What is lipofilling in aesthetic medicine?

Lipofilling is an aesthetic medicine technique based on the transfer of fat from one area of the body to another. The main aim is to restore volumes lost with age, but it can also fill in wrinkles and dark circles. Lipofilling uses autologous fat from the patient’s own body. Injections improve skin quality, particularly when lipofilling is combined with a facelift or blepharoplasty to rejuvenate the eyes.

There are several types of lipofilling, depending on the quality and quantity of fat injected. Nanolipofilling, for example, regenerates skin tissue using stem cells and growth factors.

Lipofilling is performed under local or general anesthesia, depending on the indication, the area treated and the volume injected. The results are natural and long-lasting.

For eye rejuvenation, lipofilling is reinjected into the upper and lower eyelids. It is often accompanied by a resection of excess skin to obtain a filling under the eyes and a restoration of the volumes melted between the eyelids and the orbital bone.

When is lipofilling recommended?

The first consultation is the essential step in validating the indication and determining the areas to be filled by lipofilling. As a result, the treatment is fully personalized according to the patient’s expectations and treatment possibilities.

Lipofilling may be indicated in several situations:

• Facial rejuvenation with restoration of volumes lost over time, especially in the temples, cheekbones and cheeks;
• The filling of wrinkles (nasolabial folds, around the mouth, crow’s feet) and hollow circles, by injecting fat under the skin to obtain smoother, plumper skin;
• Improving skin quality with nanolipofilling;
• The correction of dark circles by thickening the dermis to reduce the phenomenon of blood vessels visible in transparency;
• Eye rejuvenation when combined with a facelift or blepharoplasty.

Are the results of lipofilling the same as those of hyaluronic acid injections?

While both techniques have the same objectives, namely to rejuvenate the face by filling in furrows and restoring lost volume, they do not offer the same results.

Because lipofilling uses the patient’s own fat, this technique is more natural and presents fewer risks of rejection or allergy than hyaluronic acid injections.

Lipofilling also offers definitive results. Hyaluronic acid, on the other hand, is a resorbable product that is gradually eliminated from the body. This means that filler injections need to be repeated regularly if the effects are to be maintained, which can represent a higher cost in the long term.

Hyaluronic acid provides more hydrated, plumper skin. Lipofilling improves skin quality over the long term thanks to skin tissue regeneration.

Finally, dark circles can only be effectively treated with lipofilling. Injecting hyaluronic acid into the dark circles is not recommended, as puffiness or swelling may form, and the product does not absorb in this area of the face.

However, lipofilling involves a more substantial procedure, since it requires local or general anesthesia. Injections are performed in the office, without anaesthesia, with lighter after-effects.