Facial Cosmetics

Chin Augmentation (Advancement Genioplasty)

Chin Augmentation (Advancement Genioplasty) illustrationAugmenting your chin can provide both esthetic and functional benefits. By performing a sliding osteotomy of your lower jaw, the chin is brought forward, vastly improving the esthetics of a weak chin. It also tightens up the neck line and neck muscles. It is very cosmetic in that by advancing muscles and bone, it looks very natural.

Functionally, it significantly opens up your airway. Many people with a weak chin have a more narrow pharyngeal airway. When the bony chin is advanced, it pulls your neck muscles and hyoid bone forward, improving your airway. This helps people prone to sleep apnea breath better and is actually one of the treatments for sleep apnea.

This 30 minute procedure is done from inside your mouth under general anesthesia and performed in the office. Recovery is relatively quick with the only complication so to speak of coming as a result of swelling and some mild pain for a couple of days. The next day you are ambulatory and can drive. Facial swelling may persist for up to two weeks or so.

As the below results illustrate, this is an excellent adjunctive cosmetic procedure, which we do on a very regular basis. Patients all have a high degree of satisfaction with this procedure.

An alternative technique from sliding the bone forward is to slip a silicone implant in between your lower jawbone and chin muscles. This is a simpler procedure with less swelling. However, the cosmetic improvement is generally not as ideal. It also has less longevity, due to the fact that with time the implant can become inflamed, or resorb some of the lower jawbone it sits on.

Chin Augmentation case study, before and after photos
Chin Augmentation case study, before and after photos
Chin Augmentation case study, before and after photos

Facial Liposuction

Facial liposuction is a very common and popular procedure. It is designed for the permanent removal of fatty tissue from your cheeks, chin, and neck. It is an elective procedure that allows the surgeon to remove undesirable, subcutaneous fat in specific areas that do not respond to diet and exercise.

Patients with good skin tone who have fatty deposits receive the best results from facial liposuction. It is not a treatment for obesity. If weight gain occurs following liposuction, the fat will be deposited in areas that have not been treated. The procedure can be repeated, if necessary. To maintain the safety of the procedure, there is a limit on how much can be done at one time. A variety of factors can affect the results: physical condition, genetic makeup, diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol intake, and skin elasticity.

The Facial Liposuction Procedure

Facial liposuction is performed under general anesthesia on an outpatient basis in a hospital or surgical center. The surgeon makes small (less than 1/2 inch), discreet incisions in the face or neck. A cannula is inserted in a small incision and attached to a suction machine. The procedure may take an hour or more.

The results of liposuction are permanent. If you were to gain a large amount of weight, you might note rippling in the treated areas, depending on your skin elasticity. Following liposuction, the scar will go through a maturation process. During the first eight-to-twelve weeks, they may be red and possibly raised. The scars will mature over six-to-twelve months and become pale, flat, and soft. You may experience numbness, burning, and/or tingling around the incision site. These symptoms are almost always temporary. Please let us know if you are prone to keloid scars.