10/05/2024
Thanks to my beautiful patient, in her early 60s, for allowing me to share her results from lower blepharoplasty with facial fat grafting. One of her main complaints was people thought she looked tired even when she was feeling fresh.
Facelifts address the lower third of the face, jawline and neck; it has little impact on the central face. Rejuvenation of the central face is about lower and upper eyelid surgery and restoring lost volume through ageing - in this case with fat grafting the body’s natural filler. This is why many patients often choose to combine facelift surgery with eyelid + brow surgery and facial fat grafting. In addition to eyelid surgery, my patient had a deep plane facelift combined with facial fat grafting (not shown here.)
This approach of combining deep plane facelift surgery with fat grafting called deep lift and restore or lift and fill facelifts address two of the main underlying mechanisms of facial ageing simultaneously: Structural laxity and loss of facial volume. This approach delivers the most natural and long-lasting results. When combined with lower eyelid surgery, facial fat grafting has a tremendous impact, leading to a comprehensive natural-looking rejuvenation.
As we age, there is a separation between the lower eyelid, cheek and mid-face fat, and loss of facial fat. We often see the tear trough and hollowing in the under eye. Fat contained around the eye can bulge forward and lead to the appearance of lower eyelid “bags”.
To achieve a youthful smooth transition, I redraped fat from the lower eyelid bag over the tear trough to blend the cheek and eyelid, restoring volume to achieve a smooth and natural result. She looks much more youthful and well-rested and is delighted with her results.
Surgeons can perform this surgery through an incision in the skin under the eyelash line called a “subciliary” approach or from the inside of the eyelid called a “transconjunctival” approach which leaves no scars on the skin. When any excess skin needs to be removed, a subciliary approach works well as is the case for my patient here - scars are barely noticeable at 4 months.
