Weight Loss and Facial Aging: Breaking the Link Through Fat Grafts

Weight Loss and Facial Aging: Breaking the Link Through Fat Grafts

Weight issues have always been included in people’s lists of insecurities. With the rise of hundreds of different kinds of diets and exercise routines, a lot have been successful in modifying their weight.

I have one observation though. Dropping a dress size marks changes in one’s facial features, too. Drastic weight loss has caused facial aging in some of my patients, with their faces becoming thin and gaunt, with cheeks hollow and saggy. On the other hand, those with plumper cheeks and softer features are found to look younger than slimmer people.

Facial weight loss may be a result of faulty diet or excessive exercise. Unfortunately, when a person is dieting, there is no control where your body weight is lost first. Rather than losing weight in the hips, thighs or abdomen, others may experience weight loss in the face. For some, it is just a normal part of aging; for others who lose facial weight unintentionally, it may be a sign of a disease. Faulty diets or crash dieting contributes most to facial aging by causing lipoatrophy (loss of fat tissues) secondary to nutritional deficiency. While dieting may do wonders for the figure, but it will age the face.

Facial weight loss can also be related to exercise. Although exercise is crucial for healthy body and skin,too much exercise may create hollow, saggy cheeks. During exercise, the face initially becomes flushed, but after several minutes become oxygen deprived when blood is diverted towards areas that require more oxygen and energy such as the arms or legs. With excessive exercise, one develops a great heart and lungs, but loses the plumpness in the cheeks, and look emaciated. The slowness, and in some cases apparent absence, of clinical recovery from lipoatrophy underscores the need for cosmetic surgical interventions. The treatment option? Of course, the very promising and safe treatment method of fat grafting. One’s own fat is the most ideal substance to be used as facial filler to correct facial lipoatrophy. It is readily available, inexpensive, long-lasting, natural-feeling and would not cause adverse immunologic reactions.

Using the FAMI (Fat Autologous Muscle Injection) technique, the patient undergoes mandatory local anesthesia and would be at ease that no incisions or sutures are required for the procedure, thuseliminating risks of scarring and blood-loss and shortening the post-operative recovery time. The fat cells injected as facial filler will grow onto the deficient areas of the face, creating predictable, reliable and lasting results. Fat Grafting then offers an advanced and safer choice for restoring youthful skin and shape not only to patients who have lost facial weight but also those who simply wish for facial rejuvenation.

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