Fat Injection
Many patients are asking for fat injections as a facial filler to plump out facial tissues.
After all, what could be better than taking fat from where it is unwanted (READ: tummy and buttocks) and putting it where it can do some good as a facial filler? Like in the grooves, deep folds and troughs of the face.
Besides, unlike Juvederm or Restylane, fat is a permanent facial filler, isn’t it?
(Learn more about facial filers)
Alas, all that glitters is not gold. The procedure, known as fat grafting, takes longer, requires a second procedure to get the donor fat and can be unpredictable as a facial filler.
Additionally, a lot of special equipment, training and special skills are required. The donor fat must be screened, filtered, separated from blood and other substances before re-injecting as fat cells which, hopefully will act as a facial filler.
The bugbear of all fat grafting procedures is finding a blood supply for the injected fat without squirting it in as a pool. The only way the injected fat has a chance of finding a nourishing blood supply is injecting very tiny amounts of fat cells through various layers of skin.
True, injected fat can grow, but it can’t be removed. Should uneven fat growth take place, the cosmetic plastic surgeon would have a problem with the patient’s facial symmetry. The face would look unbalanced if injected fat survived and grew on, say, one cheek but failed on the other.
Fat injection studies and case histories show that the procedure works best on younger patients. But older people need it more because hollowing and sagging of the face is a natural result of normal aging.
Fat grafting in the nasolabial folds – those deep creases that run from the corners of the nose to the edges of the mouth – can have a particularly unenviable result: the fat can settle on either side of the fold, creating an even deeper facial crease.
Finally, the process of harvesting fat, putting it through a centrifuge and re-injecting it kills 75 percent of fat cells.
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