Fat Transfer with PRP to Under Eyes and Face - Los Angeles, CA

They have me on Arnica Forte to help keep me from.bruising, I started that two weeks prior to my surgery date. Apparently standard for his patients with high risk of bruising. Of course I had to stop anything that might increase bleeding as well (there's a list).

I mean for procedures with high risks of bruising

Sorry, I put all my comments here. You're awesome for doing such a thorough review. It's exceptionally helpful. Can't wait to see when the bruises are all healed.

Whoops. I see it. I'm assuming that the travel and accommodations were significant?

I looked up different fat transfer docs. Read their reviews on this site and others. Then I researched thier background and their thoughts on fat transfer. Personally, any that had patients that complained of OVERFILLING I crossed off my list. I'd rather fix a doc's work that filled just even, and I didn't keep enough fat than one that assumed I was not going to keep a certain amount and it turned out I was an overachiever. Because I've yet to hear a doctor yet say it wasn't really hard to fix an overfill cheaply so it looked good. I also wanted someone who has done a lot of under eyes. Those docs are harder to find. Some docs refuse and I understand as the area is very unforgiving. You REALLY want someone with experience. I look puffy in the picture, I looked much less so right after surgery per my husband. He said it looked really good.

Thank you for your reply. Can you tell me what the cost was for just the fat transfer?

It didn't post? Operating Room 2,500 Anesthesia. 1,150 Fat Harvest. 7,500 Fat grafting. 3,500 PRP. 1,590 The PRP is Platelet Rich Plasma and you don't want to fat graft without it. It's what helps the fat attach much better to a blood supply and allows you to not overfill and so less chance of complications

Again, thank you for your response. Your cost are a lot more then was quoted to me. It looks like LA is expensive.

This is my second time getting a fat transfer. My first doc did a full face fat transfer. I paid less. I got what I paid for. Not saying you should go by who is the most expensive, but I am saying that don't go cheap. Don't pick by price (you need only read some stories to realize why this is a bad idea)....pick by experience, quality of work, and how comfortable you feel with him or her. If all else is tied, then look at price.

Perhaps I worded it poorly. I was trying to say I let the price be one of the major factors the first time and I regretted it in hindsight. I should have made experience, quality and my comfort level with them be the overriding factors. I looked at Dr Lam, he's actually close enough I could have easily driven to him but I flew to LA twice instead to see Dr Emer. If you read my previous post you'll note I deleted all docs that overfilled.... Knocking Dr Lam out of my consideration right off the get go. I didn't not consider someone just because they were inexpensive. That would be silly. THIS time, however, I went with experience, quality work, and feeling comfortable with the doctor and the office as more important than saving a few thousand dollars, or even many thousands of dollars because as several of those who have had messed up fat transfers can attest, there is no easy fix. Sometimes you can get lucky and only pay a small amount and have fantastic results. But did you read Dede1's posts? She quoted for one one transfer but she actually had more than one.... Why? The first she said the survival rate was about 30%, the second transfer she said the survival rate was about 15%. She eventually had a third....

I looked at Sydney Coleman after reading a doctor on here said he was the best fat transfer doctor. My understanding about his bad results were in his early part of his experience with doing fat grafting and that he was doing a lot of experimenting resulting in a lot of bad results and I believe he was even sued. He has perfected his procedure and teaches it. The doctor I'm considering uses the Coleman procedure. Coleman is way out of what I want to spend. What he charges I can just get some temporary fillers for the next 15 years. J to the D doctor's prices are very reasonable, they are listed on their website but he is in Sweden.

Actually google Sydney Coleman complaints and you'll find many complaints just within the last 3 years. It wasn't just in his early part of his career he was disfiguring some patients.

And remember those prices are Euro's not dollars.... Add in travel, lodging, etc and the fact he too did two procedures (small volumes) although second was very reasonably priced and the package is much higher.

Hey Susan, the prices are actually American dollars. For d to the j they're swedish crowns and converted end up being 2500 and for yskima81's doc in Korea it was $2200.00 that included PRP and stem cell. As for dede1 I corresponded with her and the reason she had to have 3 is because she did the second one without PRP. She wanted to see if it made a difference. Unfortunately for her it did and that's why she needed the 3rd. I corresponded with another doctor off of here Dr. Bucky and he told me that generally they discourage people 55 and over from getting fat due to the consistency of the fat at that age and the low retention. Im not sure of your age but that could have been a factor the first time around as well.

One more thing to consider. If you're here in the states and something goes wrong during your surgery or just after you CAN be covered by your insurance. It might be out of network, but you'll at least not out in the cold.

I'm now 55, we'll see how well it takes

I'm having the second because of how unevenly the first took. I bruised so badly, and was so badly swollen that it moved some of the injected fat around... And that fat took. My plastic surgeon did a full face fat transfer but didn't include under my eyes.... He told me if I wasn't happy I could have a touch up. I told him I wasn't happy and he just kept telling me I looked good. Eventually I started looking for another doctor. This time however I made sure they we were on the exact same page for what I wanted. They had to have multiple experiences in fat transfers, especially under eye, they didn't overfill, and I felt comfortable with them and their staff.