I had a fat transfer on my face 3 weeks ago

Question:
I am a 23 year old female. I had a fat transfer on my face 3 weeks ago (for acne scarring). Since the surgery my face looks very fat. I’m not sure if it is just from the swelling. When should I expect the visible swelling to be gone?

Answer:
Although autologous fat injections are very predictable in terms of the amount of fat that is necessary to fill any particular area of your face, there is some variability in the amount of injected fat that will survive once it is injected. Over injecting of fat is common practice to account for the normal resorption of the fat that will occur following facial fat injections. The fat injecting procedure is also fairly invasive and swelling following the procedure is not particularly uncommon. Three weeks of swelling is not entirely uncommon following facial fat injections, but, if it looks extremely pronounced then you may want to ask your surgeon how you are healing.

Posted by Dr. Philip Schoenfeld