What is Facial Fat Grafting in NJ?
Fat grafting, also known as fat transfer or fat injections, is the process of removing excess body fat from one area and transferring it somewhere it can improve appearance. Facial fat grafting involves harvesting fat from a part of the body with excess, such as the abdomen or thighs, and using it to add volume to facial areas that have thinned, hollowed, or developed lines or creases.
Facial grafting is a long-lasting way to reverse the signs of aging while also improving the body’s contours. I can use it to add volume below your eyes or in your cheeks, temples, jawline, and lips and to fill and soften facial creases, including marionette or parentheses lines. Schedule a consultation by calling (973) 736-5907 or complete our online form to learn more.
Facial Fat Grafting Before and After
Please review our before-and-after gallery to see our patients’ transformations three to six months after treatment with facial fat grafting!
Why You Might Consider Facial Fat Grafting?
You might benefit from facial fat grafting if you have excess fat in your stomach, waist, thighs, hips, or another part of your body and you would like to look and feel younger by correcting:
- Thin or sunken cheeks
- Hollows below your eyes
- Deep lines around your mouth and nose
- A recessed chin
- Thin or unevenly shaped lips
- Scars or other facial depressions
Who is the Right Candidate for Facial Fat Grafting?
Ideal candidates for facial fat transfer would like to look younger and more attractive by adding volume to thin or hollowed areas or by smoothing facial lines and creases. These patients also have excess fat on other parts of their bodies that are suitable for contouring with liposuction.
The most qualified patients are in excellent overall health and have realistic expectations for the outcomes of the combined procedure. If you smoke, vape, or use any nicotine, cannabinoid, and/or ADHD medication, you must be willing to stop for several weeks before and after your surgery.
Meet Scott SpiRo, M.D., F.A.C.S.
SURGEON BY TRADE
As a board-certified plastic surgeon, I specialize in deep-plane facelifts, neck lifts, breast procedures (augmentation, reduction, reconstruction, and en bloc type implant removal for breast implant illness), and body contouring surgeries like mommy makeovers and tummy tucks. My unique approach blends medical expertise with an artist’s vision to create natural-looking, transformative results.
ARTIST AT HEART
My passion for art extends beyond surgery—I have illustrated journal articles, book chapters, and patient education materials. My office features reproductions of my oil paintings, graphite drawings, and photography, reflecting my dedication to aesthetics and precision.
What to Expect During a Facial Fat Grafting Consultation?
During your consultation, I will review your medical history and discuss your goals and areas of concern for the fat transfer treatment. I will evaluate your general health status and ask questions to understand any existing health conditions or risk factors you may have.
Once I have reviewed your medical history, I will examine your face, skin, and the areas of your body you want to contour with liposuction. Then, I’ll make specific recommendations based on your individual needs and explain what the procedure will involve. I will also explain the likely outcomes and potential risks of liposuction and facial fat grafting and answer any questions you may have. Request your facial fat grafting consultation with Dr. Spiro!
How to Prepare for Facial Fat Grafting?
As preparation for your facial fat grafting, I will advise you to quit smoking six weeks before the procedure, temporarily stop taking certain medications, and avoid aspirin or herbal supplements that may cause an increase in bleeding or bruising. You may also need to get lab testing. You will need to arrange for someone to take you home from our surgical center, as you will be unable to drive after the procedure.
What to Expect During Facial Fat Grafting in NJ at Spiro Plastic Surgery?
I perform facial fat grafting using general anesthesia at an outpatient surgical center in New Jersey. I have refined a specialized fat grafting method to ensure optimal, reliable, and long-lasting results. My protocol involves gentle aspiration, gentle filtration, sterile handling, and rapid reinsertion.
Using liposuction, I extract fat from the part of your body that needs slimming and contouring. Then, I carefully process the harvested fat, painstakingly preserving the stem cells. Finally, I precisely inject the purified fat into targeted facial areas in small droplets using thin needles and cannulas. With my artistic approach, I create beautifully rejuvenating results.
What to Expect After Facial Fat Grafting?
After facial fat grafting, you will be recovering from two procedures: liposuction and facial injections. You can expect some swelling, soreness, and bruising or redness in the part of your body where I harvested the fat cells and the areas of your face where I injected the fat. The initial discomfort typically lasts for one to three days. Swelling and bruising will gradually subside over several weeks. Please avoid sun exposure for about 48 hours after the procedure. If I only need to remove a small amount of fat with liposuction, you can quickly resume your usual activities – sometimes on the same day as surgery. When I remove a larger volume of fat for grafting, recovery can take longer, up to a few weeks.
Not all the grafted fat cells will survive in their new location. Your body will reabsorb some and process them out as waste. In anticipation of this phenomenon, I deliberately inject more fat at the outset. Due to this approach, and the initial post-procedural swelling, your face may appear fuller at first.
