POSTED UNDER Facial Fat Transfer REVIEWS
Fat Graftings for Under Eye Hollows. San Jose, CA
ORIGINAL POST
This is only day 6 from my fat grafting for under...
4ever YoungJanuary 24, 2016
WORTH IT
This is only day 6 from my fat grafting for under eye hollows. I am taking all of the photos myself in the same lighting. Normal diffused lighting, no flash.
My skin color is light there, this is 100% from fat loss. I wanted fat transfer for 2 main reasons:
- the final result is permanent (as much as any fat is). Ultimately less downtime and saves money and time in the long run.
- for injections with fill they can only go to the tear trough area. To me that still leaves a hollow look to the eyes themselves. In contrast, a skilled doctor (I chose a plastic surgeon for this), they can go higher with fat grafting.
BTW, I also have a dent in my cheek, the lower right part of the photo, so the doctor did fat grafting to fill that also. Harder to see in the before pic in this lighting.
I am definitely swollen today on day 6, but because we did my cheek also, I'm sure my downtime is longer.
The doctors says it will be 3 weeks till I look truly normal, ie the swelling is down such that I look like nothing was done. I've also read that it can take 3 months until you see the final result in terms of how much of the fat survives.
You can still see the injection site, and some bruising, but my skin no longer looks red. The bruising can be covered with makeup.
My hope is that soon I look both refreshed and like myself again.
If things go well, I will post my doctor's name. FYI, he has been amazing so far, in terms of focused attention, listening to what I want and post-procedure support.
My skin color is light there, this is 100% from fat loss. I wanted fat transfer for 2 main reasons:
- the final result is permanent (as much as any fat is). Ultimately less downtime and saves money and time in the long run.
- for injections with fill they can only go to the tear trough area. To me that still leaves a hollow look to the eyes themselves. In contrast, a skilled doctor (I chose a plastic surgeon for this), they can go higher with fat grafting.
BTW, I also have a dent in my cheek, the lower right part of the photo, so the doctor did fat grafting to fill that also. Harder to see in the before pic in this lighting.
I am definitely swollen today on day 6, but because we did my cheek also, I'm sure my downtime is longer.
The doctors says it will be 3 weeks till I look truly normal, ie the swelling is down such that I look like nothing was done. I've also read that it can take 3 months until you see the final result in terms of how much of the fat survives.
You can still see the injection site, and some bruising, but my skin no longer looks red. The bruising can be covered with makeup.
My hope is that soon I look both refreshed and like myself again.
If things go well, I will post my doctor's name. FYI, he has been amazing so far, in terms of focused attention, listening to what I want and post-procedure support.
UPDATED FROM 4ever Young
8 days post
Day 9 update - feeling great about this!
4ever YoungJanuary 27, 2016
My doctor says to not count surgery day as day 1, so using his method.
First, I realized my photos were rotated, so fixed them so eyelashes were on top. Added today's pic.
Today is the first day I could go in public and look normal to folks that didn't know me. ie I know I'm still bigger than I will be, but it looks 'normal'.
In fact, it looks so good under my eyes that I wish it would stay that way. The extra fat has the added benefit of making the loose skin under my eye tighter.
However, after reading about unpredictability of fat transfers being uneven, and that unevenness being especially visible under the eyes, and some folks ending up with bags, I'm happy my doctor was conservative with less fat transfer volume and small injections. I.e. eyes are so important to your look, that I'm okay if I need 2 rounds as he predicted.
As for my cheek, right now it's flat vs dented. However, said he can only get so much in the area, and we need this to have a healthy stable layer to 'round' it like a normal cheek. (I tried fillers for the dent and they barely had impact, so I'm happy with flat!)
I know that the lack of bruising and my accelerating the swelling reduction is a huge factor here.
My recommendations:
Pre Surgery
Be meticulous to not do the blood thinners for 2 weeks before, as they recommend (no Vit E, Omega 3, ibuprofen, aspirin, alcohol).
Post surgery
And yes, at least 1 week after (some doctors say 2 weeks). I took ibuprofen a day earlier (6 days) to help with swelling reduction and while yes it helped a lot, I also woke up the next morning with bruising on my neck, where the blood had suddenly drained down. So no more for me.
take curcumin/turmeric for swelling reduction, (500 mg, 3x/day)
take bromelain for swelling and bruising reduction
take sublinqual arnica pellets for bruising reduction
I also take MSM and Vitamin C for swelling
Sleep 'sitting up' or head elevated as long as possible. I'm still sleeping that way
BTW, although my bruising was minimal, I did have HUGE swelling. So much that my skin got all peely from being so stretched out. I didn't noticed improvement from the cool water (can't do super cold or it will freeze the fat)
Right now I'm HAPPY, but I need to see how it looks after the full 3 weeks, to see how much is fat vs residual swelling.
