Under-Eye Fat Transfer

1. Understanding Your Goals

• Your priorities: The consultation starts with what you would like to change, what matters most to you and what you hope surgery will achieve.

2. Clinical Assessment

• Clinical assessment: Dr Mercer assesses anatomy, tissue quality, asymmetry, scars and any factors that may affect the operation or healing.

3. Options, Limits & Planning

• Options and limits: Suitable surgical options, likely scars, trade-offs and realistic outcomes are discussed rather than assuming that surgery is the right answer.
• Planning: If you choose to proceed, clinical photography, measurements and a personalised operative plan are completed before a surgery date is confirmed.

Before surgery

• Assessment: The surgeon distinguishes hollowing from true bags, pigmentation, oedema and skin laxity.
• Donor area: A suitable small fat-harvest area is selected.
• Preparation: Follow nicotine, medication and fasting instructions and arrange transport.

Anaesthesia

• Anaesthesia: The procedure may be performed under general anaesthesia or local anaesthesia with sedation, especially when combined with eyelid surgery.

Fat grafting

• Harvest: A small volume of fat is removed through a tiny access point.
• Preparation: Fat is processed for fine grafting.
• Injection: Very small parcels are placed in controlled planes beneath the lower eyelid and upper cheek.
• Assessment: Symmetry is checked repeatedly; deliberate overfilling is avoided in this delicate region.

Week 1

• Appearance: Puffiness and bruising can make the area look temporarily overfilled.

Weeks 2–3

• Social recovery: Most visible bruising improves, but residual swelling may remain.

1–3 months

• Graft settling: Swelling falls and the surviving fat begins to define the stable contour.

3–6 months

• Result: The longer-term graft take can be assessed more reliably.

First 2 weeks

• Swelling: Use cool compresses if advised and expect temporary puffiness.
• Pressure: Avoid massage or pressure on the grafted area unless specifically instructed.

Weeks 3–6

• Activity: Resume exercise progressively.
• Assessment: Early volume is not the final result because swelling falls and some graft resorption occurs.

Early review

• What happens: The team checks wounds, swelling, comfort and any dressings during the first postoperative period.

1–2 weeks

• What happens: Incisions and early healing are reviewed; sutures or dressings are removed when appropriate and activity guidance is updated.

6 weeks

• What happens: Dr Mercer reviews recovery, scars and return to exercise, and checks that healing is progressing as expected.

3–6 months

• What happens: Progress photographs may be taken as swelling settles and scars continue to mature.

Around 1 year

• What happens: A longer-term review can be used to assess the mature result once tissues and scars have fully settled.