Are you planning on getting treatments to achieve a youthful face or just researching? This article highlights how you can achieve a youthful-looking face and everything you need to know about face fat grafting.
Let us get right to it.
Restoring a youthful-looking face
Old age is inevitable. As the years go by, we experience loss of facial fat, wrinkles, lines, and other aging signs. While aging is something no one has control over, you can control an aspect of aging – having a youthful-looking face. Inarguably, one of the things that make one look young is the presence of facial fat.
Let us look at the characteristics of a ‘baby face’ look, for instance.
The baby’s face is a beautiful sight to behold.
- Full forehead
- Plump cheeks
- Silky smooth skin
- Full lips
- A generally fuller face
All these admirable features are present because of the presence of facial fat. This is what age takes from us, and the primary reason there are age-reversing ‘baby face’ treatments designed to give you a beautiful and youthful-looking face.
While having facial fat is something many of us desire, it is crucial to mention that there are strategic areas where the existence of facial fat will make the face look more youthful rather than fat. Some of the places which will benefit from getting extra fat padding without making one look fat include the forehead, temples, under the eye, cheeks, and lips.
Facial fat grafting is a popular anti-aging procedure in South Korea. There has been a lot of media buzz about how Korean celebrities look youthful even though most of them are already in their 30s, 40s, and even 50s. With their flawless skin and baby faces, these Korean celebrities have proven two things – that baby face makes one look younger, and that ‘age is just a number.’
Indeed, you cannot turn back the hands of time and reverse aging, but you can do something to improve your beauty standards and look youthful, even as you age.
One of the most effective ways to achieve this youthful-looking face is through face fat grafting – which is a fat transfer treatment designed to achieve your beauty goals of ‘baby face’ restoration.
What is Facial Fat Grafting?
Facial fat grafting is a type of fat transfer procedure done to restore the aging face’s youth and contour.
This procedure is also called fat injection or fat transfer, and it involves the transfer of fat from a body part where you have excess fat to areas that have low-fat volume. The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery defines it as a procedure that uses a person’s own fat to fill in irregularities and grooves. The procedure is safe and well-tolerated, and the result is natural-looking and long-lasting.
Why Do People Go for Face Fat Grafting?
Anyone can go for face fat grafting, and the reasons people have fat grafting can differ from person to person.
Some of the reasons include:
- To get rid of creases, aging lines, and wrinkles from the face
- To get a more permanent wrinkle correction than that provided by temporary fillers
- To improve facial contours and revise scars
- To fill facial depressions and rejuvenate the face
- To enjoy the reduced risk of an allergic reaction
All these are benefits of face fat grafting which have made the procedure popular over the years. Besides these benefits, fat transfer can help you remove fat from areas you don’t want it, to areas that will benefit from having it.
How does Fat Grafting Help to Counter Effects of Aging and Give a Youthful Looking Face?
You can achieve a youthful-looking face with fat grafting because every benefit of the procedure points towards giving a person a ‘baby face.’ Let’s review some examples.
Fat Grafting Reduces Aging by Enhancing Facial Contours
As you get old, your face loses its facial fats and both your forehead and your cheek areas may look flat. With face fat grafting, these areas can be filled with fat giving you a smoother facial contour and a younger-looking face.
Anti-Wrinkle Benefit
Wrinkles come with old age and are inevitable. However, the fat grafting face procedure gives you the chance to eliminate these wrinkles using fat deposits from other parts of your body. Fat filled areas are re-volumized and that helps to stretch out wrinkles. This ends up giving you smoother, younger-looking skin, free of wrinkles.
Filling Up Hollow or Bony Areas
As you age, the collagen and elastic fibers that plump the skin start to thin out, leaving some hollow areas and exposing the bony areas of your face. These exposed bony or hollow areas can be filled with fat from other areas of your body. When this is achieved, your face looks smoother, younger, and less wrinkled.
Skin Refinement
Purified fat that is grafted to the face contains stem cells that help to encourage cell renewal and regeneration. The stem cells improve the skin texture and quality, reducing the appearance of sun damage, wrinkles, fine lines, and acne scarring.
Lifting Benefits
Volumizing strategic areas on the face can help to produce lifting effects. Especially in areas such as the mid-cheek or under-eye; added volume to cushion flat and bony cheeks helps to raise the cheek point and in turn, creates a lifting effect to make you look younger and more refreshed.
How Does Face Fat Grafting Work?
The fat transfer process involves taking fat from one part of the body and transferring it to another. While this might sound simple to anyone out there, it involves more. It is a three-step process and this procedure should be done under the care of a board-certified plastic surgeon in Singapore.
