I Am 7 Weeks After my Full Face Fatgrafting and the Fat is Almost All Gone is This Normal?

It's common to feel as though the grafted fat is disappearing as the post-treatment facial swelling goes down. In my experience, it takes many months for the final fact grafting result to become evident. Studies show that the fat grafts continue to 'blossom" up to 18 months or so after surgery.

It is not uncommon for patient to feel that the injected fat is all gone after the initial swelling goes down.  I would suggest being patient and then evaluating the outcome, preferably comparing pre-op and post-op photos at 3-6 month.

It's a little unusual for the fat to be completely gone in 7 weeks. Probably the swelling, which can be significant, is gone and it looks less volumized by comparison. However, fat grafting is very technique oriented. When done by someone experienced, the survival can be up to 70-80%. Fat must be harvested very tediously, prepared carefully and by specifically nd then inbjected by the smallest of amounts (like micro-droplets). Fat grafts must be small enough to aquire a blood supply fo rit to survive, and the smaller grafts have a much better chance.  Then the post operative swelling can be extreme for several weeks.

I have seen patients that have had fat grafts and virtually none survived and others who had faces much too full. One thing to keep in mind is that if the grafts are taken from the abdomen and the patient gains weight, the face can get very fat. Removing excess fat can be challenging.

E. Ronald Finger, MD

Savannah Plastic Surgeon