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Liposuction and Facial Fat Grafting

Facial fat grafting at our Charleston practice is a cutting-edge technique to restore volume in the face, which can provide a more youthful look. If you wish to refresh your appearance with volume enhancement, wrinkle reduction, and facial fullness, fat transfer to the face can use your own tissue as a natural filler and achieve beautiful results that typically outlast those of common injectables, such as Restylane^® or JUVÉDERM^®.

What Is Facial Fat Grafting?

Facial fat grafting is a procedure designed to extract excess fat from another part of the body (tummy, hips, etc.) via liposuction and reinject the adipose (fatty) tissue as a natural facial filler. Using your own fat to fill lines, creases, and facial hollows can offer a number of benefits when compared to cosmetic injectables, including the longevity of the outcome and the use of your own tissue. As the harvested fat comes from your body, there is no need for an allergy test and the injected fat cells that survive can theoretically endure forever. In many cases, the rejuvenative effects of treatment last for years. Plus, part of facial fat transfer involves liposuction of the harvesting site—usually the abdomen, thighs, or flanks—for body contouring that can occur simultaneous to your facial rejuvenation, providing an added benefit of treatment. Our board-certified plastic surgeons can examine your concerns and assess whether liposuction and fat grafting are ideal techniques to meet your treatment goals.

What Can Facial Fat Grafting Do for Me?

Fat grafting to the face is considered a powerful treatment to combat facial volume loss and reverse signs of facial aging. As the face changes over time, gravity and the natural slow, but steady, aging process can cause youthful facial fullness to diminish, prompting many individuals to use fat transfer to lift and volumize the skin and facial soft tissues. In general, facial fat grafting can:

Fill in creases and facial folds, such as nasolabial folds and marionette lines
Add volume to sunken temples and cheeks
Plump thinning lips
Improve jowling on the jawline
Smooth deep creases in the brow and forehead

Results from facial fat transfer typically appear gradually in the following months after the procedure. If you are seeking a more immediate result, fillers like JUVÉDERM^® and Restylane can provide volume enhancement that is apparent quickly after the non-surgical treatment session.

Fat Grafting and Liposuction

As part of the facial fat grafting procedure, a certain amount of stubborn fat is removed from the harvesting site, purified, and reinjected to areas of the face that could benefit from a more youthful appearance. This can achieve body contouring benefits in conjunction with your facial rejuvenation, with many patients opting to combine fat grafting with a full liposuction procedure to remove a larger amount of fat, or to treat more than one area. The most common areas where fat is gathered include fat-rich regions of the body, such as the abdomen, buttocks, hips, flanks, or thighs.

How Is the Liposuction and Fat Grafting Procedure Performed?

This outpatient procedure starts with a consultation, wherein we will listen to your concerns, ask you about your aesthetic goals, and develop a treatment plan around your unique needs. Facial fat transfer generally requires local anesthesia only, depending on the extent of your concerns and whether your procedure is being complemented with more extensive liposuction. The first portion of treatment will involve harvesting the necessary amount of fat from another area of the body using a small syringe. The adipose tissue is then purified and prepared for careful injection into the targeted facial planes. We will then introduce the fat cells into the planned treatment areas for natural augmentation and rejuvenation of your facial features.

What Is Recovery Like From Liposuction and Fat Grafting?

Downtime after facial fat grafting is usually minimal, although some minor recovery time may be necessary from the liposuction component of the procedure. It is normal for both the injection and harvesting sites to feel swollen or bruised after facial fat grafting. Most patients can return to work and normal activities within one week of treatment. While rejuvenation from fat transfer may be noticeable soon after the procedure, the best results usually appear a few months after injections. Since a portion of the injected fat may be reabsorbed by the body, the final outcome generally takes time to become fully realized. After three to four months when facial swelling has fully dissipated, the aesthetic outcome that is achieved can be considered your long-term result.

How Much Does Facial Fat Grafting Cost?

The price of facial fat grafting can vary considerably, as the location of a practice and the experience of a plastic surgeon typically influence the overall cost estimate. Once we determine your needs in a consultation, our patient coordinator will be able to provide a personalized quote based on:

The degree of enhancement desired
The complexity of your procedure
The amount of fat required for removal
The degree of additional liposuction that may be desired beyond the amount required for facial fat grafting

At Plastic Surgery of the Carolinas, we accept patient financing through reputable third-party lenders that can make your fat grafting expenses more affordable. These institutions offer an array of low- to no-interest payment plans that can be selected to accommodate your unique budget. To learn more about the cost of facial fat transfer, please contact our office to speak to a member of our team.

Questions? Plastic Surgery of the Carolinas offers a number of advanced treatments that can refresh your facial appearance and achieve natural-looking results. Please contact our practice today to schedule a consultation.