LAM FACIAL PLASTICS

Hi I was just wondering with your experience if you could tell me if Fat transfer really lasts for as long as they are intended too and whether desired results can be met after a single attempt? A lot of internet testimonials say that after the first transfer around 70% of the fat is absorbed, and thus people require several more transfers until the fat remains permanently? I watched several before and after pictures, including a couple videos you posted and was curious to know if you could possibly give me a timeline of what would be expected for someone who get's a fat transfer in the cheek area, and at what point the results are best noticeable? Is it possible for one fat transfer to be sufficient enough for the cheek area, or with your experience do patients usually require 1-2 more transfers until the desired results are met?

Always appreciate the input Dr. Lam!

in the right hands (mine), fat is permanent after one round with a few caveats:
1. in about 5% of the cases i need a second round but i cover the costs for it.
2. my technique holds well but you must understand the evolution of changes over the first 2 years. please look at the section of this website in the cosmetic gallery called evolution fat gallery that shows how fat looks over time given the changes in blood supply. typically 1 to 2 weeks too swollen. 4 to 6 weeks looks great. 3 to 5 months when the swelling is completely gone it may look like you wasted your money. starting at 6 months typically you start getting ongoing improvement for 2 years. if i see that things are going south at a year, we can consider adding more.
3. fat fails in certain areas: it does not perfectly fill the lower eyelid rim but makes it much better. it does not fill the smile lines well at all. it is not great for lips and i don't use it for lips.
hope that helps.
best,
sml

i think people fill too early at the 3 month junction when the result does not look as good because they do not understand how fat changes over time. that leads to overfilled faces at 2 years. if you would like to understand why fat gets better, watch these videos:
http://www.lamfacialplastics.com/galler ... ilarities/

btw, here is the evolution fat gallery link:
http://lamfacialplastics.com/gallery2/v ... gallery_6/

Thanks for the reply Dr. Lam.

Is the fat injection similar to getting fillers? The filler procedure involves just rubbing some anaesthetic on the injection area (or using some ice) and massaging the area post-injection.

I would assume the fat injection (after retrieving fat from the donor site) is a similar procedure? Maybe a little more painful?

Thanks

fat is done with sedation because it is painful since i am rebuilding the entire face through micro injections using a cannula rather than a needle. with the sedation, you typically have virtually no pain afterward. and, of course, with sedation, you have no pain during either.