POSTED UNDER Facial Fat Transfer Reviews
fat transfer . Beverly Hills, CA
UPDATED FROM renba91
5 years post
5 year update
renba91March 9, 2021
$3,500
It’s been 5 years. The fat is still there unfortunately. I’m not swollen or puffy but the fat is still there. I still feel all the lumps in my under eye and I can still see the track marks in certain angles and my eyes look so weird and squinty when I smile still. I’ve gained and lost weight, when I gained weight the fat grew too and it made my eyes look really hollow and I hated how it made my face look. I have to stay real lean for it to look semi normal. Also it looks like the fat on my right cheek kinda sags, I never had that sagging before, and it looks like some of it might have migrated right below my cheek near my mouth. I’m late 20’s right now so I don’t think it’s normal aging / sagging. My family doesn’t have saggy faces and I don't sunbathe much. If anyone knows any doctors that have removed their facial fat transfer please let me know. He injected my fat under the muscle, so it’ll be hard to microlipo out...
Again, please stay away from this procedure, specially if you’re relatively young. For a few years after I was able to cope alright because I stayed very lean and was really young but I’m nearing my 30s now and my body filled out more and now the fat grafts just look weird; they don’t look botched per se but there’s just something weird I can’t put my finger on it. Overall it just detracts from any natural angularity your face has and it just looks kinda bloated/puffy and amorphous. There’s nothing appealing about it. You may not look like a monster, but it’ll certainly detract from any natural attractiveness you have, and it might age bad/sag you. Plus, it’s permanent unlike fillers. Please stay away.
Again, please stay away from this procedure, specially if you’re relatively young. For a few years after I was able to cope alright because I stayed very lean and was really young but I’m nearing my 30s now and my body filled out more and now the fat grafts just look weird; they don’t look botched per se but there’s just something weird I can’t put my finger on it. Overall it just detracts from any natural angularity your face has and it just looks kinda bloated/puffy and amorphous. There’s nothing appealing about it. You may not look like a monster, but it’ll certainly detract from any natural attractiveness you have, and it might age bad/sag you. Plus, it’s permanent unlike fillers. Please stay away.
renba91's provider
Replies (5)
July 6, 2021
You look so much better now vs your pics at 3 months out! I had facial fat grafting done 2 weeks ago with a different surgeon, but am very familiar with Dr Motykie through his YouTube channel, website and RealSelf. So, so many red flags, particularly in how disorganized/disrespectful of his patients’ time is office is, how many patients are unhappy, and how poorly he handles (or fails to handle) complications and unhappy patients. (The surgeon I ended up going with sees 3-4 patients total per WEEK. DM me and I’ll share his info.)
One thing that I know for sure is that, unlike filler, fat doesn’t migrate. It is living tissue and blood vessels grow into it, so it doesn’t move once injected.
I can’t stress enough that you look good. Totally understand your concerns and dissatisfaction, but I imagine no one in real life notices that anything seems off. Still, you should be really happy and not regretful following surgery, and I’m so sorry that Dr Motykie didn’t listen to you and left you disappointed. Thank you for your review—hopefully it will help other people avoid making the same mistake you did.
One thing that I know for sure is that, unlike filler, fat doesn’t migrate. It is living tissue and blood vessels grow into it, so it doesn’t move once injected.
I can’t stress enough that you look good. Totally understand your concerns and dissatisfaction, but I imagine no one in real life notices that anything seems off. Still, you should be really happy and not regretful following surgery, and I’m so sorry that Dr Motykie didn’t listen to you and left you disappointed. Thank you for your review—hopefully it will help other people avoid making the same mistake you did.
August 22, 2021
i don't know what you are complaining about. in your latest pic you look great!! your complains that you point out in the
most recent pic is invisible. fat always gets absorbed by the body..it takes months but some of it does remain.
most recent pic is invisible. fat always gets absorbed by the body..it takes months but some of it does remain.
May 30, 2023
I had the same issue with this doctor. When I discussed it with them, they told me that it would likely get reabsorbed and not to worry about it, but it got worse over time. I had my surgery 8 years ago and the lump never went away. I just recently went to get fillers to see if they could even out the way my cheek/under eye looked. After observing the lump, my nurse told me she thought the put filler in there because it had a similar consistency to filler, rather than fat. She decided to try and dissolve it with hyaluronidase, and sure enough it finally started going down. I can't believe I waited this long to try it. I can't say for sure it will solve your issue, but since we went to the same doctor, I think it's worth a shot! I'm also very annoyed that there was most likely filler under my eye when I did not sign up for that procedure.
August 13, 2023
If you hadn't said there were problems with your procedure I wouldn't notice at all. You look like a young healthy attractive person with a full perfect youthful firmness and contours to the face... You mostly notice problems only because you know your own face very well and always look at it, but others from the outside can't tell any difference or issues.
