Fat transfer to the lips is considered a permanent procedure, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your results will remain unchanged forever. You’re not alone if that sentence left you scratching your head, so allow us to clarify.
A lip fat transfer is permanent in the sense that the fat cells that survive the transfer process will stay in your lips for life. But like all of the fat cells in your body, they expand and contract with weight gain and loss, respectively. This can change the way your lips look, as can the natural aging process, which continues after your fat transfer procedure.
All that being said, most patients enjoy the results of their lip fat transfer for many years, and some are happy with their lips for life after the procedure. Getting the best results means understanding both short- and long-term fat cell survival rates.
In the first few weeks after a fat transfer to the lips, some of the newly transplanted fat cells will die. This is normal and not indicative of a failed procedure. To survive long-term, the cells need to establish a blood supply in their new home. Most will succeed, but about 20 to 30% will die and be reabsorbed by your body.
If you’re into math, you’ve already cleverly figured out that this means 70 to 80% of the cells will manage to establish a blood supply and live on in your lips. Some patients may, however, retain less or more fat cells depending on the surgical technique and skill of their plastic surgeon as well as how their bodies naturally heal.
Because your plastic surgeon knows that some of the cells will die after a fat transfer to the lips, they will likely overfill your lips a bit on purpose to accommodate the loss. Between that and post-op swelling, you may feel as though you resemble the female in the movie “Gremlins,” but things will settle down! Here is a timeline of when:
While the human body is generally well understood in the modern age, every person is still somewhat unique. Different bodies can have very different reactions to the same things, as is most easily seen in allergies. Some people can eat peanuts, for example, while others can’t even be in the same room as them. The same is true of the healing process, which can vary somewhat from one patient to the next. Your natural physiology will affect your fat cell survival rate, as will your post-op behavior.
Individual differences in metabolism will affect the rate at which your body absorbs some of the fat cells as well as the rate at which the survivors can establish a new blood supply. Your metabolism can work for or against you, but it isn’t something you can control. That doesn’t mean that you’re just a hapless victim of your body’s natural processes. There are factors that affect the longevity of a fat transfer to the lips that you can control, and doing so can improve the lifespan of your results. You can help yourself by avoiding:
There are two common misconceptions patients tend to have when they come to see us about getting a fat transfer to the lips. In a way, both stem from the fact that the word “permanent” means something a little different in plastic surgery.
As we briefly touched on earlier, lip fat transfer is considered permanent in the sense that all of the surviving fat cells will remain in your lips for good. Not every fat cell injected into your lips during surgery will find a permanent home there. Over the course of about six weeks, the fat cells transferred to your lips during surgery will either establish a blood supply and make themselves at home or die and be absorbed into your body. The fat cells that are still standing in six weeks are now permanent, and your body will refresh them as needed during the natural death and replacement process that all of your body’s cells undergo.
It’s also important to understand that, although your results are permanent, your appearance probably won’t be. Though plastic surgeons have a remarkable ability to turn back the clock and make you look younger, they can’t stop the aging process altogether. (If they could, they would likely be filthy rich, retired, and living on a private island.) The natural aging process, as well as significant weight fluctuations, can change the appearance of your lips despite the permanence of the fat cells within them. Your face changes as you age, and you may notice differences in your lips over time despite your lip fat transfer.
Sometimes a fat transfer to the lips doesn’t provide quite the boost the patient was hoping for. This can happen for a number of reasons, including more fat absorption than predicted. In this case, a second surgery is sometimes needed in six months or a year to plump the lips a bit more. Even when a patient is thrilled with their lip fat transfer results, they may notice changes in a few years as aging continues. If desired, another surgery to top off the lips is often possible.
There are many steps you can take to help your lip transfer results last as long as possible. Some of these steps are actionable during your recovery period while others can help you more long-term. We highly recommend doing everything you can to help yourself both immediately after surgery and on an ongoing basis after the dust settles.
Your plastic surgeon will provide you with a detailed list of post-op instructions after your fat transfer to the lips. Please follow them closely, as they’re designed to make your recovery easier while preserving as many fat cells as possible. We recommend all of the following:
After your initial recovery period, life will return to normal. You will be able to eat and express yourself as usual, and your activity and exercise will no longer be restricted. Your fat transfer will last longer, however, if you renew or pick up some healthy habits. These include:
You will ultimately notice fuller lips and an improvement in the way your lips look after a lip fat transfer, but things are going to look worse before they get better. After surgery, your lips will look swollen, overly full, and possibly red or bruised. They’re probably going to look too big for your face. (Not baboon butt huge, as people sometimes joke, but big and red nonetheless.)
While you won’t feel camera-ready during this phase, rest assured that it is temporary. We promise. When all is said and done, your lip enhancement will result in a subtle but noticeable improvement, and the transferred fat will feel soft and natural. A skilled plastic surgeon will make sure that you don’t look overdone or stiff. You can expect a more natural look to emerge about six weeks after your lip fat transfer, followed by your final results in six months.
It can be frustrating to have to wait six months to see lip fat transfer results, but if you opt for dermal filler instead, you could need another filler session in that same timeframe. While they absolutely have their place, dermal fillers are a temporary solution. They do offer almost instant results, which sometimes matters more than longevity. For instance, you may opt for hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers if you want to look your best at your daughter’s wedding in two weeks.
For those seeking a more permanent solution, however, a fat transfer to the lips is a better choice. You could require a lip fat touch-up after healing from surgery, or perhaps in a few years as you continue to age, but HA fillers require ongoing injections every six to 12 months. And because it is literally a relocated natural part of your body, transferred fat feels more natural than fillers once your lips have healed.
The human body is a complicated thing, and that means healing can be too. Many of the lumps, bumps, bruises, and swells you experience along the way are perfectly normal. Because the body may swell unevenly, for example, you may notice asymmetry in your lips early in your recovery. Thanks to gravity, you may also notice that any bruising around your lips migrates to your chin. These developments are common and not causes for alarm.
There are, however, rare but possible complications that can arise after fat transfer to the lips. Your odds of experiencing an issue are low, but it’s important to contact your plastic surgeon for a follow-up if:
No. You can encourage the fat survival process by closely following your post-op care instructions, but you can’t make the process go any faster. The fat cells that are destined to survive need to establish a blood supply to do so, and this process simply takes time. Trying to rush the healing process is never a good idea and often backfires.
Not necessarily. Some firmness is normal early in the recovery process. Most plastic surgeons will want to see you if you’re still experiencing firmness at the six-week mark, but they also want you to reach out if you have questions or concerns as you heal. If your lips seem harder than you’re comfortable with three weeks after surgery, it’s fine to call your surgeon for guidance.
No! Fat cells transferred to the lips are fragile in the days following the procedure. Massage and other forms of pressure can damage them, causing more of them to die. It could also shift some of the cells since they won’t yet be fully integrated into their new home. Your surgeon will tell you when you can start to apply gentle pressure to your lips, which is usually after the first three to four weeks.
Sometimes, patients would like their lips to be a tad fuller after a lip fat transfer. They may opt to add this volume via dermal fillers. If you choose to add filler after your procedure, please wait three to six months. Adding filler too soon after a fat transfer to the lips can lead to lumpiness and other unpredictable outcomes. Allowing your fat transfer to stabilize gives your plastic surgeon a much clearer picture of where to inject the filler for the maximum benefit after your surgery.