Filler Up!

One of the first signs of aging is what I like to call loosy goosy. That’s when the skin starts to get a little slack and just doesn’t have the spring and firmness it had when you were younger. Unfortunately, it’s a fact of life and unless you know something I don’t, it’s going to happen at some point.

A common misconception is that once the skin starts to sag, we should book a date for a face lift. Cutting and pulling the skin taut isn’t the answer to a fresh faced look. Instead, most of the time patients end up looking just tight and artificial.

Autologous fat transfer is a procedure in which an individual's own body fat is used to plump up sunken or emaciated areas of the face or to add volume where desired. The word "autologous" simply refers to the use of one's own tissues or fat.

The first step involves the liposuctioning of excess body fat (usually the thighs, stomach or buttocks). After the suctioning, the fat cells are injected into the areas in the face that have lost volume.

Facial fat injections help to plump up the areas that have started to go loosy goosy. It leaves the patient looking refreshed and youthful. The features aren’t changed, they are just brought back to the fullness they had in more youthful days.

Facial fat sculpting offers several major benefits. In addition to correcting problems of the aging face, facial fat transfer is natural. The material used is not from an animal, or a cadaver, or a synthetic product. It's also versatile; the fat can be used for many facial imperfections, including scars and depressions in the skin. The effects of facial fat sculpting are very long-lasting — facial fat injections last significantly longer than cosmetic injectables such as Restylane®, and Juvéderm. And facial fat sculpting is safe, since there are no allergic reactions to worry about, because the fat transplantation is from your own body.

The risks are minimal as long as you are seeking treatment with a board certified plastic surgeon that has experience performing this procedure. Soreness and swelling are possible, but they're not commonly experienced.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to consult with a fully accredited surgeon. The surgery is relatively minor; however, it’s still a medical procedure and should be taken seriously. Do your homework and you should have wonderful results.

~ Eileen Lang

For more information try these helpful websites:

http://www.plasticsurgery.org

https://www.abplsurg.org