Your ultimate outcome will be visible a few months after your procedure when all residual swelling has disappeared, and the surviving fat cells have settled into their permanent position. Request your consultation with Dr. Spiro today!
How to Choose the Best Facial Fat Transfer Plastic Surgeon in New Jersey?
Dr. Scott Spiro is a board-certified plastic surgeon at Spiro Plastic Surgery in West Orange, NJ, specializing in facial fat grafting. With his uniquely developed fat grafting method, he improves facial appearance by adding volume to the lower eyelids, cheeks, lips, and jawline and by smoothing nasolabial folds. Schedule a consultation by calling (973) 736-5907 or complete our online form to learn more.
Facial Fat Grafting FAQs
Fat grafting can enhance multiple facial areas where volume loss has occurred due to aging or genetics. Common treatment sites include the under-eye hollows (lid-cheek junction), cheeks, temples, nasolabial folds (parentheses lines), marionette lines, lips, and jawline. During your consultation, our experts will identify the specific areas that would benefit most from volume restoration to help you achieve your aesthetic goals.
Facial fat grafting provides long-lasting, often permanent results. After the initial healing period (3 to 6 months), most of the transferred fat survives and becomes a natural part of your facial tissue. Unlike temporary dermal fillers that require repeated treatments, fat grafting offers a more enduring solution to volume loss. The transplanted fat cells behave like the rest of your facial tissue and can change slightly if you gain or lose significant weight.
Ideal candidates for facial fat grafting are in excellent overall health, have realistic expectations, and possess adequate donor fat for harvesting from areas like the abdomen or thighs. This procedure is perfect for those who want to address facial volume loss, hollowing, or creases while also contouring another area of their body. If you smoke, vape, or use nicotine, cannabinoid, or ADHD medications, you must be willing to stop for several weeks before and after surgery to ensure optimal healing and fat survival.
While both add volume to the face, fat grafting uses your own natural tissue rather than synthetic materials, eliminating the risk of allergic reactions and providing a more natural look and feel. Fat grafting offers permanent results, whereas fillers are temporary and require repeated injections every 6 to 18 months. Additionally, the stem cells in transferred fat can improve skin texture and quality over time. Fat grafting is ideal for patients seeking comprehensive, long-lasting facial rejuvenation.
Most patients experience swelling, bruising, and some discomfort in both the donor and recipient areas. Many patients can resume normal activities as quickly as the same day of surgery, though those who had larger volumes transferred may need a few weeks for full recovery. You should avoid sun exposure for about 48 hours and refrain from strenuous activities initially. Your final results will develop over 3 to 6 months as the transferred fat settles and integrates into your facial tissue.
Absolutely. Facial fat grafting is frequently combined with other facial rejuvenation procedures to achieve comprehensive results. It pairs beautifully with deep plane facelifts and neck lifts, brow lifts, and eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty). In fact, I often incorporates fat grafting into facelift procedures to restore volume while tightening and smoothing skin. This combined approach addresses both structural support and volume loss for optimal, natural-looking rejuvenation.
I have developed and refined a specialized fat grafting method over more than 27 years of practice that ensures the highest rate of successful fat transfer. This technique focuses on careful extraction, sterile processing to preserve vital stem cells, and precise reinsertion using special needles and cannulas. With an artist’s vision and meticulous attention to detail, I create beautiful, natural, long-lasting results that have attracted patients from over 25 states and 17 countries.
Preparation is essential for optimal results. You’ll need to stop taking anti-inflammatory medications and vitamin supplements that may increase bleeding for 3 weeks before surgery. Smoking must cease at least 6 weeks prior to prevent scarring and poor wound healing. Stay well-hydrated before and after the procedure and arrange for someone to drive you home after surgery. My team will provide you with a comprehensive list of preoperative instructions tailored to your specific needs during your consultation.
While facial fat grafting can improve skin vitality and provide minor skin-tightening effects due to the stem cells in the transferred fat, it is not designed to correct significant skin laxity or eliminate excessive wrinkles. If you have moderate to advanced sagging skin, a deep plane facelift may be more appropriate. However, many patients benefit from combining fat grafting with a facelift to address both volume loss and skin laxity for comprehensive facial rejuvenation.
Facial fat grafting is a three-step process performed under anesthesia. First, I will use gentle liposuction to extract fat from the predetermined donor site. Next, the harvested fat is carefully processed and purified to preserve the beneficial stem cells while removing impurities. Finally, using specialized needles and cannulas, I will meticulously inject small amounts of the filtered fat into targeted facial areas. It’s my artistic approach that ensures even distribution and natural-looking volume enhancement.
The cost of facial fat grafting varies based on the extent of treatment, the number of areas being addressed, and whether it’s combined with other procedures. During your consultation, I will discuss your aesthetic goals, examine the areas you’d like treated, and provide a personalized price quote specific to your needs. Since cosmetic procedures are typically not covered by insurance, we can also discuss financing options to make treatment more accessible.
