Complementary Fat Grafting

Abstract

Autologous fat transfer has become an increasingly important method of facial rejuvenation both as a standalone procedure as well as in combination with traditional rejuvenative methods, like facelifting, browlifting, and blepharoplasty. In certain respects, fat grafting stands in contradistinction to previous efforts at rejuvenation in that the face is augmented with tissue rather than subtracted by lifting, pulling, and excising. A simple analogy to understand the benefits of fat grafting is looking at a full and ripe grape that becomes prunelike (wrinkled, puckered) over time like a convex, youthful face that undergoes contraction and involution with aging. Rather than remove what appears to be redundant tissue and transform that raisin into a pea, perhaps it would be better to reinflate that tiny raisin back into a grape.