Widening Faces From Fat Grafting For Youth
A Case Study: Fat Grafting
by Tim Neavin, M.D.
Facial fat grafting is one of my favorite operations. Depicted in this blog is a 55 year old woman who desire to look more rested and younger.
She wasn’t quite ready for a face lift, so I discussed with her volume restoration to erase what I like to call the “shadows of age”. Shadows develop in predictable patterns below eyes, along the jaw line, in front of the ear, and in the temples. These shadows are generated by fat loss from the aging process.
Yes, even as we gain weight with age, we lose fat in our face. And often, in very predictable patterns. 46 cc of fat was injected into the upper and mid third of the face in the areas outline. This fat was harvested from her hips with gentle liposuction.
The lower third of the face was addressed with a very long lasting product called Radiesse®. I’ve found that fat grafting in the lower third (including lips and jawline) is far less predictable than grafting to the other regions of the face. For more on injectables, click here.
While fat grafting can reduce or eliminate the shadows of youth, it can also just importantly build out upper 1/3 width to restore the top heavy, or heart shaped face of youth. Of course make up doesn’t hurt on the after pictures, but it alone can’t widen the face. The red horizontal arrow on both front views are the same length, thus illustrating the widening of the upper third of face. The three quarter view also illustrates more prominent cheeks, and less hollowed out eyes. CLICK on photo image to see faces enlarged.
For more on fat grafting, click here.
Dr. Tim Neavin is a board-certified plastic surgeon located in Beverly Hills, California.