Facial ageing does not only involve our skin but also the underlying scaffolding that gives our skin its youthful appearance. This scaffold consists of the facial skeleton (bone) and the fat compartments under the skin. When we age our bones resorb (lose volume) and fat compartments shrink in size.
It is difficult to replace the lost bone volume. However, it is much easier to replace fat and rebuild our facial fat compartments.
Mr Andrej Salibi, our facial fat transfer specialist, performs these techniques to refresh and restore your appearance. Purified and processed fat can be transferred from other parts of the body to smooth out wrinkles, improve the contour of the face, or address facial assymetry.
Facial fat grafting is a cosmetic surgery that transfers fat from unwanted
areas to the face to enhance volume and provide structural support. Fat is harvested via liposuction from areas with unwanted excess fat, processed and then reinjected into selective areas of the face for facial rejuvenation, contour improvement and asymmetry correction. Some areas of the face are more favourable for fat grafing than others due to the structure of the fat. The benefits of fat transfer to the face include:
Facial fat transfer also has numerous benefits when compared to dermal filler injections, resulting in a more natural, smoother and longer-lasting appearance. However, facial fat grafting is a more invasive and expensive procedure.
Anyone who desires to rejuvenate their face by restoring the lost volume, in addition to enhancing contour definition.
It is also important that patients have some surplus fat that can be harvested by liposuction in order to be injected into the face.
Patients with good health and healing potential are a very good candidates for fat grafting.
Your surgeon will go through the following points during your consultation:
Fat is harvested from other parts of the body where there is a surplus or sometimes excess amount of fat. This is particularly in the lower abdomen, flanks and thighs. The fat is then prepped and processed and injected into the facial fat compartments.
The added benefit of the liposuction is by reducing the unwanted fat in certain areas.
Nano fat refers to the process that converts the harvested fat which is much larger in size to a smaller and finer form. This process also allows the release of fat stem cells, which are pivotal to skin rejuvenation. This technique provides a much refined fat that is more suited to be injected into the superficial layer of the skin.
The main advantage of nano fat is skin rejuvenation by improving tone and texture. This is particularly useful when treating fine wrinkles and areas such as the neck and around the eyes.
Yes, fat grafting can be particularly complimentary to any facelift procedure, particularly when there is a significant facial deflation with ageing.
Fat grafts are then used to improve and enhance the contour following a facelift, which only involves tightening the underlying facial muscular layer (so called SMAS) and trimming of the excess skin.
In addition to restoring volume, fat grafting can be also useful on its own to smoothen out any contour deficiencies and/or facial asymmetries.
The surgery is performed as a day case under local anaesthetic. It is expected to have some bruising and swelling in the first few days after surgery, especially in the areas of liposuction. This would be expected to settle after two weeks. Most patients would be able to commence their normal activities and work after two weeks.
Downtime is similar if combined with a facelift procedure.
To book your consultation with Mr Salibi please contact the clinic directly on 0121 456 7930, or email us at enquiry@katandco.healthcare
