Melinda,

We struggle to re-educate the public all the time about the longevity of a fat transfer.  The medical literature is full of articles claiming the contrary.  If you read into the articles however you find that the science that claims that fat transfer doesn’t last have placed the fat in the area around the mouth and into the lips.  In that case the science is correct.  Fat is very unreliable when placed into the smile lines, marionette lines and lips.  The reason for this is that the fat is a free graft and needs to acquire blood supply from the recipient area.  The main force preventing this is movement.  In the area around the mouth it is just too mobile for much of the fat to survive.  This is in stark contrast to the area of the face that we place fat.

We first harvest the fat in a very atraumatic way.  We then gently spin the fat so that all of the non-viable material is removed and only the good fat remains for injection.  We are then placing the fat into the cheek and lower eyelid primarily.  It is placed deeply right on top of the bone which is under the muscle.  This is a very rich area for blood supply and immobile so the fat survives.  Once it has blood supply it lasts for years.  I personally have 4 year results and have presented my 2 year results at a national meeting.  I have seen 10 year results and still going strong.

So in summary it lasts when performed correctly.  Many of the photos on the site are 2 year results.  Please take some time to review them and feel free to contact us with any other questions.

Ed Buckingham