Eyelifts, rhinoplasties, and Botox injections are just three of many ways to alter a person’s appearance. One way that is not such a common part of the cosmetic lexicon is facial sculpting through fat transfers.
What Facial Sculpting Is
Facial sculpting is done through fat transfer injections, which are exactly what they sound like. The doctor will take a patient’s existing fat and carefully move it to where it is needed on the face. The existing fat comes from an area around your middle, usually the buttocks or hips. It can also come from your abdomen or thighs. By moving your body fat to your face, the doctor is able to improve your facial appearance.
What Facial Sculpting Does Cosmetically
When you get older, your skin starts to lose its firmness and begins to flatten out as gravity takes effect. This is most noticeable in areas are around your mouth, cheeks, and eyes, causing you to look much older than you really are. This can also occur after major weight loss or an illness. Fat transfer injections work just like other dermal fillers to increase volume in areas around your face, restoring its contour and making you look more youthful in your appearance.
Depending on where the fat is transferred, facial sculpting can also reduce fine lines and wrinkles. However, this is not a primary effect. If you have concerns about wrinkles on your face, we have other procedures that can improve them more effectively.
What Facial Sculpting Does for Reconstruction
For some people, facial sculpting can help restore their face to what it was before a major injury or illness. Traumatic injuries can cause serious damage that can’t be corrected through healing alone, including depressions in the soft tissue. These depressions can be filled with fat transfers. Some conditions, like Bell’s palsy, can cause facial deformities or paralysis, which can also be treated or masked with facial sculpting.
How Facial Sculpting Is Performed
The fat is harvested using liposuction, starting with a small incision is made in the donation area. A small hollow tube, also known as a cannula, is inserted and moved around slightly in order to dislodge the fat. The fat is then removed through the tube and prepared by the doctor for injection.
Once the fat is ready, the doctor carefully injects it into the target areas on the face. While this may sound like a simple step, like giving a shot, it actually requires serious knowledge and expertise on the part of the doctor. If the injections are not performed correctly, it can lead to major complications and could leave you worse off than before.
Recovering From Facial Sculpting
Since this procedure is minimally invasive, the recovery time is also minimal. In fact, most patients are able to recover in less than a week. You’ll likely have some swelling, soreness, and redness around the fat donation site and the injection site, but they will not prevent you from doing normal activities. Depending on the amount of facial sculpting you have done, you may have to avoid going to work for the initial recovery and should avoid strenuous activity for a couple weeks.
Facial Sculpting Results
One of the best parts about this procedure is that the results are immediate and you’ll see the full effects once all the swelling and redness go away. The effects of facial sculpting also last for a very long time. The injected fat cells eventually integrate into your existing soft tissue, so it’s like you’ve always had it. Plus, since you are using your own tissue for the procedure, your body is already familiar with the fat cells that are injected.
Schedule Your Facial Sculpting Consultation Today
If you are in good health, but have lost some volume to your face from aging, injury, or illness and would like to find out more about our facial sculpting procedure, contact Hobgood Facial Plastic Surgery in Scottsdale, AZ, to schedule a consultation appointment. Dr. Todd Hobgood is a board-certified plastic surgeon with years of experience in many facial cosmetic procedures. Our office can be reached by phone at (480) 214-9955 or through our Patient Contact Page on our website.
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