The three steps of face fat grafting include:
- Harvesting
- Purification and Transfer
- Placement
Harvesting
This involves taking the fat from a part of your body. Firstly, you and your plastic surgeon will select a site to harvest the fat from. The surgeon will inject you with local anesthesia and proceed with the fat removal. Your surgeon will create a small incision in a where he will insert a sterile cannula and carefully extract the fat.
Purification and Transfer
This is the second step that follows fat removal. Your surgeon will process the fat to prepare the fat cells for transfer. Removal of any impurities will be done using a centrifuge and a filtration process. Purified fat tissue will be put into small syringes that will be used to inject into the sites which require extra volume.
Placement
This is the final step, which involves injecting the fat into the treatment site. Before the injection, the treatment area is sterilized. Your plastic surgeon will insert a needle or cannula into the target site. Gently, the fat will be deposited. The process is repeated until the desired volume is achieved, giving you a filled, smoother, and younger-looking face.
Side Effects and Complications of Face Fat Grafting
Even though fat grafting is considered a safe procedure in general, ensure you discuss the side effects and complications with your surgeon before the surgery.
Some face fat grafting side effects and complications include:
- Infection
- Scarring
- Reaction to anesthesia
- Hematoma
- Changes in sensations
These complications are infrequent and choosing to have your face fat grafting done under a board-certified plastic surgeon in Singapore can reduce the rate of such complications.
Where is Fat taken from during Fat Grafting to Face?
Fat can be taken from several donor areas depending on the volume required as well as the volume available in different parts of the body.
Some of the places fat can be taken from include:
- Tummy
- Thighs
- Buttocks
- Arms
Will there be Scars Left after Face Fat Grafting?
Typically, the only scar you may notice is the scar resulting from liposuction – the process used to remove fat from the donor site. However, you should note that liposuction incisions are usually small, and so is the scar. Most times, the scar’s location is hidden between natural body folds or creases.
The degree of scarring you get depends on your genetic tendencies and the surgeon’s technique. The good news is that most liposuction in Singapore scars fades and are barely noticeable with time.
If you are skeptical about whether you will get scars or not, it is recommended you consult with your plastic surgeon and ask every question you may have before you go for the procedure.
How Long Do Fat Grafting results last on the face?
The result of face fat grafting treatments is usually long-lasting. However, whether it is permanent or not and how long it will last is dependent on your surgeon’s skills, the fat harvest and purification process, your fat quality, the fat injection technique, as well as where the fat was injected.
It is recommended that you work with a board-certified plastic surgeon who is well-versed with face fat grafting in Singapore for optimal results.
Selecting a Plastic Surgeon for Face Fat Grafting
Selecting a plastic surgeon can be a little challenging. We recommend you choose your provider based on factors like:
- Experience with fat grafting
- Education, training, and certification
- Your comfort level with the surgeon
Even if you are tempted to choose a plastic surgeon in Singapore based on the price offered for a fat grafting procedure, it is recommended you consider these three factors first.
How Much Fat Grafting Costs in Singapore
The cost of fat grafting (fat transfer) in Singapore varies from doctor to doctor, the fat grafting technique used, and location. The cost of fat grafting can also be affected by variables such as the surgery facility, medical tests, anesthesia, post-surgery prescription (if any), and other miscellaneous costs. On average, the procedure can be as low as $3,000 and as high as $10,000 or more.
It is recommended that you discuss the cost of your fat transfer procedure with your surgeon before you go ahead with it.
Consider face fat grafting to restore a youthful-looking face
If you are looking to achieve a younger, smoother, and rejuvenated face without the need for repeated injections of foreign materials, fat transfer is a good option. And yes, a youthful-looking face is attainable with face fat grafting.
About Dream Aesthetics and Plastic Surgery
Bespoke surgical for cosmetic or medical reasons is what Dream covers to bring out the beauty in every individual. Going beyond the aesthetics and working on physical anomalies are what we value the most in leading our patients to cherish self-improvement and confident lifestyles.
Derived from Associate Professor Vincent Yeow’s long-standing experience performing plastic surgery in Singapore, our treatment plans deliver physical remodelling in our patients’ favour. One of the notable remodellings is droopy eyelid correction. The ptosis surgery used for treatment eventually fixes drooping eyelids, improves vision and enhances appearance.
Most importantly, as a trustworthy plastic surgery and aesthetic clinic, we treasure positive and natural outcomes for each individual. We will ensure to deliver the beauty refinement of your dream without compromising your safety and privacy.
