Facial fat grafting

Facial fat grafting in Turkey: what it is and who it suits

Facial fat transfer — also called facial fat grafting, lipofilling or autologous fat transfer — moves a small amount of your own fat from the abdomen, flanks or thighs into areas of the face that have lost volume. Typical areas are the cheeks, the temples, the hollows under the eyes, the folds between the nose and the mouth, the jaw line, the chin and the lips. Because the material is your own tissue, there is no allergy risk, and the fat that survives in its new place stays for years. Facial fat transfer in Turkey is usually chosen for exactly that: one operation instead of repeated fillers.

It suits people whose main problem is lost volume rather than loose skin: a face that has become flat, hollow or tired-looking with age or after weight loss, a thin face after illness, or uneven contours after an injury or earlier surgery. Where the skin and deeper tissues have really dropped, fat alone cannot lift them — then fat transfer is usually done together with a lift. For the full guide to lifting surgery, prices and the trip, see facelift in Turkey; all face operations are grouped under facial surgery.

Facial fat transfer in Turkey is performed by plastic surgeons in hospitals and surgical centres. The surgeons and hospitals shown on this page can review your photos and tell you whether fat, fillers or a lift fits your face before you book anything.

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How fat transfer to the face is performed

The technique most surgeons use goes back to the structural fat grafting method described by the American plastic surgeon Sydney Coleman in the 1990s. The steps are similar everywhere:

• Harvesting. Through two or three tiny cuts, a thin cannula takes fat by gentle liposuction, usually from the lower abdomen, flanks or inner thighs. Only a small amount is needed for the face — often 20–60 ml in total.
• Processing. The fat is cleaned of blood, oil and fluid, usually by centrifuging or filtering. Some surgeons also prepare finer grafts ("microfat" or "nanofat") for thin skin under the eyes or for skin quality.
• Injection. The fat is placed with blunt micro-cannulas in many small threads at different depths, so that each droplet has a blood supply around it. Small amounts per pass matter both for survival and for safety.

The operation takes about one to two hours. Done on its own it is usually performed under local anaesthesia with sedation, and you go home or to the hotel the same day; combined with a facelift or eyelid surgery it is done under general anaesthesia with one night in hospital.

Fat transfer vs fillers

Most people considering facial fat grafting have had, or have thought about, hyaluronic acid fillers. Both add volume, but they behave very differently:

Many surgeons suggest trying fillers first if you are unsure how much volume you want, because a filler can be dissolved and fat cannot. For a lasting result in several areas, fat is often the better choice.

How long does facial fat transfer last?

Not all the transferred fat survives. Fat cells need to connect to a new blood supply in the first weeks, and the share that does varies between people, areas and techniques. Published reviews of facial fat grafting report widely different retention rates, and many surgeons plan with roughly half of the injected volume staying. For this reason surgeons often slightly overfill, and some patients need a second session after about six months.

The fat that is still there after about three to six months has usually taken permanently. It behaves like the fat around it: it can shrink if you lose a lot of weight and grow if you gain weight. Ageing continues, so the face keeps changing, but the added volume does not "wear off" like a filler. Areas that move a lot, such as the lips, tend to keep less fat than the cheeks or temples.

Facial fat transfer cost in Turkey and abroad

There is no fixed list price for this operation on our site yet, because the cost depends on how many areas are treated and whether fat transfer is combined with another operation. The ranges below are approximate, confirmed in a written quote after a surgeon has seen your photos. Prices for the related lifting operations are shown live on the facelift page.

The facial fat transfer cost rises with the number of areas, with general anaesthesia instead of sedation, and with a planned second session. Ask whether a second session, if needed, is included or charged again — practices differ. As with any operation abroad, add flights, hotel nights beyond the package and the time off work.

