Fat Grafting
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Written and medically reviewed by Dr Edwin Anthony, Lead Clinician, Contoura Medical (GMC 4776646) · Last updated 8 October 2026

Fat grafting moves your own fat, taken by gentle liposuction, to restore volume or improve skin quality in the face, hands or body. It suits healthy adults with enough donor fat. Dr Edwin Anthony performs it at Langham Hospital, Marylebone, London.

What fat grafting is and how it works

Fat grafting, also called fat transfer or lipofilling, is a surgical procedure in three steps. Fat is harvested through small entry points from an area such as the abdomen, flanks or inner thighs. It is then filtered and refined. Finally it is injected in tiny amounts where it is needed. Because the tissue is your own, there is no risk of rejection, but not every graft survives, and that shapes how we plan treatment.

Fat can be prepared in three ways, depending on the goal:

• Macrofat: larger fat parcels for structural volume, such as hip dips, the chest, arms or calves.
• Microfat: finer, filtered parcels for delicate facial work: cheeks, temples, jawline and the backs of the hands.
• Nanofat: fat broken down into a fine liquid and placed very superficially. It adds almost no volume and is used to improve skin texture, fine lines and some scars.

Harvesting is often combined with Vaser Lipo or Micro Lipo, so the donor area is contoured at the same time.

Who it suits, and who it does not

• Adults aged 18 and over in good general health
• People with enough donor fat. Facial work needs only a small amount
• A stable weight, since transferred fat behaves like fat elsewhere and changes with weight gain or loss

Extra caution is needed if you smoke or vape, have poorly controlled diabetes or a bleeding disorder, have had radiotherapy to the area, or have marked skin laxity where surgical lifting would work better. Fat grafting is not suitable if you are planning significant weight loss.

The procedure day at Langham Hospital

1. Planning. Dr Anthony marks the donor and treatment areas with you and confirms the volume plan.
2. Anaesthetic. Face and hand grafting is usually done under local anaesthetic. Larger-volume body work more commonly uses IV sedation given by an anaesthetist.
3. Harvest. Fat is removed gently with fine cannulas to protect the fat cells.
4. Processing. The fat is washed, filtered and prepared as macrofat, microfat or nanofat.
5. Grafting. It is placed in many small deposits in different layers, so each parcel is close to a blood supply.

Recovery timeline

• Days 1 to 7: swelling and bruising at both donor and treated areas, most noticeable in the face. Sleep with your head raised.
• Week 1: most people return to desk work within days to a week.
• Weeks 2 to 4: avoid pressure on grafted areas, heavy training, saunas and facial massage.
• Weeks 6 to 12: swelling settles and the lasting volume becomes clearer. Nanofat skin changes tend to appear gradually over this period.
• Month 6: the result is usually stable enough to judge whether a top-up would help.

Results and how long they last

Fat that establishes a blood supply becomes living tissue and can last for many years, ageing naturally with you. Some is always reabsorbed early. A StatPearls review of facial fat grafting notes that around 80% of patients keep about 80% of the fat injected, while the remaining 20% of patients may lose all or nearly all of it. Slight overcorrection of about 20% is common practice. We plan for this, and a second, staged session is sometimes needed.

Risks and safety

• Swelling, bruising, tenderness and temporary lumpiness
• Fat reabsorption, asymmetry, or over or under correction
• Firm lumps, oil cysts or areas of fat necrosis
• Infection and small scars at entry points
• In the face, very rarely, fat entering a blood vessel, which can cause stroke or loss of vision. Blunt cannulas and slow, low-pressure injection are used to reduce this risk
• For the breast or chest, grafted fat can show on mammograms, so tell anyone screening you about the procedure

Buttock fat transfer needs particular care. Deaths after gluteal fat grafting have been linked to fat injected into or beneath the buttock muscle, where it can enter large veins. The BAAPS gluteal fat grafting safety review of 2022, also published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, notes that the estimated mortality risk, once put at 1 in 2,500, is now thought to be nearer 1 in 15,000. BAAPS recommends fat is placed only in the subcutaneous layer, never into muscle, with intraoperative ultrasound confirming the cannula position. Any hip or buttock contouring at Contoura Medical follows this guidance, uses modest volumes, and is offered only after a careful discussion of risk. If the volume you want exceeds what the skin layer can safely hold, we will advise staging or say so plainly.

How the fat types compare with dermal fillers

Why patients choose Dr Edwin Anthony

• Dr Edwin Anthony, Lead Clinician, Contoura Medical (GMC 4776646), personally performs every procedure
• Over 1,500 VASER procedures and 14 years of dedicated VASER practice, relevant to careful fat harvesting
• Trinity College Dublin (MB BCh BAO), MRCS (Edinburgh), NHS plastic surgery and burns training
• Surgery at Langham Hospital, within the Harley Street medical district, under its CQC registration

Related procedures

• Body contouring overview
• Face treatments
• Medical lipo
• See our price list

Consultations take place at Langham Hospital, 77 Hallam Street, Marylebone, London W1W 5HB, two minutes' walk from Great Portland Street and Regent's Park stations, or by video. Call 020 3890 1911. Consultation fees are fixed and are not deducted from treatment prices. Your full price is confirmed in writing after consultation, with hospital theatre fees and any IV sedation itemised; see our price list. Finance is available through Chrysalis Finance. Book a consultation

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Autologous Fat Grafting for Facial Rejuvenation, StatPearls (NCBI Bookshelf)
2. Gluteal Fat Grafting Safety Review and Recommendations, BAAPS
3. BAAPS Gluteal Fat Grafting Safety Review and Recommendations, Aesthetic Surgery Journal (Oxford Academic)