Facelift After Fat Grafting?

Thank you for your question and for sharing your concerns. Adding a facelift before, during or after fat grafting works really well in achieving the goals of rejuvenating the face.  In your situation, I would wait for several months until your tissues are nice and supple so the facelift procedure can be effective.  Any firmness or swelling can affect your surgeon's ability to judge the degree of laxity he/she needs to address. 

I would wait until there is no longer any firmness, edema or other healing required following a fat transfer to do a facelift of any type. Typically this occurs 3 or more months following fat transfer. 

It is perfectly fine to stage face lift after fat grafting.  Ideally, one would want to avoid elevating the tissues in planes where fat has been grafted, especially as soon 5 weeks post-op.

The key is to make sure the newly injected fat has developed a good circulation and is stable in volume, before doing the facelift operation.  Usually, after 3-4 months, the grafts are in good shape....so I'd would recommend waiting at least that time interval before your next surgery.

 

Best wishes,

Susie, you are not going to have a problem with having a facelift now. Most surgeons would wait 3 months to see the result stabilize from your fat grafting, however, doing it now will not have that much of an effect. The Facelift will certainly add to the rejuvenation of your face. Most Plastic Surgeons combine fat grafting with face-lifting in the same setting to achieve a more natural facial rejuvenation.  Without seeing your pictures it is hard to comment on the need for a deep plane facelift.

I am a plastic surgeon that does a lot of both procedures. The fat graftin will make your facelift look better. I am not sure about a deep plane. I cheek suspension and plication in a vertical /horizontal direction, will move your jowls up and lateral. The cheeks suspension after a fat graft, will round up your cheeks well and also improve the excess around your lips.

Dear Susie,

All you need base on what you describing is a mini face lift with more fat grafting. Deep plane might be to invassive for your case. I would recommend you to wait a few more weeks to allow swelling and inflammation to subside prior to having a second procedure. best of luck.

Hi Susie Q3440 in Oregon,

5 weeks is still too early for another facial procedure. Typically, 6 months is allowed after facial fat grafting before further plastic surgery is considered. Face lift surgery and fat injections treat different aspects of facial aging, and are complimentary. Most face lift surgeons will inject fat at the same time of the face lift to enhance the cosmetic results.

Fat transfer is a good option to rejuvenate the face without traditional facial plastic surgery. Fat is taken from the abdomen or similar areas with liposuction, and injected into wrinkled areas such as the cheeks, lower eyelid area, jaw line, or temples. Fat to be used for injection is harvested via liposuction, but a little differently as compared to traditional liposuction for body contouring. The surgeon harvests, processes, and injects fat with methods that ensures that most of the fat is preserved and with minimal damage to the tissue. Fresh is always better than frozen.

Fat grafts are both art and science, as with all of plastic surgery. Fat transfer has a certain level of unpredictability as always less than 100% of the fat survives long-term, so touch-ups may be required for some patients. Plastic surgeons typically may perform cosmetic touch-up at one year as needed. Unfortunately, there is not a single best method to guarantee 100% of anything.

Only after a a comprehensive evaluation can a plastic surgeon help determine appropriate options for you. Your plastic surgeon can explain his/her specific method of facelift surgery and fat transfer. Best of luck.

Dr. Chaboki

In my opinion you could have saved yourself time and expense by finding a Plastic Surgeon(most PS do this) who performs both procedures.  I would have suggested both simultaneously.  The volume of fat needed during a facelift may have been less.  The second option would have to been to perform the facelift first.  Give this operation time to settle and heal then have fat grafting. Now that you have had fat grafting I would ad advise you to wait 3-6 months.  Good Luck.

 

Dr. ES

Dear Susie

5 weeks after a fat grafting is nothing.  Yes you will be able to have a facelift after fat grafting.  However, I would strongly recommend that you wait at least 6 months after the fat grafting before you have the facelift.  This will allow your face lift surgeon to perform a more accurate and tailored procedure.  You are still profoundly swollen from the fat grafting procedure.