UPDATED FROM renba91
3 months post
Irregularities
renba91January 4, 2016
Well I thought I was finally looking normal. Friends and fam tell me I look like the old me but pictures say something entirely different when I animate. I look in the mirror and see myself sort of like before but that's far from the truth as my face is still distorted . I can't smile in pictures without looking distorted. I get ridges and bumps all over my undereye area from where the fat was inserted . You can see here where the irregularities are totally visible. My eyes look so squinted and tiny from the fat bunching up. I try to smile now without elevating my cheeks/ eyes but it's such a concious effort and I look totally fake and insincere trying to do a half smile. I dont want to bother with Botox either. I'll also add that my midface where the fat was inserted still sinks I and worst yet I feel like my cheeks are saggier than before . Stay away from this procedure. So not worth it.
Replies (5)
January 4, 2016
Hi , I have been following your review. I had decided to go fr a fat transfer for mid face myself but decided against it as one surgeon agreed to do fat transfer but warned about lumps and another surgeon recommended I shud go for fillers as fat becomes lumpy in this area. Any idea wt is a long term cost effective solution fr this problem? Injecting fillers every one n half years to enhance volume is too expensive in d long term.
January 4, 2016
Hi I'll advise you to stay away from this procedure . Specially if you have thin undereye skin like i do. I'm 24 and used to have smooth contours when I smiled but as you can now see that is no longer the case I look like I'm 50 with horrible undereye lumps and bags. You may think fillers is too expensive but trust me it's WAY cheaper and less headache than trying to reverse a bad fat transfer. My doc said he would inject under the muscle to avoid lumps but that didn't help at all. I'm trying to reverse now with kenalog injections soon hopefully at my follow up appointment . Might try 5fU as well. If it comes to worst and non invade methods don't work you're looking at multiple rounds of micro lipo which is expensive or at worst lower eyelid/midface lift surgery to directly excise. I repeat : AVOID fat. I think the only success is with conservative docs that do multiple injections to build up , not overfill technique . Overfill is completely idiotic and any doc overfilling with fat is unethical and subpar with their work. Stick to fillers.
January 5, 2016
Totally agree with renba91.
I too, have had full face fat transfer (from a different doctor). The trauma my face experienced was beyond imagined. I am still dealing with it. I look like a monster. Although the swelling have subsided, I no longer look the same. My cheeks are overfilled and it affects my smile. My friends say I look like I had bad Botox. If you are under 40, I wouldn't recommend this procedure.
I too, have had full face fat transfer (from a different doctor). The trauma my face experienced was beyond imagined. I am still dealing with it. I look like a monster. Although the swelling have subsided, I no longer look the same. My cheeks are overfilled and it affects my smile. My friends say I look like I had bad Botox. If you are under 40, I wouldn't recommend this procedure.
January 17, 2016
Can you pm me your Surgeon so I can avoid him? I need it for my temples for sure
January 5, 2016
i am so sorry you had this experience. i recall long ago reading of someone who was not happy with fat transfer and who finally found someone who was skilled at the removal. i do not know what they used. it was several years ago. look on this site -it is someplace. i have had fat transfer several times by bryan gawley in scottsdale and very happy. i began research ,went from dr amar in spain, learning, to his protege dr donald fox in new york, to looking at others in california. dr gawley answered all my detailed questions to my satisfaction. when asking about overfill he replied"when you leave the table, you will look like i want you to look". he does not overfill and hope it will look right in several months. i spoke to him about the type of cannula he uses, and the method of injection and withdrawal of the cannula, so no bumps resulted. this takes SKILL. i said i was always willing to come back for more than be overfilled. the best way is to do several sessions over time. yes, some is lost in time, but i still look great. i wish you well. i hope you find the doctor who reverses this. if not, time will help. but do not gain weight.
January 5, 2016
Totally agree with renba91.
I too, have had full face fat transfer (from a different doctor). The trauma my face experienced was beyond imagined. I am still dealing with it. I look like a monster. Although the swelling have subsided, I no longer look the same. My cheeks are overfilled and it affects my smile. My friends say I look like I had bad Botox. If you are under 40, I wouldn't recommend this procedure.
I too, have had full face fat transfer (from a different doctor). The trauma my face experienced was beyond imagined. I am still dealing with it. I look like a monster. Although the swelling have subsided, I no longer look the same. My cheeks are overfilled and it affects my smile. My friends say I look like I had bad Botox. If you are under 40, I wouldn't recommend this procedure.
