As we age, lose weight, or go through rapid weight loss, we don’t just lose overall volume. We can lose the natural, plump fatty tissue that gives our face its shape and support. Traditional fillers simply add volume to an area. Lipoderma® by Britecyte takes a different approach. It uses donated human adipose tissue to restore lost fatty tissue.
At Tannan Plastic Surgery, board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Shruti Tannan offers Lipoderma as an option for patients dealing with facial volume loss, including changes that come with aging or significant weight loss.
Lipoderma and Weight Loss
Losing a significant amount of weight can change the face, no matter how the weight comes off. But patients taking GLP-1 medications often notice facial changes fairly quickly, since the weight tends to come off fast.
As body fat decreases, some patients develop:
- Flattening in the midface
- Hollowing under the eyes
- Hollowing at the temples
- Overall facial thinning
- Looser skin
- A more tired or gaunt look
- Loss of natural soft-tissue support
This is sometimes called “GLP-1 face” or “Ozempic face.” It’s not that these medications damage the skin. It’s that losing a lot of weight quickly reduces the fat that normally supports your skin and facial structure.
Lipoderma is designed to restore that lost fat volume using donated fat tissue. If you’re still actively losing weight, Dr. Tannan may recommend waiting until your weight has stabilized before doing facial volume restoration, so you get the best possible result.
How is Lipoderma Fat-Based Filler Different From Traditional Fillers?
The simplest way to think about it: traditional filler adds material, while Lipoderma restores fat tissue. Traditional fillers are manufactured substances designed to add volume, and they vary in makeup, how they behave, and how long they last. Lipoderma, on the other hand, is human fat tissue that comes from a donor.
The right choice depends on the problem being treated. Dr. Tannan may recommend a traditional filler, Lipoderma, your own fat (fat grafting), or surgery, depending on your anatomy and goals.
How is Lipoderma Different From Fat Grafting?
Traditional fat grafting uses your own fat. Fat is taken from another area of your body, processed, and then transferred to the area that needs volume. This remains a great option for patients who have enough donor fat and are open to a surgical procedure.
Lipoderma offers another path. It’s an off-the-shelf, donor-derived tissue, so there’s no need for liposuction or a donor site on your own body.
This can be especially helpful for patients who:
- Don’t have much fat available to donate
- Have already lost a significant amount of weight
- Would rather not have liposuction
- Only need a small amount of localized volume restored
- Want an in-office option instead of surgical fat grafting
Lipoderma doesn’t replace fat grafting for everyone. It simply gives us another tool to work with.
Where Can Lipoderma Be Used?
Lipoderma is designed for restoring volume in specific areas. At Tannan Plastic Surgery, areas we may consider include:
Midface
Losing cheek fat can flatten the midface and create a hollow look. Restoring volume here can help recreate a smoother transition between the lower eyelid and cheek.
Under-Eye Area
Losing fat here can contribute to hollows beneath the eyes. Because the anatomy around the eyes is delicate, this area requires careful evaluation to determine whether and where volume restoration makes sense.
Temples
Losing volume in the temples can create a more angular look in the upper face. Some patients benefit from restoring this lost volume.
Hands and Other Extremities
With age or weight loss, the backs of the hands can lose their protective layer of fat, making veins, tendons, and bones more visible. Lipoderma may help restore volume here in the right candidates.
What Does a Lipoderma Treatment Involve?
Your treatment starts with a consultation with Dr. Shruti Tannan, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Raleigh, or her nurse injector, who works closely with Dr. Tannan.
During your consultation, Dr. Tannan will look at:
- Your facial anatomy
- How your existing soft tissue is distributed
- Where and how much volume you’ve lost
- Your skin quality
- Your weight history
- Any current or planned weight loss
- Your aesthetic goals
- Any previous injectable or surgical treatments
From there, she’ll determine whether Lipoderma is right for you and build a treatment plan around your needs. Lipoderma is typically placed just beneath the skin using a small cannula. The treatment is done in-office with local anesthesia as needed. The exact approach depends on the area being treated and how much volume is needed.
What Can I Expect After Lipoderma?
Lipoderma adds volume right away, so you’ll likely see improvement immediately after your treatment. That said, this initial look isn’t the final result. Swelling and bruising can temporarily change the appearance of the treated area, and the tissue will continue to settle and integrate as you heal.
In the weeks and months after treatment, you may experience:
- Mild swelling
- Bruising
- Tenderness
- Temporary fullness
Most patients have relatively little downtime, though recovery can vary depending on the area treated and your individual healing. Dr. Tannan will give you specific aftercare instructions after your procedure.
How Long Do Lipoderma Results Last?
Unlike traditional fillers, Lipoderma isn’t meant to just provide temporary volume. You’ll see an immediate improvement, and the tissue continues to integrate and settle over time. Current clinical data shows results lasting at least six months, and longer-term results are still being studied. Because Lipoderma is a newer technology, we can’t promise a specific number of years of correction.
Your results will depend on things like:
- The area treated
- How much tissue was placed
- Your baseline anatomy
- Whether your weight stays stable
- Natural aging
- How your body responds
If you need more volume down the road, Dr. Tannan can help determine if another treatment makes sense.
Does Lipoderma Fat-Based Filler Actually Become Part of My Tissue?
Lipoderma is designed to integrate into your tissue and remodel over time. It’s donor-derived allograft, not fat harvested from your own body, so your body goes through a natural remodeling process as it incorporates the tissue, and your final result develops gradually. This is why we encourage patients to think of Lipoderma as restoring tissue, rather than just another injectable filler.
Is Lipoderma a Regenerative Treatment?
You may hear Lipoderma fat-based filler described in “regenerative” terms, since it contains natural adipose tissue and a supportive framework, and is designed to integrate and remodel in the body. We prefer to describe it more simply: Lipoderma is donated human fat tissue, processed to remove markers that could trigger an immune reaction while keeping its natural structure, and designed to restore lost soft-tissue volume.
Is Lipoderma Safe?
Lipoderma comes from screened human donors and is processed through an established tissue-banking system, following applicable tissue-bank and FDA requirements.
As with any procedure involving human tissue, there are potential risks to be aware of. During your consultation, we’ll walk you through the risks, benefits, limitations, and alternatives to treatment. Being derived from human tissue doesn’t mean a product is risk-free. Careful patient selection, a sterile procedure, proper placement, and good follow-up care all remain essential.
Who Is a Good Candidate for Lipoderma?
You may be a good candidate if you have localized volume loss and want a more natural contour, without going through liposuction or a bigger surgical procedure.
Lipoderma may especially appeal to patients who have experienced:
- Age-related facial fat loss
- Significant weight loss
- GLP-1-related weight loss
- Loss of midface volume
- Under-eye hollowing
- Temple volume loss
- Volume loss in the hands
The best candidates understand that the goal is restoration, not transformation.
Lipoderma at Tannan Plastic Surgery
There’s no single treatment that works for every type of facial aging or volume loss. Sometimes the right answer is a traditional filler. Sometimes it’s Lipoderma. Sometimes it’s your own fat. And sometimes surgery is the most appropriate option.
Dr. Tannan takes an individualized approach based on your anatomy, rather than simply adding volume wherever a hollow appears. The goal isn’t to make you look different.
The goal is to restore the structure that made you look like you.
Ready to Explore Lipoderma?
If you’ve noticed facial hollowing or volume loss from weight loss, GLP-1 treatment, or simply the passage of time, Lipoderma fat-based filler may offer a new way to restore lost fat tissue.
Schedule a consultation with Dr. Shruti Tannan at Tannan Plastic Surgery in Raleigh to find out if Lipoderma is right for you.
