Facial Fat Reduction

Q: Dr. Eppley, I know that facial fat is a very difficult thing to address. 

If you are young and have exhausted both options of Buccal fat removal and facial liposuction and still have an unacceptably fat and heavy face,  how feasible would it be to get a face lift to address the deeper and superficial layers of fat by dissection? I know In older patients who get face lifts often everything is opened up and can be  fully accessed and at times fat is taken out. I know the issue with taking out fat in the face is that it can’t be accessed easily since a lot of it is intermingled in different soft tissue layers. Wouldn’t a full face lift allow a surgeon easy access to all of it to dissect, remove and split carefully? 

Can this be done with a younger patient who desperately wants a leaner face even at the expense of face lift scars? 

Also what’s your opinion on Kybella for facial fatness beyond by chin? 

A: In answers to your questions about facial fat reduction:

1) Kybella will be useless for our facial reshaping concerns.

2) A lower tuckup facelift will offer improvement. You are correct in that regard. But it is not really the result of fat removal, it exerts its effect by tissue lifting/tightening along and above the jawline.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana