Fat Injections Fat grafts are utilized in areas where there may have been removal of fat secondary to injections such as pain killers or coritsone. Bothe of these can cause absorption of the soft tissue and leave an indented deformity. In other cases, loss of fat is secondary to surgical intervention done to a variety of surgical sites below the skin and cause an indentation deformity. The most common indication for fat grafting is for filling in wrinkles on the forehead, nasal bridge area, upper and lower lips, and the nasal labial folds. These fat grafts work on the principal not so much of surviving and distorting soft tissue (90% of the fat is absorbed by the body), but rather these grafts are massaged and injected into the areas of wrinkles where the adherence of the wrinkle to the underlying muscle band has been broken up. By injecting a small amount of fat, there is a more diffuse adherence of the overlying skin rather than at a singular muscle band site, thus in good part eliminating the single defined wrinkle. Fat grafts obviously may have to be repeated in order to compensate for fat absorption and residual wrinkling. Not all wrinkling can be relieved by use of fat grafting. Other techniques such as dermabrasion, chemical peel, and laser peel may have to be considered. In the cas of fat grafting, one will have a residual donor site where fat has been removed. Sometimes there can be some discomfort at the site of fat removal, as well as at the site of fat placement. This usually resolves fairly quickly. The fat graft donor sites can also have similar problems associated with standard liposuction in that there may be grooving from the donor cannulas despite using the smaller type to prevent such problems, and also there may be problems with asymmetry if too much fat is removed from one area and not enough from another. Note that this may require a minor touch-up procedure in order to equal this disparity. Similarly, fat harvesting can cause bruising and bleeding, as well as carrying the threat of infection and need for appropriate treatment of same. Should you have any further questions regarding this procedure, please feel free to ask Dr. Kennedy or our staff.
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