“Emotionally Draining and Quite Frightening - London, UK”

I had an implant placed in 1994. I did it in secret, so had no support to fall back on. It was tough. I was only 18 and full of anxiety about what might happen should something go wrong.

The consultants were part of a clinic and had prepped the chin area once a fortnight with creams and steam and massage, etc. I have to say this clinic was the worst aspect of the whole thing. They were basically salesmen in white coats, trying each time to get more money from me (I used my student loan to pay for it). For example, they waited until after the surgery to tell me I had to buy extremely expensive vitamins off them to aid healing and tissue growth etc. I didnt bother with any of it and felt very used. The surgeon however was good - just really professional and efficient. It was done in no time and I spent a night at their clinic in London with a bandage around my head. It would have been good to spend another night there, but they seemed to have a high turnover, so I left (I decided to take off the bandage early to avoid questions at home)

It was tough to talk properly the first week or so, but not impossible, and the swelling went down quick enough with ice packs. I went through a period of doubt and shame, and for a while really wanted the thing taken out, mostly because for a while it really doesnt feel right. The bottom lip will have some numbness and id say for the first ten years once on a while, for a few days at a time, id have a strange sensation on my bottom lip, as if it was sore. I rarely get that now. I had to change the way I slept - further down the pillow to avoid leaning on it overnight, but that just became the norm. It takes time - alot of time - to really heal and only then really can you judge whether it is something you can live with or not.

My advice to those thinking of doing it, is to really be honest with yourself in why you want it. There are those that really do have a very weak chin and imo if it bothers you then go ahead. But I can see plenty of people that have done it who really didnt need it and it borders on vanity. In that case, id say dont bother, cus its not a quick fix and its not the same as bone, and theres plently that can go wrong (as with any surgery)

Did I need it? I still dont know. I was young, and I had low self esteem. Having said that, once I did it I didnt focus so much on how I looked. I guess I figured I had done all I could to get to how I felt I should look, and I was content at that. It allowed me to move on foreward and live my life and not get hung up on this chin thing! So some soul searching is definately a good idea before doing something like this. I hope that doesnt sound preachy. Im guilty of vanity of course, but I was all alone and i guess I lost objectivity.

18 years on, the last few months I have been having issues with the implant. Im not sure why yet... Im told its very rare to have issues this late on... but I cant comment any more on that as I just dont know why its feeling hard and achy right now.

More advice - make sure you have money to cover any complications, not just enough to cover the initial surgery.