How Long Will Swelling Last After Facial Fat Grafting?

 How Long Will Swelling Last After Facial Fat Grafting?

As people age, the overall volume of their face decreases due to sagging and drooping skin, which is caused by reduced skin elasticity and the effects of gravity. This change starts from the forehead and affects the area around the eyes, cheekbones, and cheeks, making you look older or giving you a tired appearance, which changes your overall facial impression. This can lead to a complex about one's appearance. Therefore, many people try self-care to improve the reduced volume in their faces.

Unfortunately, self-care alone can't fundamentally resolve the volume loss in the face that occurs with age, as it is a result of decreased supportive cells in the skin and accelerated reduction of fibroblasts and elastin, which along with collagen, make up the skin tissue. As a result, more people are considering Facial Fat Grafting, a procedure that involves removing unnecessary fat from other parts of the body to fill in the lost volume in the face.

Facial Fat Grafting is also well-known as full-face fat grafting and is a type of lifting procedure. Primarily, Facial Fat Grafting is done to improve areas with insufficient volume such as a flat forehead, sunken cheeks, or shadowy under-eye areas, by injecting fat to restore volume and dimension, making the face appear younger. Generally, fat is harvested through liposuction from areas where you have excess fat, such as the buttocks, thighs, and arms, to address cosmetic concerns like sagging and volume loss, thereby creating a firmer and more youthful facial contour.

 As mentioned earlier, this procedure involves liposuction of your own unnecessary fat, allowing for the removal of unwanted fat. In the case of women, subcutaneous fat tends to accumulate in areas like the buttocks and thighs, and once it sticks, it's hard to remove; therefore, you can achieve dual benefits by removing extra fat from these areas and using it to restore lost facial volume. Additionally, the harvested fat is processed using specialized equipment like centrifuges to extract only high-quality fat cells, which are then injected into areas requiring volume; this minimizes the risk of allergic reactions and allows for a natural increase in volume.

Moreover, because your own fat is used for the graft, once it takes, the effect can be semi-permanent; this has led to increasing interest in Facial Fat Grafting to naturally enhance sunken cheeks, under-eye hollows, cheekbones, and flat foreheads, ultimately creating a more youthful facial contour.

Given the high level of interest, most people considering Facial Fat Grafting often wonder how long the post-operative swelling will last, when they can resume normal activities, and when their appearance will look natural. Before discussing the swelling that can occur after Facial Fat Grafting, it's important to understand the process of the procedure itself. The Facial Fat Grafting is usually performed as a same-day surgery, taking approximately 30 to 60 minutes depending on the area being treated. In this procedure, a liposuction cannula is inserted into areas with significant fat accumulation like the abdomen, thighs, or buttocks, and the required amount of fat is harvested into a syringe; this fat is then purified using a centrifuge before being injected into areas that need volume.

At this stage, the area where the fat is grafted may experience swelling or bruising. Therefore, swelling or bruising can indeed occur in the area where the fat has been grafted. As a result, right after Facial Fat Grafting, the facial volume may appear exaggerated, making one feel quite swollen. This happens because when using one's own fat for grafting, not 100% of the fat will "take"; a certain amount will be absorbed, so surgeons often inject a bit more fat than the desired volume to account for this. However, after about 1-2 weeks, the swelling from Facial Fat Grafting will gradually subside, and a natural facial volume will be formed.

Of course, the rate at which swelling or bruising subsides can vary from person to person, but generally, the swelling from Facial Fat Grafting lasts about a week, and bruises tend to fade within 7 to 10 days, allowing for a comfortable return to daily life. After that point, the swelling subsides more quickly, and the ideal facial shape is usually formed between 20 to 30 days post-surgery. Generally, post-surgical bruising will fade over time, but if Facial Fat Grafting is performed to address dark under-eye circles, the circles may appear darker, so it's essential to use sunblock on the grafted areas to prevent skin discoloration in the bruised areas.

However, the duration of swelling and how long the results last are generally determined in the first three months following Facial Fat Grafting, so proper post-operative care and precautions are necessary. After the surgery, it's advisable to avoid touching the surgical areas to prevent stimulation and to abstain from dieting to increase the fat retention rate. Also, for a month following the procedure, avoiding saunas, swimming, alcohol, and smoking is effective in preventing inflammation and can accelerate recovery, leading to more satisfactory results.

If you are currently concerned about skin sagging or volume loss due to aging, or have facial complexes and wish to regain a youthful facial silhouette through Facial Fat Grafting, it's recommended to consult with experienced medical professionals for detailed advice and to develop a proper plan.