Meg,

A fat transfer is utilized to restore lost volume to the face.  One of the key features to aging is volume loss along with gravitational changes and skin changes.  Look at photos of children and 30 year olds.  The 30 year olds don’t look old, but they clearly look older than the 15 year old.  Why is that?  Now look at a 50 or 60 year old compared to the 30 year old.  The difference if volume.  Especially in the cheek region and the areas of bone around the eye, loss of volume allows the deeper bony structures to dominate the face instead of the soft full curves of youth.  Fat transfer restore this lost volume.

A fat transfer is performed by choosing an area of fat excess on the trunk or extremities and harvesting the fat using a 3 mm cannula and syringe through a small puncture.  The fat is then centrifuged to remove oil and fluid.  The good fat remaining is then inserted with 1 mm cannulas through a small needle puncture into the areas of the face that are in need of replacement.  The procedure is performed under IV sedation and local anesthesia and takes about an hour.  While there are no true incisions, the procedure does have about 2 weeks of social down-time due to swelling.

We have many examples of fat transfer results as well as a video explaining the procedure.  Please take some time to look around our site, and thanks for your question.

Ed Buckingham