Is fat transfer under the eyes safer then fillers?

Thank you for a great question and for sharing your concern.  Anything injected around the eyes carries the theoretical risk of getting into a blood vessel and causing blindness, but the risk is very low.I hope you find this helpful. Best wishes!Consult with a Board Certified Fellowship Trained Facial Plastic Surgery Specialist."This answer has been solicited without seeing this patient and cannot be held as true medical advice, but only opinion. Seek in-person treatment with a trained medical professional for appropriate care."

The risk of blindness is very low but possible for both fillers and fat transfer. The key to having a safe and excellent result is picking the most experienced plastic surgeon for fat transfer.  The most critical decision to be made in achieving the best plastic surgical result is picking the most experienced and talented, that is the best, plastic surgeon possible. Too often, patients choose a physician based on a catchy ad, the brand name of a technique, the basis of one or two before and after photos, or their web site’s search engine ranking. These criteria will not find the most experienced and talented plastic surgeon. See below link for tips on finding the best fat transfer surgeon.#fattransfer#lipoinjection#bestplasticsurgeon

The risk of blindness or tissue loss is very low, make sure you consult with a PS who has experience with this procedure, look at their before and after photos, and that they are Board Certified in Plastic Surgery.

I think any substance being injected in the periorbital (around the eye) area poses a risk for injection into a blood vessel resulting in blindness or loss of tissue.  Fortunately, this risk is very small, and there are some things that can be done to make sure it is minimized.  Injecting with a blunt cannula as opposed to a sharp needle is one of those, as you are less likely to puncture a vessel with a cannula as opposed to a needle.  Additionally, injecting into the correct plane, or level, in the tissues helps avoid the blood vessels, and it is also safer from the standpoint of the aesthetic result too, as far as lumps and irregularities go.  The things that fillers have as advantages over fat from a safety standpoint, are that most fillers injected in the tear troughs are hyaluronic acid based fillers, and those can be dissolved with hyaluronidase if necessary, and they are also temporary, which means they will eventually go away.  While this doesn't help much in the  setting of an acute complication like intravascular injection with tissue loss or blindness, if there is contour irregularity or lumpiness, we know it won't be potentially permanent as would be the case with fat.  I am not afraid to inject fat into the tear troughs at all; I do it all the time.  It just has to be done with the proper respect for technique and anatomy, and the proper precautions must be observed.  Good luck.