Fat Grafting
Vancouver, BC
As we age, we naturally lose facial fat, making the underlying bone structure and muscle contours increasingly prominent. This biological volume loss frequently manifests as hollowed cheeks, sunken under-eyes, thinning lips, and deep creases around the mouth.
At Dr. Jennifer Prince Plastic Surgery in Surrey, BC, we approach fat grafting as the ultimate organic restoration. Dr. Prince harvests your own living fat cells from a donor site elsewhere on your body and meticulously re-injects them into the face with microdroplet precision. Whether performed in isolation or seamlessly integrated into a facelift, facial fat transfer acts as the most natural filler available, permanently restoring soft, graceful, youthful-looking contours.
Outpatient procedure (performed under local anesthetic or general anesthesia)
1 to 2 weeks for initial swelling and minor donor-site bruising to settle
Immediate volume correction, with permanent fat cell survival locked in by 3 months
Typically completed in 1 to 2 hours
Facial fat grafting, also known as autologous fat transfer, is a sophisticated approach to treating age-related volume loss that involves harvesting a patient's own fat cells and transplanting them into areas of the face experiencing structural deflation. Many individuals seek this treatment because they desire a long-lasting, soft solution for volume loss without relying on ongoing maintenance cycles with synthetic dermal fillers.
Because the transplanted material is derived entirely from your own body, fat grafting is celebrated as the most natural filler available. It carries zero risk of allergic reaction or material rejection. The procedure involves harvesting fat with a small liposuction cannula (a slender, specialized tube) from a stubborn pocket of fat elsewhere on the body, most often the abdomen, flanks, or outer thighs. Once purified, these living fat cells are intricately layered into the facial tissues, where they establish a fresh blood supply to become a permanent, living part of your facial anatomy.
On the day of your surgery, the procedure begins by preparing the donor site under local anesthetic or general anesthesia, depending on your overall surgical plan. Dr. Prince uses a gentle, low-pressure liposuction technique to harvest a precise amount of fat cells, typically from the abdomen or thighs. This specialized method ensures that the delicate walls of fat cells remain intact, maximizing their survival rate after transplantation.
Once harvested, the fat is placed in a clinical centrifuge to separate pure, viable fat cells from excess fluid, oil, and damaged tissue. Dr. Prince then utilizes ultra-fine micro-cannulas to delicately inject the purified fat into your target facial zones. She uses a meticulous, multi-layered injection technique, placing microscopic fat droplets at varying depths within the tissue. This precise spatial arrangement ensures that every fat cell is in direct contact with a blood vessel, providing it with the nutrients it needs to successfully graft and live permanently in its new location.
While Dr. Prince focuses the vast majority of her fat transfer practice on advanced facial rejuvenation (including the cheeks, under-eyes, lips, and jawline), she can also use micro-fat grafting to fill localized contour defects caused by traumatic scars or minor breast contour deformities. She does not perform large-volume fat grafting to the breasts for augmentation, nor does she inject fat into the buttocks.
A customized facial fat transfer provides definitive, high-impact correction for a variety of structural aging and contour concerns:
Investing in a precise, autologous tissue transfer delivers profound anti-aging rewards and a monumental boost to your daily confidence:
If you are frustrated by a gaunt, chronically tired, or hollowed facial appearance due to aging or weight loss, you may be an excellent candidate. Ideal patients are non-smoking adults with adequate harvestable donor fat and a relatively stable body weight, as significant weight fluctuations can cause the transferred facial fat cells to expand or contract.
During your comprehensive physical exam, Dr. Prince will carefully check your facial skin elasticity and analyze your donor site options to map out a safe treatment plan. If you are undergoing an isolated facial fat transfer, the procedure can be comfortably completed under local anesthetic right in our Surrey clinic. If you are combining it with an advanced deep plane facelift, she will guide you through the preparation steps for general anesthesia.
