September 05, 2026 | Fat Transfer
Patients ask me about fat transfer more than almost anything else, and they usually arrive with the same two wrong ideas: that none of the fat lasts, and that they will see the result the following week. Neither is true. Here is the whole procedure, answered plainly.
What is fat transfer, and how does it work?
Dr. Agullo: “Fat transfer is exactly what it sounds like. We take fat from one place and move it to another place. So a lot of times, patients get a double benefit. They get to reduce the amount of fat from a place they want to reduce, and they get to augment the amount of fat in a place they want to augment.”
What areas can you actually treat?
Dr. Agullo: “You can really treat almost any area with fat transfer. So in my practice, we routinely do fat transfer to the face, which can go in the temporal hollows, the periorbital area or around the eye, the nasolabial lines, the lips, the jawline, the chin, and the cheekbone area.
“We can also use it to augment the breasts or to hide rippling. We can use it for fixing a bad liposuction where there’s a lot of contour irregularities. We can use it to enhance the buttock, the hips, and the thighs. We can also inject it into the muscles to create muscle definition in the biceps, triceps, trapezius, the calf muscles, and even the thighs. You can also enhance the six-pack by injecting into the rectus muscles. We can also use it in intimate areas like the labia majora and the mons pubis.”
How much of it survives?
Dr. Agullo: “In most of the areas that we graft, we can get up to fifty to eighty percent retention. A lot is determined by the patient’s own healing response and circulation, and also if they adhere to instructions, keeping them away from exercise and on a healthy diet.
“When patients lose weight after fat transfer, those volumes decrease. And if patients gain weight after fat transfer, those volumes can increase and even cause contour irregularities.
“I often use AuraClens, which contains Poloxamer 188, to wash out the fat graft and also strengthen the cell membrane for higher retention rates.”
Who is a good candidate?
Dr. Agullo: “A good candidate for fat transfer will have a good donor site and sufficient fat to obtain the desired results. Although you may think that lean patients don’t have any fat that they can donate for themselves, there are usually areas where some amount of fat can be obtained. And these areas are usually the flanks and the medial thighs.
“And in the case that we’ve already removed all the fat that the patient can donate for themselves, or the patient truly doesn’t have any fat to donate, we can use donor fat grafts like Lipoderma or alloClae.”
What does recovery look like?
Dr. Agullo: “Recovery for fat grafting is pretty straightforward. Most recoveries are five to seven days. In the face, there will be swelling, and it can take up to two weeks for a lot of the swelling to come down. Final results are usually around six months. There can be bruising that can take one to two weeks to go down.
“In fat grafting to the body, usually we try to avoid direct pressure on those areas. So if it’s in the buttock, no sitting. If it’s in the breast, no laying on your stomach, and this is recommended for two weeks. I recommend no exercise for at least four weeks to give the fat a chance to obtain circulation and integrate before it is stressed with exercise.”
How does it compare to fillers or implants?
Dr. Agullo: “Fillers can be more predictable, in that the volume that we inject is the volume that usually stays, or may increase a little bit with water absorption, but they are temporary and will usually last up to one or two years.
“Fillers are going to be more palpable, and fat is going to feel a lot more natural, but it is unpredictable in terms of how much retention we can get. The great thing about fat is that it’s free, and we can use as much as we need to correct the deformity, or augment, or sculpt, versus fillers, which have a cost per unit.
“Now, remember that fat grafts will change with the patient’s weight, so it is ideal to maintain your weight over time. Implants can also be very predictable, in that the volume that we put in is the volume that stays, but they have their own complications and drawbacks. Nevertheless, a lot of times we combine both the implants and fat grafting to create contours, projection, and results.”
What do patients get wrong most often?
Dr. Agullo: “One of the biggest misconceptions is that all the fat disappears. Patients think that none of it lasts, when in actuality, we do get a fifty to eighty percent retention rate. This could be less than what the patient wanted, but it’s still an addition and not a complete loss. It is important to tell patients to maintain their weight, as weight loss can affect the results.
“The other misconception is that the results are instant, but the patient has to keep in mind that swelling often hides the results. It does take about four to six weeks to start seeing the actual retention, volume, and new contours.”
The Short Version
Fat comes from where you have it and goes where you want it. Half to four fifths of it stays. You will not know how much for four to six weeks, and you will not see the settled result for about six months.
Keep your weight steady afterward. The graft is living tissue and it follows the rest of you.
Dr. Agullo is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery, completed his plastic surgery fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, and serves as Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
Book a Consultation
Whether fat transfer is the right tool depends on your donor sites and what you are trying to change. Bring both to the consultation and you will get a straight answer, including if the answer is an implant instead.
Call (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or book online at agulloplasticsurgery.com. #StayBeautiful
Title alternatives for Frank
- Fat Transfer 101: Where It Goes, How Much Stays, and What to Expect
- Fifty to Eighty Percent, Not Zero
- Everything Fat Transfer Can Do, in One Place
- The Two Things Patients Get Wrong About Fat Transfer
