The fight against aging will be a lifelong battle, and there’s perhaps no more difficult battlefield than the one that happens on the face. As you grow older, you lose important structural proteins and subcutaneous fat that once made your skin smooth and the contours of your face healthy and full. This can leave your skin more susceptible to wrinkles, sagging skin, fine lines, and hollow points around the eyes and cheekbones.

Fortunately, you have some options in your arsenal to restore your youthful radiance. At her central Austin office, Dr. Malena Amato finds the most effective weapon you have to fight back against aging is a procedure called facial fat grafting.

Here are five things that everyone should know about facial fat grafting.

1.     What to Expect

The most important thing to know before going into surgery is understanding the procedure itself and how it will ultimately serve you. To perform a facial fat transfer, Dr. Amato first uses liposuction to remove fat from a secondary location on the body. Patients usually request to have fat removed from their belly, back, or thighs, as this approach provides the added benefits of shaping and slimming common problem areas.

The harvested fat is then injected into the areas of your face in which you’d like to alter facial contours, add more volume, and tighten your skin. When your recovery is complete, the cells that survive the transfer become permanent in their new location.

2.     A Facial Fat Transfer Can Be Useful for Sagging Skin

The lower third part of the face is where you’ll experience the most severe sagging skin because of the significant collagen loss. A facial fat transfer can be used to avoid surgery when treating mild sagging skin by restoring essential skin volume.

3.     Less Invasive Than Facial Plastic Surgery

While facial fat grafting is a surgery, it’s a relatively minor one. In some situations, a facial fat graft may be the best and least invasive course of action. Incisions at the donor and transfer sites will be tiny. The device used to harvest fat cells, and the needle used to re-inject are both small, making the fat transfer less invasive than many other facial cosmetic procedures. This also means less painful recovery time for you so that you can get back to living your life right away.

4.     Less Risk Than Other Procedures

One of the added benefits of facial fat grafting is that it uses your body’s own fat cells to boost volume and restore your youthful appearance. Because it doesn’t use foreign devices such as implants or chemical products that could cause a minor risk of an allergic reaction, facial fat grafting may pose fewer risks for sensitive patients wanting to restore facial volume.

5.     What to Expect During Recovery

Dr. Amato provides a safe, compassionate, conscientious follow-up care plan to all of her patients. Immediately after your surgery, you may notice that your face looks fuller than you’d expected. This is a normal and temporary part of having a facial fat transfer. Some of the facial fullness is caused by swelling, which will subside after recovery.

If you’re considering facial fat grafting, Dr. Amato invites you to contact her office here or call (512) 501-1010 to schedule a consultation. We look forward to speaking with you soon!