Facial Fat Transfer for Athletes Part 2

For most patients I carry out fat transfer under local anesthetic in either my office in Winnetka or my office on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago.  We give our patients some simple medications to obtain a state of relaxation and comfort.  I then carefully mark the zones of the patient’s face that need enhancement with transferred fat.  I also mark the area where I will obtain fat.  Even in very athletic patients there are usually areas of excess fat, such as the waist, hips, or abdomen and these provide the fat for the procedure.

I use local anesthetic to block the nerves that supply the areas where I will obtain fat and also the areas that I will enhance with the transferred fat.  Through discrete tiny incisions I introduce fluid to prepare the area of fat harvest.  I then perform what is essentially a miniature very gentle liposuction in order to obtain the fat.  I concentrate and prepare the fat for transfer.

Through tiny incisions that hide in natural facial expression lines I introduce the fat into the zones of the face that require enhancement: the cheeks, the temple, the supporting zones around the lips, and along the jaw border.  Treatment is highly individualized and respects each patient’s taste and my own artistic judgment.

There will be some swelling and possibly some bruising during the first days after fat transfer, but there is usually very little discomfort.

I have treated over a thousand patients with fat transfer.  The result is soft and subtle. Fat transfer can restore a wonderful look of vitality to the face.