Information about the procedure
Restoring volume and improving tissue quality by transferring your own fat.
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What it involves
Fat grafting (lipofilling) takes fat from an area where there is excess — most often the abdomen, flanks or inner thighs — processes it and injects it where volume is needed.
As well as adding volume, the grafted fat also improves the quality of the overlying skin. This effect is attributed to the regenerative cells it contains and is particularly valuable for scars and for skin that has been treated with radiotherapy.
Some of the grafted fat is resorbed over the first few months — usually between a quarter and a half. For this reason, a little more is grafted than is needed, and a second session is sometimes planned.
Types and approaches
Face
Restoring volume in the cheekbones, temples, tear trough and chin. It gives a softer, more natural result than dermal filler, but it is more invasive.
Breasts
A moderate increase in volume, or correction of contour irregularities after previous surgery. A natural result, but the volume that can be added is limited.
Buttocks
Increasing volume and improving shape with your own tissue.
Scars and indentations
Filling depressed scars and improving the elasticity of the overlying skin.
Who it is suitable for
Suitable for
- Age-related loss of facial volume
- Depressed scars or indentations after injury or surgery
- Wishing to add volume naturally, without foreign material
- Sufficient donor fat available
- Asymmetry requiring fine contouring
Not suitable, or postponed, in cases of
- Very slim patients without a sufficient donor area
- Unstable weight — grafted fat changes with body weight
- Current smoking, which reduces graft survival
- Expecting 100% of the grafted volume to be retained
- Active infection in the area
Preparation
- Assessment of the donor areas and the volume required
- A stable weight
- Stopping smoking at least two weeks before the procedure
- Stopping blood thinners, as agreed with your doctor
How it is performed
Small volumes are grafted under local anaesthesia with sedation. For the breasts and buttocks, general anaesthesia is preferred. The procedure takes from 45 minutes to about two hours.
The fat is harvested with a fine cannula, processed to separate out blood and fluid, and injected in very thin layers at different depths.
Spreading it in small portions is key — fat that is clumped in one place does not acquire a blood supply and dies, forming firm lumps.
Recovery
- The first 48 hoursSwelling in the grafted area and bruising in the donor area. The face looks fuller than the final result will be.
- The first weekSwelling peaks. The donor area feels bruised. Compression is applied to the donor area.
- 2–4 weeksSwelling subsides considerably. The true volume starts to become visible.
- 1–3 monthsThe graft stabilises. Some of the volume is resorbed — this is expected.
- 6 monthsFinal result. The fat that has taken remains long-term.
Pain and discomfort
The discomfort is moderate. The donor area feels bruised for a week or two and is usually more uncomfortable than the grafted area. Standard painkillers are sufficient.
Risks and complications
Every intervention carries risks. Listing them does not mean they are expected to occur — it allows you to make an informed decision.
- Unpredictable resorption of part of the grafted fat
- Asymmetry due to uneven graft take
- Oil cysts or areas of firmness
- Fat necrosis with firm nodules
- Contour irregularities in the donor area
- Infection — rare
- Very rare but serious, with injection into deep areas: fat embolism
Results and longevity
Fat that has taken is living tissue and remains long-term. It responds to changes in weight — it increases when you gain weight and decreases when you lose it.
The result can be assessed no earlier than the third month, and definitively at six months.
A second session is sometimes planned to achieve the desired volume — this is not a failure but part of the method.