Cheek Augmentation Techniques – Know everything here

Cheek Augmentation – Facial Plastic Surgery

Increasing the volume of the cheekbones is currently a highly demanded aesthetic procedure. This surgery allows obtaining a more harmonious face, achieving a more beautiful appearance.

When the cheekbone area is well defined, it provides an expression to the entire face. Still, it is not limited only to that: the cheekbones tone and give an adequate volume, effectively supporting the lower part of the face and maintaining a more defined and youthful profile, a Desirable effect, especially in cases where the tissues, due to age, have suffered sagging and make the face flatter and lifeless.

Different patients have different needs, so we present all the available options to achieve the most harmonious face with cheek augmentation.

With advanced age, the skin loses its natural elasticity and gradually loses volume, becoming thinner. The subcutaneous tissue is showing signs of atrophy and undergoes considerable changes. The loss of volume and the look of sunken cheeks can ruin the harmony of the face that you enjoyed years ago and gives a haggard, aged, lifeless look. In some cases, the low projection of the malar region is an innate characteristic of the patient. Still, in other cases, there may be an asymmetry that may be desired to correct.

For these cases, surgical remodeling of the zygomatic arch is indicated, with the insertion of silicone implants, a process called malarplasty; It is a technically simple procedure, which is carried out under local anaesthesia and involves a short recovery time, aiming to create or restore the volume and firmness of the cheekbones permanently.

Patients who opt for a surgical solution want to harmonize the total face, considering other surgeries to achieve a better result. The combination of cheek augmentation with, for example, blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), rhinoplasty, or mentoplasty (chin surgery), in some cases, can be done in the same intervention, thus optimizing recovery time and obtaining great results.

A very interesting alternative to silicone prostheses is lipofilling, a natural filler based on the patient’s fatty tissue. Autologous fat is injected into the desired area after having been previously aspirated with fine cannulas. Lipofilling can guarantee excellent results, since thanks to the current techniques of collection, manipulation, and re-filtration of adipose tissue, the procedure is simple and does not present complications.

Lipofilling is a minimally invasive treatment, which has a slightly higher impact on the patient than the conventional cheek augmentation performed on an outpatient basis with fillers from different sources. Still, we can therefore consider that it is an intermediate solution between these and malarplasty.

The filler application allows achieving a temporary increase of the cheekbones. It gives excellent results for one or two years, a not very short period, but which forces the patient to need touch-ups after that time. However, the fact that it is temporary can be beneficial: during that time, the patient can calmly see and assess the new physiognomy’s pros and cons. Sometimes it is the doctors themselves who advise patients to perform absorbable fillers and subsequently opt for a definitive option, such as malarplasty or lipofilling, once they have made sure that the results are consistent with their expectations.

The time required for cheek augmentation sessions with fillers, be its hyaluronic acid, polycaprolactone, or hydroxyapatite (the most used for this purpose), are very short, approximately 20 minutes. They are outpatient sessions that require local anaesthesia and allow a quick recovery to normal activity.

In general, cheek augmentation ensures excellent results and involves minimal invasion in any of the existing techniques. However, it is always advisable to avoid permanent fillers initially, which can lengthen recovery over time and lead to inflammatory processes. To improve the facial contour and restore volume, it is better to choose the safest solutions and always guaranteed by professionals in the sector.