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Under eye fat transfer, cheeks, temples and lips

• Under the eyes. Under eye fat transfer fills the hollow "tear trough" and softens dark shadows. The skin here is thin, so very small, fine grafts are used; lumps are the main risk, and an experienced hand matters more here than anywhere else. When the problem is bulging fat rather than a hollow, lower eyelid surgery — sometimes with fat repositioning — is the better operation.
• Cheeks and mid-face. The most common area; restoring cheek volume also softens the folds beside the nose.
• Temples. Hollow temples make a face look older and thinner; fat fills them with a natural feel.
• Jaw line and chin. Fat can define the jaw line and add some projection to the chin, though a large change needs an implant.
• Lips. Fat in the lips gives a soft result, but less of it survives than elsewhere, and the result is harder to predict than with fillers.

Facelift with fat transfer and other combinations

A facelift with fat transfer is one of the most common combinations in facial surgery: the lift repositions tissue that has dropped, the fat restores volume that has been lost, and together they look more natural than either alone. Fat transfer is also often added to eyelid surgery, a brow lift or a neck lift, and the donor fat can come from an area you would like slimmer anyway. Combining saves a second trip and a second anaesthetic but adds operating time and swelling; the surgeon decides what is sensible in one session.

Facial fat transfer recovery and your stay in Turkey

Facial fat transfer recovery is easier than after a lift, but the swelling is often more than people expect, partly because surgeons slightly overfill:

• Days 1–3: the face is swollen and bruised; cold compresses and sleeping with the head raised help. The donor area feels sore, like after liposuction, and you wear a compression garment there.
• Days 4–7: swelling starts to settle; stitches in the small cuts are removed or dissolve. Most people fly home after a check-up around day 4–6.
• Weeks 2–3: most bruising has gone and many people return to work; make-up is usually allowed after about a week.
• Months 3–6: the fat that has survived has settled and the result can be judged.

Avoid pressing or massaging the treated areas unless your surgeon tells you to, and avoid sleeping on your face for the first weeks. Plan about five days in Turkey for fat transfer on its own, and the length of stay for the main operation if it is combined. How the trip, transfers and aftercare are organised is described on how it works and in our article on flying after surgery.

Risks of facial fat grafting

Facial fat grafting is generally considered a low-risk operation, but it is still surgery. The common problems are:

• Uneven result or lumps — the most frequent reason for a correction, especially under the eyes and in the lips.
• Too little or too much volume — because the survival rate cannot be predicted exactly. Too little is solved with a second session; too much needs removal.
• Oil cysts or hard nodules where fat did not survive.
• Infection, bleeding and bruising at the face or donor area.
• Change with weight — the grafted fat grows or shrinks with your body weight.

The rare but serious risk is fat entering a blood vessel. Reviews of published case reports — for example Lazzeri and colleagues (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2012) and Beleznay and colleagues (Dermatologic Surgery, 2015) — describe sudden vision loss and stroke after injections into the face, and autologous fat appears among the materials involved, particularly around the forehead, the area between the eyebrows and the nose. These events are very rare, but they are the reason surgeons use blunt cannulas, inject small amounts while moving the cannula and avoid high pressure. Ask your surgeon how they reduce this risk.

Read more in our articles on whether plastic surgery in Turkey is safe and how to choose a safe surgeon.

Is facial fat transfer in Turkey right for you?

Facial fat transfer in Turkey makes sense if you want a lasting change in volume, especially in several areas at once, or if you are already planning a facelift or eyelid surgery there. It makes less sense for a very small correction, for lips alone, or if you want to try a change before committing — then a filler at home is the simpler first step. Very slim people may not have enough donor fat, and smokers have a lower graft survival and are usually asked to stop several weeks before and after surgery. Choosing the surgeon, the hospital and the package works as for any face operation; it is summarised on the facelift guide and on our hospitals and doctors pages.

Send photos of your face from the front, both sides and at an angle, and say which areas bother you. A surgeon will tell you whether fat, a filler or a lift fits — and what it will cost — in writing.

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Hospitals with Plastic & Aesthetic Surgery in Turkey

Academic Hospital

Üsküdar, Istanbul

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Lokman Hekim Istanbul Hospital

Pendik, Istanbul

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Frequently asked questions