January 5, 2016
Thanks vanillash. I'm glad you had a positive experience with this procedure but I'm am beyond traumatized . This doctor injected so much fat in areas I never had fat. I had a wide, angular face with one flat cheekbone but he injected so much fat all over my cheek midface that does not even match my cheek contours. I'm left with unnatural "block" appearance to my cheeks and all the "block" lifts up when I smile or animate . My skin used to be taught against my bone and so thin you could see the musculature below in pictures. But now I'm so overfilled it all looks undefined and flat . I am beyond furious why my doctor would even consider me a candidate for this and why he would overfill me so young without any consideration of my natural fat distribution and natural facial expressions . I seriously look like Joan rivers every time I take pictures . It's sooooo depressing. I'm seeking out doctors in my area to aggressively treat the fat transfer with steroids and 5fu before it all stays . I'm 3 months post and I'm no more happier with what I see than when I walked out of the OR. If anything the lumps and irregularities are increasingly visible. I don't care if the steroids melts all my fat . I literally had NO fat on my cheeks before this procedure and I looked fine because of my bone structure. this doc went ahead and injected fat ALL over my cheekbones and on top of my already high cheeks and completely masked them with fat. Not a day goes by that I wish I had never been lured with pictures and lies.
January 6, 2016
There are so many examples of fat transfers gone wrong on RS. It definitely seems like the cases where things go wrong usually involve doctors following outdated techniques that involve massive overfilling. This idea to overcompensate for anticipated fat atrophy is obsolete, esp. with new techniques that are supposed to help the fat "take" more successfully.
January 17, 2016
As a woman I would like that look, perhaps, but I get why you are still unhappy. Hey at least you are not hideous as some people turn out (at least on youtube.) You look normal to me on here. NOT bizarre, which is the ultimate nightmare. I agree that for you it was sooo wrong to perform this and I find it disgusting that doctors do this to a 24 year old male, I dont care what the excuse is. It is like giving a face lift to a 20 year old. Unless there is an extreme reason it is WRONG. You were good looking before he laid a finger upon you. So are you still waiting it out or what about Dr. Lambros or lipo'ing it out?
January 17, 2016
Yes family and friends say I look okay and some can't tell too much of a difference but I can esp in pictures. I guess it helps that I have a very thin angular face but I lost all my angularity . The swelling continues to go down but I get weird swelling under my eye over my cheeks looks like malar bags j hate it. I'm going to talk to my ps in a couple weeks for my follow up and ask him to remove it . But I've already reached out to 40+ docs in my area about removing and of the few that have experienvxe grafting even fewer have experience removing. I saw one doc who said he could t do anything but referred me to a doc in Austin who I will go see about removing the fat if my doc blows me off (which I suspect he will).
January 17, 2016
At this point I can honestly live with what is there. Also I stay rather fit so in some ways it helps my face not look as gaunt but I'm still beyond furious my doc put so much in and injected in areas I did not want. I'm most upset that I underwent a procedure that I did not need whatsoever and have now incurred potential long term risks. Not once did he dissuade me from this or ask if I had done fillers or other temporary options. He also tried to put some in my lips and nasolabial folds. I already had full lips thank god I was firm in that . I also had perfectly fine and taught contours and i don't know how I'll be left when this fat dissipates or morphs with time.
February 4, 2016
Any updates? I had a full face fat transfer, chin implant, rhinoplasty and blepharoplasty 2months ago. Although most of the swelling have subside, I still look like a chipmunk or a squirrel with an acorn stuffed in her mouth. The fat on my cheeks and under eye area is also a bit firm.
How are you doing?
How are you doing?
UPDATED FROM renba91
2 months post
Undereye bag
renba91December 31, 2015
Forgot to add that he injected fat so high up my cheek in effort to create this " infra orbital rim augmentation" effect that the inner portion of my right cheekbone has about two pea sized lumps that go past the bone into the lower lid space and look like I have eye bags which I never had. Ive been trying so desperately to smash these two pea lumps with. I success because they're so mobile and in such a sensitive thin area. They are not decreasing in size. I've read that the undereye area is very difficult to address when fat graft goes wrong and the fat tends to stay because this area is so rich in blood supply so I'm desperate to have these lumps go down or go away otherwise I'm going to have big undereye bags at 24 years old and I do not want to have to undergo a lower kid blepharoplasty at such a young age to fix this mess. It's beyond me why a doc would even do this to someone my age. I didn't even have eye bags to begin with. My family has a flat cheek undereye area . I have friends/models that have pronounced undereye bone/orbital rim area and that is all BONE when they smile the fat/cheek does not go past this area into the eye. The doc tried to create this effect using FAT and I'm now left with undereye bags and distorted eyes when I smile from the fat moving up when I smile. I'll add that a prior surgeon I consulted who does bespoke/world reknkwn surgery did not want to touch my undereye area with rim implants because he said my skin was too thin and it would be visible so I don't know why my ps injected the fat there and worst still on my cheek that was NOT flat to begin with. What a nightmare .
