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A facelift with fat transfer is a great combination approach to address loose muscle and loss of volume. Although I prefer to do these at the same time, since you've had fat transfer already, you can still do a facelift. I would recommend that your surgeon re-evaluate you in person at 2-3 months to determine how your healing process is going and what the best timing will be. This will often depend on which areas of the face that the fat was placed.
A facelift after fat transfer will improve your final result. As we age, two important issues arise. One is skin laxity, and the other is facial vloume loss or atrophy. A facelift will reposition your skin and deeper structures, and fat transfer will augment your faical shape. These two procedures combined can result in very powerful results and natural improvement. My patients will typical undergo fat transfer at the time of their facelift procedure.
A facelift can be performed after fat transfer, though at least a 3 month wait time would be recommended to allow for any swelling and potential scarring to subside. The type of facelift may depend on the area of fat grafting, the depth and the amount of volume retained from the fat. Typically, fat grafting does not take the place of a facelift, but they can compliment each other.
Hi ~ Fat transfer or fat grafting is a great adjunct procedure to a facelift. As we age there is both volume loss and sagging of skin. A face lift will address the sagging skin and fat transfer will help replace lost volume. It is best to wait 4-6 months after fat transfer to proceed with a facelift. This will allow for ample healing time and all swelling to resolve.
A facelift can certainly be done after a fat transfer procedure. It is often times done at the same time as the two procedures complement each other. A facelift removes and tightens loose skin to smoothen wrinkles and lifts sagginess of the lower face and neck. It does not, however, restores volume loss that almost everyone has by the time they need a facelift. Fat transfers, if done properly, can be a powerful tool to help correct hollowing around the eyes, lower eyelid bags, sagging cheeks, temporal hollowing, very deep nasolabial folds, thin lips and even weak chins. Tightening skin with a facelift cannot do any of that. Restoring volume will make your facelift results not only look more natural but I think last longer as the volume enhancement will help to lift your cheeks and tightening the overlying skin so your skin does not have to be tightened as much with the facelift procedure as relying solely on the elasticity of aged skin to maintain your results will result in disappointment as it will start sagging again fairly quickly. A skin resurfacing procedure such as a deep chemical peel or laser resurfacing can help make your facelift results even better by tightening skin and stimulating more collagen production to help maintain your tighter smoother look.How long you should wait for your case will depend on how much residual swelling or scar tissue you still may have, but the ultimate decision should be made by your surgeon after he/she examines you to see if you have healed well enough from your facelift. I would personally have you wait at least 3 months as that is usually the minimum amount of time it takes for the fat that did not survive the transfer process to completely go away. That way you know how much you can pull and lift with the remaining volume and transfer more fat if you need to if too much of it has gone away.Best wishes.
If you refer to get a face lift after fat grafting in the face, the face lift can be done. Every surgeon may have a different opinion, on how long to wait for the face lift after fat grafting, in my experience it will be at least 6 months, so all the swelling is gone from the previous fat grafting and the tissues are soft enough that the dissection of the tissues is less traumatic and more precise.
Yes, absolutely. I think that you can't tell the final results of fat transfer for three months - so I would wait at least that long. Good luck.
Hello and thank you for your question. It is very safe to perform a facelift after fat grafting. I would assess your facial swelling and then perform a facelift after your swelling has fully resolved. If good technique is used,a facelift can be done with minimal scarring and can result in a natural look, notover-done look, with rejuvenation of your face. Make sure you specifically lookat before and after pictures of real patients who have had this surgeryperformed by your surgeon and evaluate their results. The most important aspectis to find a surgeon you are comfortable with. I recommend that you seekconsultation with a qualified board-certified plastic surgeon who can evaluateyou in person.Best wishes and good luck.Richard G. Reish, M.D.Harvard-trained plastic surgeon
That is a great question. Fat transfer is a wonderful technique for adding volume to the face. As we consider facial rejuvenation, there are three areas that need to be addressed to combat the signs of aging. The first is laxity which is addressed generally with a lifting procedure such as a facelift. The second is loss of facial volume which you had corrected with the fat grafting. Fillers such as Voluma and juvederm also address that. The third is superficial skin damage such as wrinkles and pigmented spots which we treat with chemical peels, lasers and skin care products. Most often I combine all three treatments at the time of surgery. We do over 100 facelifts a year and approximately 60% get fat grafting and 80-90% get a chemical peel or laser peel. A facelift can certainly be done after fat grafting as it will address the laxity component that was not addressed with the fat grafting. Since you have had the fat grafting procedure as an isolated treatment, I would recommend a minimum of three months before you have a facelift to allow the swelling from the fat grafting to dissipate. . Best of luck!
Yes, although a better option is to do both at the same time. A facelift will lift the sagging jowls, tighten the neck, and remove the excess skin. The volume loss associated with the aging process can be addressed by replenishing it with your own fat. Lifts generally do not fill, and fillers or fat transfer generally do not lift. If you decide to do them separately, I would suggest waiting 3 to 6 months to see how much of the fat has survived. Stable facial volume will lead to a more stable lifting procedure, and you then have the option to add more fat at the time of the facelift if you so desire.
