Technical names: Autologous Fat Transplantation, Fat Injections, Microlipo-injection, Fat Grafting
Major risks: There are risks associated with liposuction procedures. From the injection itself there can be some local swelling, redness, and bruising. Scar-tissue buildup is possible, and it is possible to temporarily lose sensation in the treatment area due to nerve damage or swelling. Long-term or permanent loss of sensitivity is possible. There is also the risk of an asymmetrical appearance.
Stability: Your body will absorb about 65% of the fat within the first six months. The remaining 35% can remain in place for longer, but exactly how much longer varies greatly from person to person. For some reason some people’s bodies just can’t hold on to the injected fat, even when it’s their own.
Getting rid of your own fat from areas you don’t want excess and then injecting it into your wrinkles to eliminate them does sound like the best of all worlds, but fat injections are a more complicated process than other injectables and they don’t last as long. So even though the concept of redistributing fat from an area where you don’t want it (like the thighs and buttocks) to areas where it may be of better use (like wrinkles) is very appealing, the benefit of fat transplantation is limited by the body’s dramatic reabsorption of fat grafts.
The first step is to remove fat from your own body, and it is usually taken from the abdomen or buttocks. It is important that the fat being used has a soft texture so it can more easily adapt and be contoured to the shape of the face. Once the fat is extracted it is processed to make it usable, so it can be injected precisely beneath the wrinkle to fill in and reshape the area. This injection process is repeated until the desired enhancement is attained.
Another added benefit of fat injections is that when physicians extract fat from a liposuction procedure, breast augmentation, tummy tuck, or some other reduction surgery, they can store the fat in a freezer to be used in future fat-injection procedures.
Because of the amount of absorption that takes place within the first few months of treatment, many physicians overfill the treated area to help improve the long-term results. This overfilling can create a strange appearance by making the face look swollen and puffy. The puffiness does diminish over a period of weeks, but be aware that this is a potential problem for the short term.
(Source: Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, May-June 2008, pages 187-193; and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, May 2006, pages 1836-1844).