Spotlight on Fat Transfer Procedures

As you age, one of the changes you may notice in your face is that volume is lost around the mouth and on the cheeks and lips. This loss of volume contributes to sagging skin and changes the structure of your face, making you look older than you feel. Although dermal fillers are an option for restoring some of that lost volume, fat transfers are also frequently chosen by patients who want a more natural solution. During a fat transfer, fat is removed from one part of your body via liposuction and used to restore volume in your face. Fat transfers can be performed on their own, or if you have more advanced skin sagging, your plastic surgeon may recommend that you have a face lift to help with tightness, followed by a fat transfer to add volume. Could this procedure be right for you? Here is what you need to know. 

Consultation

As with any plastic surgery procedure, the first step in getting a fat transfer is a consultation. During the consultation, your surgeon will examine your face and discuss your treatment goals to determine if a fat transfer can achieve the outcome you want. He or she will also review your medical history to ensure that surgery is safe for you. If you decide to move forward with the procedure, your plastic surgeon may recommend that you stop certain medications or that you stop things that could interfere with your recovery, like smoking. 

Procedure

During a fat transfer procedure, a solution that includes lidocaine is injected into the area where fat will be removed. Once you are fully numb, a minimally invasive liposuction procedure will be performed to remove the fat. The fat is then separated from the solution and prepared for injection into the treatment areas on the face. Your face will then be numbed, and the fat will be strategically injected in the treatment areas to build natural-looking volume and restore facial contours. 

Recovery

After the procedure, you will have a dressing on the area from which the fat was removed, and you will have swelling in the areas of the injections. It will take about three weeks for the swelling to go away and for the results to be fully visible. Be sure to avoid smoking and to move around often as you heal. 

Find out if you are a good candidate for a fat transfer procedure by making an appointment at Maloney Plastic Surgery in Tucson. You can reach our team today by calling (520) 298-2330.