Contour irregularity:
what the term means

Where contour irregularity matters on this site

An uneven surface is a common complaint after fat grafting and a recognised one after liposuction, so the term appears on most pages in that cluster.

An irregularity from too much and an irregularity from too little look the same in a photograph and opposite on ultrasound.— Dr Sin Yong

• Fat grafting correction: irregularities after fat transfer, with excess separated from deficit on ultrasound before any plan.
• Loose skin after liposuction: ripples, dents and residual fat after liposuction.
• Under-eye fat grafting complications: ridges and lumps in the lower lid, where the thinnest skin shows the smallest unevenness.
• Overfilled after fat grafting: why too much happens and what can help.
• Microliposuction vs Time Freeze Laser LCLR®: the two routes for reducing an excess, and what decides between them.
• Time Freeze Laser LCLR®: the surface protocol used for living excess close to the surface.

The hub after fat grafting or liposuction collects every guide for problems that follow those procedures, and is the place to start if you are not sure which problem you have.

Not to be confused with

A contour irregularity is a description of the surface, not a diagnosis of what is underneath. These are the terms it overlaps with.

• Fat necrosis: a firm lump of dead graft. It can cause an irregularity, but most irregularities contain no necrosis.
• Fat graft hypertrophy: a graft that enlarged with weight gain. The irregularity is excess, and the whole grafted area is usually involved rather than one spot.
• Skin retraction: when the skin fails to shrink over a smaller volume, the surface looks loose and crepey. That is laxity, not an irregularity of the fat.
• Malar oedema: fluid over the cheekbone, which comes and goes and is not a contour problem at all.
• Filler nodule and facial overfilled syndrome: the filler equivalents. Hyaluronic acid can be dissolved; grafted fat cannot, which is why naming the material comes first.

The one distinction that matters most is excess against deficit: a ridge from too much can be reduced; a dent from too little needs support, and never more removal.

What decides how a contour irregularity is approached

Dr Sin Yong works from the ultrasound map and the pinch test rather than from the photograph, because the same ripple can have opposite causes.

• Excess or deficit: the first and decisive question.
• Living fat or necrosis: living excess near the surface can be reduced gradually; a firm or calcified lump is managed differently.
• Skin recoil: an irregularity over skin that has lost recoil will not smooth by removing fat alone.
• Site: the lower lid, the forehead and the jawline each show unevenness at a different size and tolerate different corrections.
• Timing: an area still settling after surgery is reviewed, not corrected; swelling hides deficits and exaggerates ridges.

Where the answer is a dent from over-removal, or a large stable excess, the honest route is a surgical opinion, and the referral is made rather than a device offered. The consultation process page explains how the assessment is run.