Does ice kill the fat after a Facial Fat Transfer?

Question

I had a facelift with fat transfer, I am very happy with my results, however I used a lot of ice because of swelling. Now, after 6 months, I am noticing I have lost quite a bit of the fat volume. I researched on u-tube and one Dr. stated not to use ice on swelling because it kills the fat. I was not aware of this. Could this be true?

Tim Neavin, MD · Answer

Good question.  I tell my patients to avoid ice because ice vasoconstricts vessels, leading to reduced blood flow to tissue.  Studies show that warming tissue in the perioperative period improves fat survival, however faces can get some numbness after surgery and risk burning their face.  It is unclear how much icing one would need to do to injure fat cell survival.  It may be that your swelling went down and you incorrectly believe it was fat loss.

Marc Polacco, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question. You are correct in that cold can injure fat cells (think Cool Sculpting). However, an explanation that is more likely is that whenever fat is transferred, only a certain percentage of cells survive long term. Retention rate varies in the literature, but some fat transfers can lose even 50% of volume, which is why most doctors will over correct initially an anticipation that there will be volume loss over time. I hope that helps, and I wish you all the best.
-Dr. P

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

In order to hub fat create fat loss you would have to literally freeze the fat cells causing them to rupture which is highly unlikely with simply topical icing after a surgical procedure which has been the standard of care after facelift surgery for many many years.

I think less plastic surgeons are icing after surgery and I personally do not recommend either using cold or warm after surgical procedures because the tissues can be numb and patients sometimes don’t feel if they’re overdoing the temperature therapy.

Losing a substantial I’m on a volume after fed transfer is part for the course and is one of the dropbacks to having that procedure.

There’s a long learning curve on getting technique just write as well as learning to inject just enough fat to get a deal final outcome is. It’s better to graft conservatively and do a second round of fat transfer them to overdraft successfully and end up with a fat problem with a desire to have it removed later.

Removing previously grafted fat can be very difficult in the face.

One doctors opinion on YouTube probably isn’t worth worrying about.

To kill the fat cells you would literally have to have frozen them. Keeping tissue called lowers metabolism and allows it to stay alive longer before it reestablishes a blood supply.

During organ transplantation organs or tissues are routinely placed on ice until successfully transplanted into the new recipient.

Sometimes during certain heart procedures the brain an entire head can be put in a bucket of ice water and sometimes the entire heart is packed in ice.

I think your results are a reflection of your candidacy for the procedure and how the procedure was performed.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD

Does ice kill the fat after a Facial Fat Transfer?

Answers (3)

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.

Does ice kill the fat after a Facial Fat Transfer?

Answers (3)

Browse related questions

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.