I, too, am interested...

Is fat transfer more superior then fillers when combined with subcision ?

I had it done in 2010 (83 cc from knees to face) but not with subcision. It did dramatically improve my skin. I wouldn't say it was perfect porcelain glass skin but it was so much improved that I couldn't see any problems unless I put my glasses on. My skin is pretty normal these days rather than dry. It did make me oilier for the first few months.

The problem with fat is that in thin, active people, it doesn't last. I think I retained less than 10% of it.

Another problem is that with such a huge volume change is that you look very different. It was very obvious when I went back to work and stayed that way for about 3 months. I don't want to go through that again. Until they figure out how to get patients to retain it consistently they will continue to overfill, which is really not a good option. And they keep saying, "This way is better now, I can get it to stay with you," but it's a lie in most cases.

The doctor who did mine is now charging 2.5x as much as what I paid in 2010 ($5K). I had it done with local. It took a long time (all steps, they had a hard time harvesting and kept jabbing me all over my body before they finally settled on my knees), it was very aggressive, they gave me maybe 100 injections of lidocane and many times more to insert the fat and it hurt, but I was so glad to avoid an anesthesia fee. It took about 4 hours the first day and they had me come back and get more the second day (2 hrs).

Good luck if you can find somebody to do it well for a reasonable price.

I'm kind of tempted to stick with radiesse for the lower part of the face and HA for the upper part of the face instead of fat in the future. They can give you only what you need and you don't need to worry about looking deformed for 3 months.

I did fat grafts with some subcision for acne scars. Zero result, all dissolved. May be was not enough fat injected may be the doc was not good enough... but nothing. It could help for big indented areas but not for more superficial rolling and boxcars.

On 10/24/2018 at 1:56 PM, arug said:

I had it done in 2010 (83 cc from knees to face) but not with subcision. It did dramatically improve my skin. I wouldn't say it was perfect porcelain glass skin but it was so much improved that I couldn't see any problems unless I put my glasses on. My skin is pretty normal these days rather than dry. It did make me oilier for the first few months.

The problem with fat is that in thin, active people, it doesn't last. I think I retained less than 10% of it.

Another problem is that with such a huge volume change is that you look very different. It was very obvious when I went back to work and stayed that way for about 3 months. I don't want to go through that again. Until they figure out how to get patients to retain it consistently they will continue to overfill, which is really not a good option. And they keep saying, "This way is better now, I can get it to stay with you," but it's a lie in most cases.

The doctor who did mine is now charging 2.5x as much as what I paid in 2010 ($5K). I had it done with local. It took a long time (all steps, they had a hard time harvesting and kept jabbing me all over my body before they finally settled on my knees), it was very aggressive, they gave me maybe 100 injections of lidocane and many times more to insert the fat and it hurt, but I was so glad to avoid an anesthesia fee. It took about 4 hours the first day and they had me come back and get more the second day (2 hrs).

Good luck if you can find somebody to do it well for a reasonable price.

I'm kind of tempted to stick with radiesse for the lower part of the face and HA for the upper part of the face instead of fat in the future. They can give you only what you need and you don't need to worry about looking deformed for 3 months.

Thank you for your response Arug, I'm of an athletic build so it's disappointed to hear the results with the scars. However, I'm more interested in restoring moisture to my face.

I was on accutane around 8 years ago, it dried my face but not overly, some oil came back once i stopped, however, i then only washed with water for like 4-5 years and all of the dead skin built up and started blocking everything so my face is just a mess now. It's more to do with how i treated it rather than the accutane, some areas of my face produce oil just fine and i've got no other lasting symptoms from accutane. I think the damage was self inflicted.

Was your face completely dry and not oily before you had the procedure? Since the procedure does your face now moisturize itself and turnover the skincells at a normal rate? Has this affect lasted in the 8 years since you had it done?

Sorry for the all the questions. I feel desperate to have skin that acts normal again, I'm not even concenrating on how it looks right now, fixing the moisture issue is my main focus and would dramatically change my life.

I was on Accutane maybe 32 years ago. It was the best my skin ever looked. I took only one course. I really wish I had taken a second course. It might have changed my life.

I had the fat transfer at age 47. I wasn't oily anymore but my skin remains intolerant to anything occlusive--any moisturizer, lotion, etc. applied usually results in instant zits. I do use sunscreen but I have to be careful about formulations.

I also use tretinoin or tazarotene to tolerance and these can make me very dry temporarily.

The fat did make me oilier for a while. But the long-term result was what I had before the fat transfer. As far as oil production goes it feels more normal now. Still intolerant to applied lipids or lipid-like substances.

Since I can't put lotions and creams on my skin, I try to get the right fats through my diet. I don't eat fish or fish oil but I do use flax meal and chia and I have to be sure that my died has an appropriate ratio of omega6:omega3 fatty acids. This basically means mostly fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains, certain types of nuts/seeds, and no junk, very limited oil except for extra virgin olive oil, nothing fried or crispy, no fast food.

Almost anything that tastes good and is readily available will be junk fats that don't help your skin. I can't eat like a normal person and have nice skin.

If I get lazy, I can feel it, first on my elbows which get cracked and dry.

If you eat fish, try fish oil *and* flax meal along with a good diet. I tried fish oil once a long time ago and I could smell the fishy smell coming out of my pores. It made me a lot oilier.

You can track your omega6:omega3 ratio using cronometer.com (it's free). Ideally it should be 1:1 to 4:1. Standard American Diet is 20:1 or greater.

On 10/26/2018 at 11:50 AM, arug said:

I was on Accutane maybe 32 years ago. It was the best my skin ever looked. I took only one course. I really wish I had taken a second course. It might have changed my life.

I had the fat transfer at age 47. I wasn't oily anymore but my skin remains intolerant to anything occlusive--any moisturizer, lotion, etc. applied usually results in instant zits. I do use sunscreen but I have to be careful about formulations.

I also use tretinoin or tazarotene to tolerance and these can make me very dry temporarily.

The fat did make me oilier for a while. But the long-term result was what I had before the fat transfer. As far as oil production goes it feels more normal now. Still intolerant to applied lipids or lipid-like substances.

Since I can't put lotions and creams on my skin, I try to get the right fats through my diet. I don't eat fish or fish oil but I do use flax meal and chia and I have to be sure that my died has an appropriate ratio of omega6:omega3 fatty acids. This basically means mostly fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains, certain types of nuts/seeds, and no junk, very limited oil except for extra virgin olive oil, nothing fried or crispy, no fast food.

Almost anything that tastes good and is readily available will be junk fats that don't help your skin. I can't eat like a normal person and have nice skin.

If I get lazy, I can feel it, first on my elbows which get cracked and dry.

If you eat fish, try fish oil *and* flax meal along with a good diet. I tried fish oil once a long time ago and I could smell the fishy smell coming out of my pores. It made me a lot oilier.

You can track your omega6:omega3 ratio using cronometer.com (it's free). Ideally it should be 1:1 to 4:1. Standard American Diet is 20:1 or greater.

How did the procedure affect red marks? 85% of my face has damaged skin so it's like one big red mark. Would this help with that?

I can't say how it affected red marks as I didn't have any. It might possibly help.One thing you could do now that might help a lot is to get a European sunscreen with a very high UVA rating like La Roche Posay Anthelios or Bioderma Photoderm Max. I am not advertising. These are the only ones I know that have extremely high UVA protection. Very high UVA protection did nothing for my dents, ripples, and pores but vastly improved other aspects of my skin.

We don't have the best sunscreens in the USA.