Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Articles

In 2016, the first year that the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery tracked facial fat grafting, it ranked among the top 10 cosmetic surgical procedures performed that year. Why is it in such high demand? Let’s take a closer look.

What to expect

A fat transfer to the face, also known as a facial fat grafting, is probably a lot like how you’re imagining it. A very small amount of fat is removed, with a needle, from another site on the body, typically the abdomen or thighs. It’s then “cleaned” so that only whole, undamaged fat cells are used. Those cells are then injected into the targeted areas, most commonly the lips, the folds that extend from the nose to the corners of the mouth, the under-eye areas, and the cheeks.

It has the same rejuvenating effect as hyaluronic acid fillers, but it’s considered even safer because it’s using your own fat, which eliminates the risk of an allergic reaction.

And, just like with facial fillers, the downtime is minimal. You may experience some mild bruising and swelling following the procedure, but both should go away, for the most part, within a couple of days.

Fat grafting or facial fillers?

Know that there’s no wrong answer to that question. Both are effective means of adding volume to the face and reducing wrinkles. So, your decision will come down, mostly, to your personal preference.

If you’re primarily concerned with restoring fullness to your face, particularly around your eyes, cheeks, and jawline, fat grafting may be a more appropriate option for you because the resulting fullness tends to last longer than it does with facial fillers. Think years rather than months.

It’s believed that fat-grafting’s effectiveness is due to a stem-cell response within the skin, but that idea has yet to be proven.

If you’re more concerned with reducing and even temporarily eliminating wrinkles, facial fillers may be a better fit. They’re comprised of biocompatible substances, such as hyaluronic acid, poly-L-lactic acid, and calcium hydroxylapatite, which, when injected into the face, add volume, improve contouring, and fill in even the deepest wrinkles by stimulating collagen production.

How quickly the results become apparent depends on the filler. Some results are gradual, others are immediate. All fillers, though, are temporary. The effects generally last between a few months and a year. In turn, a treatment is typically less expensive than fat grafting.

A dangerous trend only seems to be gaining momentum: DIY injectables. Even though it’s illegal to sell hyaluronic acid fillers online, a growing number of consumers are ignoring the legal and physical risks, with many going so far as to inject themselves.

People buying facial fillers online and self-injecting is nothing new, but the growing availability of counterfeit fillers for purchase online coupled with social media tutorials that make it look easy to inject them yourself appears to be fueling interest.

Not all is what it seems

Almost as prevalent online are horror stories of the countless ways self-injection could go wrong when you lack the medical knowledge. A woman injects her lips with what she was told was Juvéderm—it arrived in a Juvéderm box, at least—only to later learn it was a counterfeit filler adulterated with silicone that she needed to have surgically removed.

A man consulted with a dermatologist after a filler he bought online and injected into his under-eye area looked lumpy and uneven. Even more, he also started having some sort of allergic reaction to it.

Another woman developed bumps on her lips from filler injected by a friend who offers such treatments out of her basement. An antidote was injected, but it wasn’t able to dissolve it, most likely because it was silicone.

If you think you need to scavenge through the recesses of the internet to find these products, you’re going to be surprised to hear that it’s so much easier than that. In fact, they’re becoming more prevalent on Amazon, even though Amazon maintains strict counterfeit policies. Amazon also prohibits the sale of dermal fillers. One search, however, yields plenty of hits.

A lot of these counterfeit injectables feature familiar brand names , like Juvéderm and Restylane. There are also no-name generic fillers, often listed simply as “hyaluronic acid filler,” which can be bought for under $100 on Amazon.

Some are legal products that have been stolen from unsuspecting licensed specialists’ offices, but the vast majority are believed to have been illegally re-imported from Asia and Eastern Europe.

Extraordinary dangers

One of the biggest risks of buying DIY Injectables online, counterfeit or legitimate but illegally available, is that you can never truly know what you’re getting. The packaging may look authentic but without the FDA’s stamp of approval, anything could be inside, including, but not limited to, adulterated ingredients, like silicone, and unsterile ingredients that can cause an allergic reaction or severe infection, which can lead to loss of tissue and scarring.

Even if the product is legitimate, injecting it on your own or having someone who’s unqualified do it for you carries incredible risk, including blindness and permanent disfigurement. As easy as those YouTube tutorials make it seem, injecting filler and Botox is very complex and requires intensive knowledge of the anatomy and physiology. Certified specialists train for years to learn how to inject effectively and safely.

While it may seem like a less-expensive way to get the change you’re after, the result of injecting yourself with a filler you’ve bought online can be life-changing and irreversible.