Facial Fat Grafting Beverly Hills | Los Angeles - Dr Gary Motykie

With aging there is a gradual loss of facial fat volume in the face which can lead to a sunken appearance of the cheeks and a tired, gaunt look underneath the eyes.

As the face deflates further, nasolabial folds (laugh lines), marionette lines (lines beside the mouth) and bags under the eyes may become more prominent. The way to reverse these signs of aging is not through pulling and lifting of loose skin, but rather through replacing the fat that has been lost during the natural aging process in order to restore a youthful, refreshed appearance to the face.

The results of facial fat grafting can be quite dramatic as well as being very natural. The goal of facial fat grafting is to reverse the signs of the aging process and restore a youthful shape to the face.  Facial fat grafting (fat transfer or stem cell grafting) is a procedure that uses a patient`s own fat to rejuvenate or augment certain areas of the face. This fat is harvested from a donor site (such as the abdomen, waist, inner thighs or knees) utilizing a small syringe or blunt cannula. The fat is purified in a centrifuge, placed into small syringes and re-injected into predetermined areas of the face. It is imperative to place the fat in a normal anatomic distribution so that the final results are a refreshed and youthful appearance rather than a strange or “over-filled” appearance.

One must be careful to seek an experienced fat grafting surgeon in order to prevent an “over-stuffed” or over-plumped” look of the face as well as to achieve results that are long lasting and aesthetically pleasing.

In the media there has been a lot of recent attention directed towards the use of stem cells in facial rejuvenation so it should also be mentioned that the fat grafting material used by Dr Motykie also inherently contains these natural powerhouses of rejuvenation. Stem cells are the very few, special cells in our bodies that possess the potential to change into any other cell type in order to replace worn out, aging or damaged cells. They are the fountain of youth stored within our own bodies and a large number of stem cells exist in fatty tissue. Stem cells that is extracted from one place on the body and transplanted elsewhere have the ability to survive, grow and help repair damaged cells.

These cells are living, natural tissue that can not only add volume to the face, they can also rejuvenate the skin from the inside out by secreting hormones and stimulate growth which helps repair damaged skin and promote the survival of grafted fat. By harnessing the rejuvenating ability of these cells, a youthful appearance of the face can be naturally returned and the effects of the aging process can be reversed.

Facial fat grafting can be consistent in achieving results when performed by an experienced, well-trained surgeon using techniques that have proven to be effective. Unfortunately, there is a wide range of techniques, instrumentation and experience among surgeons that are currently perform facial fat grafting. Because of the tremendous variability in all of these factors, there is also a wide range in fat grafting results between different surgeons.

To perform fat grafting successfully and reproducibly a surgeon must be consistent in preoperative planning, appropriate instrumentation and meticulous surgical technique. This procedure entails a very delicate process for harvesting fat in order to preserve the integrity of the fat cells. Ordinary liposuction, laser liposuction and ultrasonic liposuction that disrupts the cell membrane of the fat cell will not produce an adequate amount of living fat cells. The reality is that not every surgeon who performs fat grafting is properly qualified to perform fat grafting procedures.

Many are not willing to put in the level of education, training, investment in instrumentation and operative effort required to produce consistent aesthetic results. Secondly, the surgeon who is performing the procedure must have the vision for achieving a youthful appearance based on their own artistic talent, skill and aesthetic sense. In Dr Motykie’s hands, facial fat grafting is an artistic procedure that is safe, adaptable, undetectable and long lasting.