going to be the treatment of choice and it’s generally better to gradually build up the volume over several treatment courses set apart by at least six months.

This minimizes patients being over treated or wanting fat removed from results that were undesirable.

For a reference of what can be achieved with facial volume restoration using fillers I suggest you check out the website of Dr. David Mabrie MD in San Francisco.  He has a facial plastic surgeon who has focused his carrier exclusively and just working with fillers.

His results are some of the best I’ve ever seen.

He has lots of lots of before and after pictures on his website that can give you an idea of what can be achieved with a talented provider.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD

Facial fat transfer - how can I achieve a less sunken look? (photos)

Answers (2)

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