First, I realized my photos were rotated, so fixed them so eyelashes were on top. Added today's pic.
Today is the first day I could go in public and look normal to folks that didn't know me. ie I know I'm still bigger than I will be, but it looks 'normal'.
In fact, it looks so good under my eyes that I wish it would stay that way. The extra fat has the added benefit of making the loose skin under my eye tighter.
However, after reading about unpredictability of fat transfers being uneven, and that unevenness being especially visible under the eyes, and some folks ending up with bags, I'm happy my doctor was conservative with less fat transfer volume and small injections. I.e. eyes are so important to your look, that I'm okay if I need 2 rounds as he predicted.
As for my cheek, right now it's flat vs dented. However, said he can only get so much in the area, and we need this to have a healthy stable layer to 'round' it like a normal cheek. (I tried fillers for the dent and they barely had impact, so I'm happy with flat!)
I know that the lack of bruising and my accelerating the swelling reduction is a huge factor here.
My recommendations:
Pre Surgery
Be meticulous to not do the blood thinners for 2 weeks before, as they recommend (no Vit E, Omega 3, ibuprofen, aspirin, alcohol).
Post surgery
And yes, at least 1 week after (some doctors say 2 weeks). I took ibuprofen a day earlier (6 days) to help with swelling reduction and while yes it helped a lot, I also woke up the next morning with bruising on my neck, where the blood had suddenly drained down. So no more for me.
take curcumin/turmeric for swelling reduction, (500 mg, 3x/day)
take bromelain for swelling and bruising reduction
take sublinqual arnica pellets for bruising reduction
I also take MSM and Vitamin C for swelling
Sleep 'sitting up' or head elevated as long as possible. I'm still sleeping that way
BTW, although my bruising was minimal, I did have HUGE swelling. So much that my skin got all peely from being so stretched out. I didn't noticed improvement from the cool water (can't do super cold or it will freeze the fat)
Right now I'm HAPPY, but I need to see how it looks after the full 3 weeks, to see how much is fat vs residual swelling.
Replies (2)
January 31, 2016
Your results look very natural, do you know the volume added to the under eye area? Im not sure what can be considered conservative/too much. Thanks for your thorough report :)
February 2, 2016
Hi Ruga,
He only added 1 cc under each eye. I thought it would be much more.
Let's see how well it holds. Today is 2 weeks, and supposedly 3 weeks is when you really know... I will take a picture sometime next week.
He only added 1 cc under each eye. I thought it would be much more.
Let's see how well it holds. Today is 2 weeks, and supposedly 3 weeks is when you really know... I will take a picture sometime next week.
UPDATED FROM 4ever Young
8 days post
Day 9 - reposting the photo
4ever YoungJanuary 27, 2016
I messed up the first posting.
BTW, I forgot to add: Please be sure that the fat extraction is done from an area where you don't easily lose weight, as it 'remembers' it's origin. So it will gain/loose weight, it will behave where it is originally from.
Finally, I did bruise where I had the fat extracted. Also used topical arnica cream there. Still bruised though.
BTW, I forgot to add: Please be sure that the fat extraction is done from an area where you don't easily lose weight, as it 'remembers' it's origin. So it will gain/loose weight, it will behave where it is originally from.
Finally, I did bruise where I had the fat extracted. Also used topical arnica cream there. Still bruised though.
Replies (3)
January 28, 2016
That's so interesting. It's coming off my flanks. It's like the only place I grow fat!!
January 31, 2016
So the stomach is out of the question ?
February 1, 2016
Yes, you can have it extracted from the stomach. It's just that I was told it was best to take it from somewhere that is 'stubborn fat'. In my case, I always lose weight from my stomach first - so I didn't choose that area.
Replies (11)
for the very reasons I mentioned. And the problem is if you don't like it you are stuck. Sorry to be negative but I am being honest. Good luck!
I personally appreciate your honesty (though this is already underway for me as you know).
I did Infini-RF recently and in spite of claims that it doesn't impact fat as other RF treatments have done, it 'killed' all the fat under my eyes.
I was left with these big hollows that made me look older and tired - gaunt? So I felt I had to do something and went for it.
But I've read a ton of reviews on RealSelf where folks had a bad experience. And I've seen the pics too. The risk is very REAL.
Question: How long did it take for you to see the unevenness from your fat transfer? Right now (9 days post), it looks good. I'm hoping that improves my odds!
That's why this doctor was so cautious and did so little. In fact, if he gets it 'good enough' I will likely skip a round 2 rather than risk that unevenness. I know it's a risk every time.
I'm not concerned with filling my cheek dent. Filled it before (it started with Exilis RF giving me a dent) successfully with fat, and it was really great, until this recent Infini-RF treatment gave me the dent right back. But cheek skin is thicker as you say.