The transfer of fat to a patient’s face from another part of his or her body is known as facial fat grafting. A person can undergo facial fat grafting for a number of different reasons including to halt or reverse the effects of aging and to correct a defect created by a disease or accident. Fat transfer to face can also be undertaken for purely cosmetic reasons.
The idea of introducing a foreign substance under the skin of the facial area to correct defects is not new, and several substances have been tried over the last few decades with varying degrees of success. Silicone, collagen and even sheets of human dermis have all been used, but many adverse side effects were found to be related to all of these procedures including allergies and the degrading of the foreign substance by the host. These substances were generally also quite expensive, and some were difficult to come by.
It has, however, been suggested that autologous fat – fat from the person who is to undergo the facial reconstructive surgery – will be the ideal substance with which to correct facial defects. Autologous fat is easily accessible and, indeed, most patients would welcome a small amount of fat being removed from those abdominal areas where it is hard to loose weight. Fatty tissue can also be removed from the body through minimally invasive procedures that would barely leave a scar. It is also inexpensive to harvest and easily accessible. The use of autologous fat will also not provoke an adverse reaction from a patient’s auto-immune system and, for obvious reasons, it is not a substance that will feel foreign when placed under the skin. The procedure is also relatively inexpensive.
Autologous fat can be used to correct a variety of facial defects and can also be used in anti-aging procedures like the filling in of wrinkles, laugh lines and frown lines. It can also be utilized for purely cosmetic surgeries like lip reshaping as well as for correcting and improving facial volume where an imbalance has been created through an accident or a disease.