Goals:
- It is a simple surgical intervention that treats poorly highlighted cheekbones or “weak” chin. It is an ideal treatment for patients with little relief on their face, achieving with the cheek implant the framing and highlight the look. With an implant in the chin, we avoid the” bird face that causes the “elusive” chin back.
- This type of intervention is usually performed without visible skin scars since incisions are used inside the mouth to see no visible scar.
- Sometimes they are performed as isolated interventions, but in many cases, they are combined with other interventions on the face, such as blepharoplasty, rhinoplasty, and facelift, ostensibly improving their final results.
- Therefore, the indication and combination of the above techniques must be performed by your plastic surgeon, who will perform and plan INDIVIDUALLY AND PERSONAL for each patient in particular.
- The result of these interventions is permanent, dramatically enhancing the individual’s features. The practice of Medicine and Surgery is not an exact science. Although excellent results are expected, there are no explicit or implicit guarantees about the results that can be obtained.
Anesthesia:
- In most patients, these interventions are performed using short-term general anesthesia, with a short stay in the clinic, as they are often combined with other interventions, such as rhinoplasty.
- In some cases, it can be performed in selected patients under local anesthesia and mild sedation, as previous skin scars are sometimes used to perform the implant.
Incisions:
- These prostheses are usually implanted through incisions in the buccal mucosa, both for the augmentation of the cheekbones and for the chin, there being no skin scars, and therefore, they are interventions with “invisible” scars.
- In some cases where a blepharoplasty is performed, cheekbones can be implanted through the same incision of the eyelids without making any additional incisions.
- Finally, chin augmentation can be performed taking advantage of any previous traumatic scar under the chin, so we do not make any extra scar.
Alternative treatments:
Apart from not performing the surgical intervention, there are other methods of filling these defects that, in general, are of short duration and are not without risks and complications.
Risks:
Like any surgical intervention, there are some evolutionary characteristics and minimal risks of complications in it. Although most patients do not suffer from these complications, you must know them and be informed about them. We must point out that the advantages of the intervention are much greater than the disadvantages.
These risks are:
- Hematoma-a slight bruise is expected lasting 5-7 days. Exceptionally it is of a higher degree.
- Infection-a is very rare. Postoperative antibiotics are given to prevent it.
- Malposition-It is exceptional. May require surgical repositioning under local anesthesia.
- Other problems, such as sensitive nerve injuries, the expulsion of the implant, and bone erosion, are described as exceptional medical literature cases.
Once the intervention has been carried out, postoperative controls should be carried out to a minimum of three months after the intervention.
Cheek Lift Augmentation: Surgery vs alternative treatments: How Do I Decide?
Evolution:
- The postoperative pain of the cheek augmentation or chin is slight, disappearing within 2-3 days. Requires only mild analgesia.
- The oral mucosa sutures are removed after 5-7 days. This time is the same as the duration, if it appears, of the intervened areas’ superficial hematoma. During the first 2-3 days after the intervention, thin paper tapes are usually attached to the skin, fixing the implants.
- Due to its small size, it is an intervention that requires a minimum of 24 hours of sick leave, but that in people who are facing the public, due to external plasters or hematoma, may require a 5-7 day sick leave.
All this information will be announced for your PARTICULAR CASE by the plastic surgeon who performs the intervention.