Following your fat grafting procedure, you will be cleared to return home the very same day under the care of a supportive companion. Because this procedure involves both a donor harvesting site and a facial recipient site, your aftercare protocol will address both zones. The donor area (typically the abdomen) may feel like a deep muscle bruise and will be supported by a soft compression wrap to minimize swelling.
Your face will experience mild to moderate swelling, minor tightness, and localized bruising, which typically peak within the first 3 to 5 days. Managing this initial transition is very straightforward using personalized comfort options provided by our healthcare team. To maximize the survival rate of the newly transferred fat cells, you must absolutely avoid applying direct pressure, intense facial massages, or sleeping flat on your face for the first few weeks.
Most patients can comfortably return to remote desk work or public social outings within 7 to 10 days, once initial swelling begins to dissipate. Strenuous cardiovascular training and heavy upper-body lifting must be avoided for 2 to 3 weeks.
You will see an immediate, visible plumping of your facial contours right after the procedure. However, it is essential to understand that your body will naturally reabsorb a portion of the transferred fluid and fat cells over the first few weeks of healing. Your true, living results will fully lock in around the 3-month mark, once the remaining fat grafts have successfully established a permanent blood supply within their new home.
Once the transferred fat cells successfully integrate into your facial tissue, the results are permanent. Unlike temporary synthetic fillers that degrade over time, the surviving fat cells live on as permanent components of your face. They will expand, contract, and age naturally alongside the rest of your body. Maintaining a stable body weight and following a healthy lifestyle will ensure your beautiful, youthful facial volume endures for decades to come.
Safely harvesting living, micro-cellular fat bundles and delicately layering them around the highly complex vascular networks of the under-eye, lips, and cheeks demands a surgeon with immense precision. Dr. Jennifer Prince brings decades of masterful clinical judgment and advanced surgical skill to her private practice in Surrey.
Her extensive, foundational background in complex microsurgery and microvascular reconstruction enables her to handle living tissues with exceptional safety, ensuring maximum graft survival while eliminating potential contour risks.
As a female plastic surgeon, Dr. Prince provides an uplifting, supportive, and completely non-judgmental environment where your anti-aging goals are deeply understood. She completely rejects mass-produced, overfilled formulas and dedicates ample time to listening to your personal concerns.
Dr. Prince customizes every tissue transfer to honor your authentic features, ensuring you achieve an exceptionally refreshed, soft appearance that beautifully aligns with your natural vitality.
While synthetic dermal fillers are excellent for rapid, temporary touch-ups, they dissolve over time and require lifetime maintenance sessions. Facial fat grafting utilizes your own living cells, making it the most natural filler available with zero risk of material rejection. Once the transferred fat establishes a blood supply, the results are permanent, saving you from continuous office visits while delivering an unmatched, soft texture.
Dr. Prince typically harvests the necessary fat cells from areas of the body that possess a dense, stubborn pocket of extra tissue—most commonly the lower abdomen, love handles (flanks), or the inner and outer thighs. The fat is gently removed using a micro-liposuction cannula, which leaves only tiny, freckle-sized puncture marks that fade completely over time.
When performed as an isolated procedure under local anesthetic, the target zones are completely numbed, meaning you will feel absolutely no pain during the harvesting or injection steps. At home, the recovery process is highly manageable, with most patients describing the sensation as a mild, dull swelling or muscle-like soreness at the donor site rather than sharp pain. Any mild discomfort is easily managed with over-the-counter options or personalized prescriptions.
Dr. Prince completely rejects the overdone or puffy look. Drawing on her extensive reconstructive and cosmetic artistry, she accounts for natural tissue absorption rates and uses micro-droplet layering to build soft, ultra-subtle contours. Her goal is to restore the natural fat padding you possessed in your youth, ensuring your results look beautifully refreshed, never artificial.
Yes, absolutely. Because of Dr. Prince’s extensive background in complex trauma and reconstructive plastic surgery, she frequently uses targeted micro-fat grafting to fill in contour defects left by traumatic scars, previous surgical depressions, or minor breast deformities following a lumpectomy. This helps smooth out the tissue surface and release tethered scar layers.
