Surgery / TREATMENT GUIDE
Fat grafting (fat transfer)
Your own fat is harvested by liposuction, purified and injected where volume is wanted: the face, hands, breasts or buttocks.
- Appointment
- 1 to 4 hours
- Typical social recovery
- Several weeks
- When results may appear
- 3 to 6 months once swelling settles
- How long they may last
- Permanent for the surviving fat
- Typical course
- One, sometimes a second round
- Relative cost
- $$$ · Major relative cost
Ranges vary by person, product, area and technique. Cost symbols are editorial comparisons—not quotes. Ask for the full course and follow-up cost.
How it works
Transferred fat needs a blood supply, so only some survives, roughly half to two thirds, and surgeons slightly overfill. Large-volume buttock grafting has strict safety rules about injection depth.
Four illustrative steps. Select a step to highlight it; the optional anatomy view explains the same mechanism.
Recovery, in practical terms
Swelling for weeks at both sites; no pressure on the grafted area.
What it can feel like: Local with sedation, or general anaesthesia.
What people discuss
People who want natural volume and have fat to spare.
Reasons to pause
Very lean, smokers, an unstable weight.
This list is not exhaustive. A clinician must assess your health, medications, skin and goals.
Risks worth understanding
- Unpredictable survival
- Lumps or oil cysts
- Fat embolism in buttock grafting if fat is injected into muscle
Ask your clinician
- For buttocks: do you inject only above the muscle and use ultrasound guidance?
- How much fat do you expect to survive?
Sources, approval context & editorial limits
Surgeon credentials and facility accreditation require local verification.
Sources support regulatory and safety context; not every efficacy claim or range has been independently verified.
Educational information, not medical advice or a personal recommendation. Independent clinical review is pending. A qualified clinician must assess individual suitability. Timings, relative costs and visuals are illustrative, not guarantees.
Read the editorial policyCompare different approaches
Related catalogue tags, not recommendations.
- Injectables
Hyaluronic acid fillers
Smooth gels of hyaluronic acid, a sugar your skin already makes, placed under the skin to restore lost volume, add structure or soften deep…
A few days recovery - Injectables
Collagen stimulators (biostimulatory injectables)
Injectables that add little volume themselves.
A few days recovery - Injectables
Filler dissolving (hyaluronidase)
An enzyme injection that breaks down hyaluronic acid filler within hours.
A few days recovery