Hello everybody, hope you all are doing very well. I have always had a flat midface, so I decided to simulate a lift myself in the mirror.... I grasped the skin at each of my temples (my right temple skin and left temple skin), and pulled it upwards. When I let go, I was horrified. My facial fat tissue, on the left and the right were now lower than they had ever been (like a half centimeter on the left and a bit less on the right). In addition I was met with some pretty darn intense pain on the left temple (it felt very very deep, not just superficial), and also pretty bad pain specifically at my left zygoma (specifically at the malar pad, also a very deep pain). i got prednisone asap and started taking it, worrying that this was a change to my face due to nerve damage, similar to like in Bell's Palsy. It did nothing other than stopped the pain.
Now I realize that this can NOT be nerve damage, due to a few things. Number 1: I have full ability to control my facial movements. No paralysis at all. Number 2: It continues to get worse (meaning, the drooping on the left side continues to get worse, not daily, but when I move my face too much, like opening my mouth too much, smiling too much, etc, it gets worse). Number 3: I can literally feel what feels like some type of prolapsed tissue on the outer midfacial area of the left of my face.
The worst part is, yes this keeps getting worse, and also the fact that I quite literally am seeing my left change a ton (my cheek when smiling keeps looking bigger and bigger as I assume what used to hold it tight against the bone has sort of let go and now has come forward as well as down).
In addition, I CAN move my face in its entire range, but doing so causes the reemergence of discomfort/pain on the left, and usually with said discomfort and pain, if I push my luck and continue moving it too much, it all gets worse (the descent of tissue, etc).
Now for some potential clues that I am certain maybe some plastic surgeon with a great wealth of knowledge would know.
When opening my mouth, or pursing my lips in any amount, i feel a pulling sensation. I feel said pulling sensation specifically like, a centimeter southwest of my zygomatic bone. I feel this pull as well when smiling. To describe it, it feels like this uncomfortable pull.... as if there is a ligament of some trying to hold the existing tissue in place, and opening the mouth or pursing the lips is forcing that damaged ligament to potentially go even further down...... I do not know if this means it is the SMAS or something. I have no idea. I just know I need to locate the whereabouts of this issue, perhaps through a scan of some sort or a doctor's intuition, and figure out what to do. I am almost certain this will need surgical correction
I am providing my photo below (which is a collage of befores on the left, and afters on the right) I have absolutely no history of mental illness or anything like that. I am just a dumb guy who happened to clearly damage something in his face. And it simply continues getting worse. The discomfort when i move my face is certainly there. This pulling sensation. It is awful. not to mention the changes to my actual face. Please please help. Somebody. I do not know what to do.
Perhaps this will require me to seek some type of lifting surgery to establish repair.
My diet has remained the exact same by the way. It is very strict due to IBS and Type 2 diabetes. No change to my weight either. I monitor that as well.
At any rate, I attached a photo (which has before photos on the left, and afters on the right.... In addition, there is another picture of facial anatomy on the bottom left. In That image, there is a face diagram on the right, with a facial fat compartment labeled "D". That is the compartment I think I may have influenced, since the damage started at the temple, and I have seen fat distrubution change from there, to my zygomatic bone, And in the buccal area where the fat has dropped a bit.)
As for the other befores and afters I have, the first pair of befores and afters are on the 1st row, taken literally an hour apart. My face clearly was WAY slimmer in the before, and in the after significantly wider. In the second before and after photos, There is my before photo, but the after photo, is a month later, showing an even WIDER face than in the first before and after..... It really is exhuasting and I do not really know what else to do. I want to fix this asap.
What type of face lift would even slim out the sides of my face by raising the cheeks to their original position?