Fat Grafting
Fat grafting—also called fat transfer or fat injections—is a highly versatile cosmetic procedure that uses your body’s own natural fat to restore volume, enhance contours, and create a smoother, more youthful look. By harvesting fat from one area via liposuction, purifying it, and strategically injecting it into another, this technique offers a natural-looking alternative to synthetic fillers or implants. Whether used to rejuvenate facial features, subtly enhance the breasts, or refine results from other surgeries, fat grafting can deliver long-lasting improvement with the added benefit of contouring the donor site. At Foothills Plastic Surgery, board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Amie Miller customizes each fat grafting procedure to your unique needs, balancing artistry with advanced technique in order to achieve results that can look beautiful, harmonious, and entirely your own.
Fat Grafting At a Glance
- Potential Benefits: Fat grafting—also known as fat transfer—can restore lost volume, enhance contours, and create a softer, more youthful appearance using your body’s own natural tissue. This versatile procedure can rejuvenate facial features, add fullness to the breasts, and improve the symmetry and proportion of various areas. Because the transplanted fat comes from your own body, results can look and feel more natural than some synthetic fillers or implants.
- Candidates: Ideal candidates are generally in good health, at a stable weight, and have areas with excess fat that can be harvested for transfer. Patients should also have realistic expectations and be non-smokers (or willing to quit before and after surgery).
- Procedure: Fat grafting involves gently harvesting fat from one part of the body—such as the abdomen, thighs, or flanks—purifying it, and then carefully injecting it into the target area. The treatment is performed under local anesthesia with sedation or general anesthesia, depending on the extent of the procedure.
- Recovery: Initial swelling and bruising are common in both the donor and recipient areas. Most patients are able to resume non-strenuous activities within a few days to a week, though full recovery varies depending on the size and scope of treatment.
- Surgeon: Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Amie Miller has extensive experience performing customized fat grafting procedures. She combines artistic skill with advanced surgical techniques to create results that complement each patient’s natural features and aesthetic goals.
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What Are the Benefits of Fat Grafting?
Fat grafting offers a dual benefit: it allows you to slim and contour an area with excess fat while enhancing another area that could use more volume. Unlike synthetic dermal fillers, fat transfer uses your own tissue, reducing the risk of allergic reactions or rejection. Some of the most common benefits offered by this procedure include:
- Natural-looking and feeling results
- Long-lasting volume restoration (many transferred fat cells can survive indefinitely)
- Versatility—can be used for the face, breasts, hands, and other areas
- Minimally invasive compared to more extensive surgeries
- Improved skin quality—cells in fat may have a rejuvenating effect
Fat Transfer for Facial Rejuvenation
Aging can lead to a gradual loss of facial fat, contributing to hollow cheeks, deep under-eye areas, and a generally tired appearance. Fat transfer for the face is designed to restore this youthful fullness and smooth out wrinkles and folds.
Common treatment areas for facial fat grafting include:
- Cheeks
- Temples
- Under-eye hollows
- Nasolabial folds
- Jawline
By restoring volume, fat grafting can soften harsh lines and create smoother transitions between facial features. In many cases, Dr. Miller can combine fat transfer with procedures such as facelift surgery or eyelid surgery for more comprehensive rejuvenation.
Fat Transfer for Breast Enhancement
Fat transfer has become an increasingly popular option for patients seeking subtle breast enhancement or correction of asymmetry without the use of implants. It can also be used to refine the results of breast augmentation procedures that primarily rely on implants for enlargement of the breasts.
Potential benefits of fat grafting for the breasts include:
- Adding volume for a natural look and feel
- Smoothing irregularities or contour depressions
- Enhancing symmetry
- Combining with liposuction to improve body proportions
Because fat grafting does not require an implant, the results can be especially appealing for those who prefer a more understated enhancement. However, it’s important to note that fat transfer generally provides a very modest increase in size compared to traditional breast augmentation.
What Is Involved in the Fat Grafting Procedure?
Fat grafting is typically performed in three key stages:
Harvesting the Fat – Dr. Miller begins by using gentle liposuction techniques to remove excess fat from a donor area such as the abdomen, thighs, hips, or flanks. This step not only provides the fat needed for transfer but can also enhance the contours of the donor site.
Purifying the Fat – Once harvested, the fat is carefully processed—usually through centrifugation or filtration—to separate healthy, viable fat cells from other fluids and impurities. This step helps improve the survival rate of the transferred fat.
Injecting the Fat? – Using fine cannulas, Dr. Miller meticulously injects the purified fat into the targeted area in small, precise amounts. Layering the fat gradually helps maximize the chances of achieving smooth, natural-looking results and better integration with existing tissue.
The procedure is customized for each patient and can take anywhere from one to several hours, depending on the number of areas treated and the amount of fat transferred.
What Can I Expect During Recovery from a Fat Grafting Procedure?
Recovery from fat grafting varies depending on the amount of fat transferred and whether multiple areas are treated. There will likely be some swelling, bruising, and mild discomfort in both the donor and recipient sites for the first several days. Compression garments may be recommended for donor areas to aid in healing.
In general, most patients can expect the following:
- Downtime: Most patients return to normal daily routines within 3–7 days.
- Bruising/Swelling: Typically improves significantly within 1–2 weeks.
- Exercise: Strenuous activity should be avoided for at least 2–4 weeks.
- Results: Initial results are often visible within a few weeks, but final outcomes are best evaluated after several months once swelling has fully subsided and fat cell survival stabilizes.
Dr. Miller provides detailed post-operative care instructions to help optimize healing and fat cell retention.
How Much Does Fat Grafting Cost?
The cost of fat grafting at Foothills Plastic Surgery will be determined based on each patient’s customized treatment plan, which can involve many factors that are unique among individuals. This typically makes the final price of this procedure quite different from one patient to another. The cost can vary based on:
- The number of areas treated
- The amount of fat harvested and transferred
- The location of the donor area and where the fat is being transferred
- The complexity of the procedure
- Surgeon, anesthesia, and facility fees
During your consultation, Dr. Miller will create a personalized treatment plan and our team will provide a detailed cost estimate. In some cases, fat grafting may be combined with other procedures, which can influence the overall investment. We can also discuss financing options available for qualified applicants who would like to pay for their fat grafting procedure over time.
If you have additional questions about fat grafting, or if you are ready to schedule a consultation to talk more about this procedure, please contact Dr. Miller today.