Plastic surgeons call it autologous fat transfer, but most people refer to this procedure as fat transfer or fat grafting. Whatever you call it, fat transfer allows your surgeon to remove excess fat from areas where you don’t want it and then inject it into other parts of your body where it can benefit you. The procedure has become increasingly popular because it can deliver more permanent results than dermal fillers without placing anything man-made into the body the way implants do.
Although the most well-known fat transfer procedure is easily the Brazilian butt lift (BBL), it’s not just about your butt! Fat can be transferred almost anywhere in your body. It is frequently injected into the thighs, calves, ankles, and face, just to name a few possible destinations.
A fat transfer procedure begins with liposuction. Your plastic surgeon will remove excess fat from places where you feel you have too much, carefully sculpting and contouring the area as they work. The fat removed during your liposuction is then washed and purified. When this process is complete, your surgeon chooses the healthiest and most viable fat cells and injects them into the desired area.
Fat transfer creates very similar results to dermal fillers. Fillers offer only a temporary solution, however, and require ongoing maintenance. Hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers like those used at Mia Aesthetics typically last six to 12 months, depending on where they’re injected and how quickly your body metabolizes (absorbs) them.
Dermal fillers and implants both have their benefits, but many patients opt for a fat transfer over these procedures. This is because fat grafting offers several benefits that other options often can’t compete with. Those benefits include:
Patients are often surprised to learn just how many different areas of the body can benefit from a fat transfer procedure. It would be impossible to list them all here, but we would like to provide an overview of some of the more surprising areas. This brief outline explains where fat can be transferred along with the benefits of doing so.
Fat transfer procedures work well for most people, but not everyone is a candidate. The best fat augmentation candidates:
What you see immediately after surgery is not what you will get. You will look swollen and overdone after your procedure, but don’t panic! Your plastic surgeon will intentionally inject more fat than necessary during your fat transfer. They do this knowing that only 60 to 80% of the implanted fat cells will survive. Things will calm down as the swelling subsides and some of the newly implanted fat cells die and get reabsorbed by the body. Exactly how many fat cells survive depends on several factors.
One is the technique used by your surgeon. The gentler the liposuction process, the healthier the newly transplanted cells will be. Your aftercare also impacts fat cell survival rates. The more meticulously you follow your post-op instructions, the more cells will survive. Reducing swelling as much as possible and avoiding pressure on the area are both critical. The inescapable facts of your genetics will also play a part, as they will determine how your body heals and what it does with your cells.
After you heal from the surgery and any residual swelling abates, you can expect subtle, natural-looking results. After fat augmentation, you will look like a younger, better version of yourself—but you will still look like you. When done well, fat augmentation procedures don’t alter your appearance enough to make you unrecognizable or to make it obvious that you have had plastic surgery.
Recovering from a fat transfer is different from one body area to another. Most patients return to work five to seven days after a facial fat augmentation. Other areas of the body require one to two weeks of rest. The timeline can vary, however, and may be a bit longer if you heal slowly. Remember that both the fat transfer area and liposuction sites all need time to recover. Your plastic surgeon will likely ask you to wait six to eight weeks before resuming your normal exercise routine.
Swelling can easily last about six weeks after your procedure, but you will notice a marked improvement in half that time (three to four weeks). To help with swelling, your doctor will likely ask you to wear a compression garment. You may need to wear it to reduce swelling for the six to eight weeks that it is expected to last.
It can take up to 12 weeks for ill-fated fat cells to die and be absorbed into the body. For the first few days and even weeks after your procedure, the area that received the fat augmentation will probably look a bit puffy and overdone. This is normal and expected. In 12 weeks, you should be seeing your final results as things settle down.
There are a few common misconceptions about fat transfers that we would like to address. First, it’s important to understand that liposuction is not a weight loss procedure. Your fat donor sites will look more toned and nicely contoured after a fat transfer procedure, but you won’t lose weight.
It’s also super important to understand what the word permanent means in plastic surgery. Liposuction is considered a permanent procedure since the fat cells your surgeon removes never come back. Fat transfer is also branded as permanent since the fat cells that establish a blood supply and survive after your fat augmentation aren’t going anywhere. (All cells eventually die, but your body replaces them where they are.) Permanent though these procedures may be, you can alter the results of both if you gain or lose a significant amount of weight.
Fat transfers are often not ideal for very lean patients. And like all surgeries, fat transfers come with some risks. You can minimize them by choosing a skilled and experienced plastic surgeon, but you can never completely eliminate risk. Although rare, possible complications after fat augmentation include lumpiness, asymmetry, or excessive fat necrosis (graft failure) that requires a touch-up surgery.
The most important thing you can do to ensure that your fat transfer is a success is to choose the right plastic surgeon. We cannot stress this enough. Poor technique and sloppy work can cause complications at worst and produce subpar results at best. No amount of preparation or good post-op care can compensate for poorly performed procedures.
When you’ve consulted with a plastic surgeon, examined before-and-after photos of their work, and are sure you’re in good hands, you can do the following to help prepare for and recover from your fat transfer to help make it a success:
Fat transfer is technically not reversible, but if issues like lumps, asymmetry, or dissatisfaction arise, surgical revision can be used to remove or adjust the transferred fat. Sometimes these issues are corrected by adding more fat. At other times, liposuction can smooth out the added fat for a better contour. You should generally wait three months to seek a revision, however, to ensure that all of the residual swelling has subsided and that all the fat cells that are going to die have done so.
The fat cells transferred during your procedure are, of course, all yours. This means that they will respond to weight changes in the same manner as other fat cells in your body. If you gain a significant amount of weight after surgery, your fat cells can get larger, altering and distorting your surgical results. The same is true if you lose a significant amount of weight. The transplanted fat cells can shrink and change your body’s new shape.
You sure can. Fat transfer is frequently combined with other cosmetic surgeries, such as facelifts for added volume or tummy tucks for contouring. Combining procedures can enhance results and reduce overall recovery time. Fat transfer can also be combined with dermal fillers if you are a little short on donor fat or lose a bit of volume again over time as you age. You can combine fat augmentation with Botox as well, if, for example, you want to address under-eye hollows as well as crow’s feet.
Both procedures are safe when performed by a qualified and skilled plastic surgeon with adequate experience. Fat transfer is generally considered lower risk, however, because it uses your own body tissue. This reduces the risk of rejection, allergic reactions, or, in the case of a fat transfer breast augmentation, capsular contracture. Remember, though, that every surgical procedure carries some risk, and fat transfer still comes with some rare but possible complications.
When fully healed, transferred fat feels like, well… you. It should feel soft and natural, just like the tissue in the surrounding area. In the first few weeks after the procedure, you may feel some mild firmness or small lumps. (Actually, you shouldn’t, since you should avoid touching the area! Tsk-tsk.) In time, these feelings will give way to a natural sensation.
Nope. Once fat is transferred and establishes itself in its new home with a good blood supply, it won’t go anywhere. As you heal, it may look like things are moving and shifting. Slight shifting during healing is normal, and your fat cells can die and be reabsorbed at different rates, making it appear as though things are moving. Once you’re fully healed, however, your fat cells aren’t going anywhere.
At Mia Aesthetics, we use advanced fat purification techniques, gentle harvesting methods, and meticulous injection execution to maximize fat viability and retention. Post-op care instructions are also tailored to help patients retain the most fat volume long-term.