Can i use the fat from under my chin for a fat transfer to my lips?

Question

Barry L. Eppley, MD, DMD · Answer

If you have enough fat in the submental and neck regions to harvest it could be used for lip augmentation. The problem in many patients is that they often do not have enough fat to be harvested and processed to provide enough injectate even for lip augmentation.

R. Stephen Mulholland, MD (retired) · Answer

Dear Lisaham,

In general, fat from anywhere in the body where there is an
excess can be harvested relatively atraumatically, processed, prepared and then
injected.  Fat augmentation to the lips
can be quite successful and a relatively small volume in the order of 3-4
syringes is usually deployed.  Therefore,
if you have enough subcutaneous fat under the chin that can result in 3-4
prepared, purified fat injection syringes then absolutely you can contour your
neck and then enhance your lips.

If, however, there’s insufficient fat under your chin what
fat is there can be harvested and I would generally recommend a harvest
technique that is gentle such as ultrasound assisted lipoplasty or Vaser Lipo
followed by a thermal stimulation technique such as Smartlipo or BodyTite.  This approach will give fat that can be
processed and injected that is still viable, but give you the best possible
neck contraction and contour.  Other
areas of your body may need to be accessed such as the inner thigh, outer thigh
or abdomen to complete the number of syringes necessary to achieve your lip
augmentation goals.

It is important to remember that fat grafting results in
quite a bit of swelling and edema of the lips resulting from the free fatty
acids that are released and that the swelling may last 7-10 days.  With newer injectables such as Juvederm
Voluma, Juvederm Volbella and even Juvederm Vol Lift, long-term lip
augmentation results are greater than one year can be achieved with very little
swelling, bruising or recovery needs.

Fat transplantation is very desirable and I’ve been
performing fat transplantation to the face for 25 years.  There is more downtime than off the shelf
soft tissue fillers, but you get the added benefit of contouring areas where
the fat has been harvested such as your submentum or chin.

I would seek the consultation of a plastic surgeon with
considerable experience both in lip augmentation using autologous fat and neck
contouring.

I hope this information has been of some assistance and best
of luck.

For more information, please review the link below.

R. Stephen Mulholland, M.D.

Certified Plastic Surgeon

Yorkville, Toronto

Can i use the fat from under my chin for a fat transfer to my lips?

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Can i use the fat from under my chin for a fat transfer to my lips?

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Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Facial Fat Transfer

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.