What Fat Grafting to the Neck Does
Fat grafting takes a different, and sometimes opposite, approach to liposuction. Rather than removing volume, small amounts of a patient's own fat — harvested by gentle liposuction from another area such as the abdomen or flanks — are purified and re-injected in precise amounts to soften an abrupt transition between the jawline and neck, fill a hollow pre-jowl sulcus, or restore a subtly deflated chin.
The Procedure
Fat is harvested under local anaesthetic, sometimes with light sedation, using a fine cannula from a donor site such as the abdomen or flanks. It is then processed to separate viable fat cells before being re-injected in small, precise amounts along the jawline and neck using a blunt microcannula, layered in thin passes to encourage an even blood supply and reliable survival.
When It's Used
Fat grafting to the neck is most often used alongside neck liposuction or a neck lift, rather than as a stand-alone treatment for a heavy or poorly defined neck — it restores volume, it does not remove it. It suits patients with a hollow or angular transition between the jawline and neck, a deflated chin, or a pre-jowl hollow, rather than patients whose primary concern is excess fat.
Who Is a Good Candidate?
Not everyone is a good candidate. Patients whose primary concern is excess fullness or fat under the chin are better suited to neck liposuction rather than fat grafting, which adds volume rather than removing it — the two are sometimes combined where a patient has both excess fat in one area and hollowing in another. A realistic expectation of a subtle, natural-looking improvement is important, given the amount of fat that can reliably be grafted to this area is modest.
Fat grafting uses only your own tissue, processed and re-injected in the same procedure. This is a standard, well-established surgical technique — distinct from any product or service marketed as isolated or laboratory-expanded "stem cell" treatment (see our page on nanofat grafting for that distinction).
Recovery
- Bruising and swelling at both the donor site and the injected area for 1–3 weeks
- Some of the grafted fat is naturally reabsorbed by the body; the visible result reflects the fat that survives
- Most patients return to non-strenuous work within a week
- Final volume assessed from around 3 months, once swelling has fully settled and the graft has stabilised
Risks
As with any fat grafting procedure: asymmetry, uneven fat survival occasionally requiring a small top-up procedure, contour irregularity, temporary or rarely persistent numbness, bruising or contour change at the donor site, and the normal risks of any surgical procedure. These are discussed individually at consultation.