Fat grafting is simple to describe and demanding to do well: harvest fat gently, purify it carefully, place it precisely. Every detail below exists for one reason — keeping your fat cells alive so the result lasts.
A small amount of fat is taken by fine liposuction from a donor area — usually the abdomen, flanks or inner thighs — under sterile, low-trauma technique to keep fat cells alive.
The harvested fat is processed to concentrate healthy, viable fat cells and remove fluid and oil — preparation quality is a major driver of how much fat survives.
Using fine cannulas, fat is placed in many tiny threads across the right depths and planes — sculpting volume gradually rather than injecting blobs.
For skin quality — fine lines, dark under-eye skin, texture — fat can be emulsified into nanofat, which carries regenerative cells rather than volume.
Because a portion of transferred fat is naturally resorbed in the first months, placement accounts for it — the honest arithmetic behind lasting results.
Swelling resolves over 2–3 weeks; the surviving fat stabilises its blood supply and the true result is judged at about 3–6 months.
Microfat is purified fat with intact cells, placed through fine cannulas as many tiny threads across the right depths — rebuilding cheek projection, filling temples, supporting the jawline, softening folds. This is the volume work people picture when they think of fat transfer, and placement quality is what decides how much of it survives.
Nanofat is the same fat emulsified until volume cells are gone — leaving a fluid rich in regenerative cells. Placed superficially, it targets fine lines, crepey texture and dark under-eye skin. Effects build gradually over months and vary between patients: a genuine tool, honestly framed as a bonus rather than the headline.
Facial fat transfer is usually performed as a day case under sedation (or local anaesthesia with sedation) in an accredited Istanbul facility, with the full sequence — harvest, purification, placement — performed personally by Dr. Erdal. Larger combined plans (with facelift or blepharoplasty) use general anaesthesia and are planned individually.
A modest amount is harvested by fine, low-pressure liposuction from the abdomen, flanks or inner thighs — volumes are small, and even lean patients usually have enough. Entry marks are a few millimetres, hidden in creases. Expect gym-soreness there for a few days.
Swelling, bruising and temporary asymmetry are parts of healing, not signs that something has gone wrong — early unevenness between the two sides usually resolves as the swelling does. True complications are a different category: infection, surface irregularities, and over- or under-correction. These are uncommon in experienced hands, but uncommon is not impossible, and no surgery is risk-free.
Two of the factors sit with you rather than with the surgeon. Nicotine constricts the very blood supply new fat depends on and measurably reduces survival. Significant weight swings during the settling months destabilise the result, because surviving fat behaves as living tissue and follows the body it belongs to.
Every risk relevant to your plan is explained in person before you decide — see also the medical disclaimer and what recovery really involves.
Volume loss, skin quality and skin laxity are three different problems that happen to appear together in the mirror. Fat replaces volume. It cannot lift loose skin, and over-filling to chase laxity produces exactly the heavy, puffy look patients arrive afraid of. Under the eyes, a herniated fat bag is not a hollow at all, and is often better served by blepharoplasty — sometimes with fat transfer for the hollow beneath it.
So some honest answers are "not this", and others are "not this alone":
Further reading: when combining makes sense · why the under-eye is different
Doing nothing is a legitimate outcome. If the assessment shows your concern is mostly laxity or skin quality, or that the gain from grafting would be small for the recovery it costs, that is what you will be told — including when filler, another operation, or simply waiting serves you better. Suitability is confirmed by personal consultation and examination, and individual results vary. Fat vs filler, compared honestly
Send photos for a free, honest assessment — including whether filler or another approach would serve you better.
Share face photos in neutral light. Dr. Erdal will personally tell you where volume is lost, what fat transfer can realistically achieve, and outline a tailored plan and all-inclusive quote — with no obligation.