Replies (4)
December 31, 2015
I think it will still go down a lot. It's only been two months. I wonder if you lost overall weight if it would make them go down and stay down, even when you regain.
December 31, 2015
I sure hope so because I'm hating every minute of this procedure. And losing more weight is difficult because I'm not heavy to begin with. If I need to lose more weight it's a real struggle because then I'm getting into single digit body fat % . I'm going to try that though as i get in shape for summer I'll lean out as much as I can hopefully much of the fat cells will die or greatly reduce.
December 31, 2015
Your young so it might be harder , but if you lean out in a healthy way, if might decrease that area. I think faces naturally lean out. I'm 43 and lost weight over and over and got thin, and that's what has eventually leaned my once chubby face out. (Now making me want fat grafting).
Did you try the steroid injections yet?
I do think there is probably still swelling.
You are still handsome. Things will resolve . These things take MONTHS. Botox after three months is finally releasing it's grip on my face. Beware of that nasty stuff!
Did you try the steroid injections yet?
I do think there is probably still swelling.
You are still handsome. Things will resolve . These things take MONTHS. Botox after three months is finally releasing it's grip on my face. Beware of that nasty stuff!
December 31, 2015
Yes I've leaned out to single digit body fat before but it's super hard and makes me cranky and hungry all the time lol. I think my face is very angular and skeletal because I stay relatively fit and honestly I prefer the skeletal angular look as it looks more masculine but the downside is that my midface was kinda sunken and I looked tired so I wanted to refresh it by adding some fat in that way I could stay fit and angular but look rested but instead I got something akin to a cheek augmentation that looks soft and puffy and makes me look chubby in pics. Ugh. I'm certain there's still swelling but I just hope the fat goes away in the end id rather a tired masculine skeletal face that looks ok when I smile than a fat face that looks distorted when I smile. And yea I'm never doing fillers/injectables. I think the appropriate fix for my issue was paranasal implants to address the midface sag/folds . That way I get augmentation without looking puffy and fat
January 1, 2016
Hey you
You don't really know how fat grafting works.;) It takes about 3 to 6 months to make all the swelling go completely away. Then, when 3 to 6 months are past, you look like before, when you haven't had your fat grafting. But! The grafts start to "live" at this point and they grow. After 1 year you can really say how the result will be.
You have to wait:)
Best wishes and good luck
Carlo
You don't really know how fat grafting works.;) It takes about 3 to 6 months to make all the swelling go completely away. Then, when 3 to 6 months are past, you look like before, when you haven't had your fat grafting. But! The grafts start to "live" at this point and they grow. After 1 year you can really say how the result will be.
You have to wait:)
Best wishes and good luck
Carlo
January 1, 2016
Well my FT was 1.5 yrs ago. My face grows big when I gain 5lbs. I had my FT when I had an aggressive lower bleph. I was depressed & lost 15pounds. So I got the FT to correct my hollows. It took months for the lumps to show up bc of the swelling. Then I gained my normal weight back & my face gor huge. So I had to diet which was ok however I love sushi & while eating at sushi bar & using soy sauce the next day my face looked like a pumpkin. It took 4 days to go down. Far transfera in the wrong hands is a nightmare
January 1, 2016
PS I consulted w 20 ocular, facial & PS who all told me they couldn't help me bc of the area where it was injected
January 1, 2016
// Why didnt you put ice on the fat cells after 2 months
each day
should destroy the cells
did you have the phenomenon that the fat grew after about 4 months or did it stay the same after that time???
best wishes
carlo //
each day
should destroy the cells
did you have the phenomenon that the fat grew after about 4 months or did it stay the same after that time???
best wishes
carlo //
January 1, 2016
i tried everything cold packs, sat in hot tubs w hot clothes on face for hours, message, blue light therapy still there. so i went in and out of state, sent pictures to LA & beverly hills. all doctors said removing fat from LL & cheeks is too difficult. i posted this question on RS and had half dozen doctors say how to correct but when i went to get a consult it was a different story. i asked one doctor then why answer MY question saying he could help me, when he really couldnt. i didnt ask if a FT could be removed from my arm or breast but LL & cheeks. so why lie and say he can remove it on my post? was it to get more "top" status on RS bc the more questions they answer and the more the patient writes a positive review the more they move up on this so called list. one month they're top next month not. so even if you post a question be prepared to not get the real truth only an answer to become a "top" doctor. its not with all the doctors on this site, but for some
November 22, 2016
Looking at your photos you actually look good btw. I have read about lumps after fat transfer and apparently a steroid is used to remove them. Worth looking up.