Should I choose Dermal Fillers?
Facial fat grafting is a type of cosmetic surgery to move fat from one part of the body to another. It’s also known as a ‘fat graft’ or ‘lipomodelling‘. Dermal fillers (or fillers) on the other hand, are considered a safer, non -surgical option that can produce wonderful results without the associated cost and risk compared to facial fat grafting.
The main purpose of fat grafting is to remove fat from one part of the body where it is unwanted such as the thighs or stomach, and place it in another area of the body where fat has reduced, such as the face.
Facial fat grafting can be successful, however, it is a surgical cosmetic procedure and with that there are things that need to be considered such as; cost, recovery time, success rate and where to actually have the procedure done.
There are 3 main stages with facial fat grafting
- Removing the fat from the unwanted area – This is done by small thin tubes, similar to liposuction. This can be done by local anaesthetic (when you are awake) or general anaesthetic (when you are put to sleep) General anaesthetics can pose a higher risk of complications so I would always suggest you really consider if the benefits outweigh the risks with this.
- Fat preparation- Special equipment is used to separate any blood and any other fluids from the fat, so it is ready to inject
- Injecting the fat- a needle and syringe are used to deposit the fat under the skin in the desired area.
The procedure usually takes a couple of hours and if you have been awake throughout the treatment, you are normally able to go home straight after, and you will need someone to take you home.
However, if you have had a general anaesthetic, you may need to stay in hospital over night.
After the procedure there can be some associated pain and discomfort that usually lasts a few days/weeks and you will need to take time off to recover. Bruising and swelling are also likely and painkillers are advised during this time.
It can take up to 6 months for the treated area to show the full effect as some of the fat can be reabsorbed by your body.
Dermal fillers – the procedure:
Dermal fillers are a much simpler procedure, and you are able to continue with normal life straight away.
The skin is disinfected, after applying numbing cream to the area if needed (most of the time no numbing cream is required) and the filler is injected under the skin. The filler comes already prepared in a sterile syringe and is ready to inject.
Once the desired area has been treated, there is little to no downtime. The procedure usually takes 30-60 minutes depending on what areas are treated.
Effects of the filler can be seen straight away, however sometimes areas can look fuller than they will heal to, due to slight swelling. Slight bruising and swelling can happen after treatment but are usually insignificant.
The bottom line…
Personally, I would opt for dermal fillers over facial fat grafting. Not only is it more cost effective (I’m talking thousands of pounds for grafting compared to a couple of hundred pounds for fillers) it’s also a lot safer, with much less down time and chance of complications.
As always I would always recommend finding an experienced practitioner that not only knows what they are doing but is also confident in dealing with any issues, should things not go to plan.
If you are considering having fillers, we offer free consultations at PureMed Aesthetics, where I would be happy to help.