Fat Grafting in Pune: Fat Transfer to Restore Volume

What is fat grafting?

Fat grafting is the transfer of your own fat from one part of the body to another. Because the tissue is your own, there is no risk of rejection or allergy to the material. It is used in both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery:

• Face: hollow cheeks and temples, under-eye hollows, thin lips, a weak chin or jawline, and the volume loss that comes with age.
• Scars: depressed or tethered scars, including acne and post-surgical scars.
• Body: dents or uneven areas after liposuction, and some contour defects.
• Breast: correcting contour after reconstruction, and in selected cases adding modest volume.
• Hands: restoring volume to thin, bony hands.

Who may benefit, and how is suitability assessed?

Fat grafting may suit you if you have an area that has lost volume, enough donor fat, stable weight and good general health.

Your surgeon will look at the area to be treated, the quality of the skin over it, and where fat can be taken from. They will ask about smoking, diabetes, blood thinners and previous surgery or radiotherapy in the area, because these affect how well the fat survives. For the breast, imaging is discussed before and after treatment, because grafted fat can form small lumps that show on scans.

What are the options for restoring volume?

Option	What it can do	Limitations
Fat grafting	Natural-feeling volume using your own tissue; can also soften scars	Unpredictable reabsorption; needs a donor site; sometimes repeated
Hyaluronic acid fillers	Quick, precise, reversible volume in small areas	Temporary, usually lasting months rather than years; rare vascular complications
Implants (cheek, chin, breast)	Fixed, predictable volume	A foreign material; can shift, become infected or need replacing
Facelift or lift surgery	Repositions sagging tissue	Does not add volume on its own
No treatment	Accept current shape	None

In older faces, sagging and volume loss often occur together, which is why fat grafting is commonly combined with a facelift.

How is fat grafting performed?

1. Marking: the donor and treatment areas are marked while you sit upright.
2. Anaesthesia: local anaesthesia, with or without sedation, for small areas; general anaesthesia for larger or combined procedures.
3. Harvest: fat is taken through small openings with a thin cannula, using gentle liposuction to protect the fat cells.
4. Processing: the fat is separated from fluid and oil, for example by letting it settle or by spinning it.
5. Injection: the fat is placed in many tiny threads at different depths through small openings, so each droplet has a blood supply around it.
6. Dressings: small dressings cover the openings, and a compression garment may be used on the donor area.

How should you prepare, and what should you ask?

• Keep your weight stable; fat taken from a part of the body behaves like fat from that area.
• Stop smoking well before and after treatment; it reduces how much fat survives.
• Tell your surgeon about all medicines and supplements that affect bleeding.
• Plan a week away from important events while swelling settles.

Questions to ask:

• How much of the fat do you expect to last in this area?
• Will I need more than one session?
• Where will you take the fat from, and what will that area look like?
• Would a filler or another procedure suit me better?

What is recovery like?

Time	What to expect for most patients
Days 1-3	Swelling and bruising at both the donor and treated areas; tightness
Week 1	Bruising fades; many return to desk work. Avoid pressure on the grafted area.
Weeks 2-4	Most swelling settles; the area may look slightly overfilled at first
Months 3-6	Reabsorption is complete; the lasting result is clear

Avoid massaging or pressing on grafted areas unless your surgeon advises it, and keep your weight steady.

What are the risks of fat grafting?

Swelling and bruising are expected. Other risks include:

• Reabsorption, meaning less volume than hoped, sometimes needing a further session.
• Fat necrosis and oil cysts: some fat dies and forms firm lumps. This is the most common reported adverse event, and most need little or no treatment.
• Irregularity or asymmetry, including visible lumps where the skin is thin, such as under the eyes.
• Overcorrection, which may need adjustment.
• Infection, uncommon.
• Donor-site problems, such as uneven contour or numbness.
• Fat embolism: very rarely, fat entering a blood vessel can block it. In the face this has caused loss of vision or stroke, and in the buttock it has caused deaths. Careful technique lowers but does not remove this risk.

Seek urgent medical help for sudden vision change, severe pain or skin colour change in the treated area, chest pain or breathlessness. Contact your surgeon for fever, spreading redness or a lump that keeps growing.

What results can you expect?

After about three to six months, the fat that remains has a blood supply and usually behaves like normal fat. Many people see a softer, fuller contour that looks natural because it is their own tissue. Results vary, and one session may not be enough for larger or scarred areas.

What affects the cost of fat grafting in Pune?

• Area and volume: a small scar or under-eye hollow needs far less fat than the breast.
• Number of sessions planned.
• Anaesthesia and facility, especially if general anaesthesia is needed.
• Combined procedures, such as a facelift or liposuction for contouring.
• Medicines, garments and follow-up visits.

Fat grafting as part of reconstruction after cancer or injury may be considered by some insurers; cosmetic fat grafting usually is not covered.