Having a Chin Implant is the Best Decision I've Ever Made - Philadelphia, PA

I had a medium/large chin implant + neck lipsuction on April 5th, 2013. The surgeon used a large implant and shaved it down to be somewhere in between medium and large. I am writing this review 1.5 weeks post-op. Overall, I am absolutely thrilled with my results. I feel confident, beautiful, and that my face is finally in balance.

My surgery was done under local anesthesia in the office. I was on Valium and Vicadin. It took a little over an hour and I thought I would fall asleep but I actually stayed awake through the procedure.

When I was comparing surgeons to pick where I wanted it done, I found that no other surgeon in Philadelphia would consider doing it under local anesthesia. It would be twice as much money for general anesthesia, as quoted to me by other places I called and by the office I actually used. I don't know if these other surgeons wouldn't do it under local because it's just easier if the patient isn't awake, because they have contracts with anesthesiologists to give them business, or what, but I ultimately felt very confident in my surgeon at Jefferson. I felt that he knew what he was doing, and he wanted to give me the least amount of discomfort possible while also making it affordable.

To discuss finances a bit, I was planning to save up and pay cash. In the end I decided to open a credit card with a promo offer of 18 months 0% APR, so I can pay the balance off over a year and a half and keep my savings in case of emergencies. I would NOT have considered putting the balance on a card where it would accrue interest, and I will definitely make sure it is paid off before my promo period is up.

The biggest con for me has been taking time off from work, but that was really a choice I made. I stayed home for a week after surgery primarily due to the bruising and swelling. The pain was minimal, and I could have gone to work if I didn't mind people seeing the damages. But I work with the public, and I have about 100 co-workers I see throughout the day, so I didn't want to continually be explaining what happened.

I also wanted to see if people would notice on their own once everything was healed. I've been back to work now for 3 days and only ONE person has noticed, and she couldn't figure out what it is, she just knew I looked "different." This is exactly the response I wanted. I didn't want to look different, I just wanted my chin to be balanced with the rest of my face.

Now that I've had this done, I feel like I have finally achieved this goal that I have had ever since middle school. I've always wanted to do it, but all I knew was that it was "plastic surgery" and that's expensive, and I will probably have to wait until I have a real job. I also don't think I could have convinced me parents to let me do it when I was younger!

Something that was a little frustrating is that none of my friends and family were really HAPPY for me, they were mostly against the idea, didn't think I needed it, and now are sort of neutral about it. It made the whole thing a lot less exciting for me. My therapist was THRILLED and gave me a lot of positive feedback. I told her that I was so glad she responded that way, and she said that I SHOULD be happy about it, because I am! And just because other people don't have the same thoughts as I do, that doesn't change how I should feel about it.

So, I would warn anyone considering any cosmetic surgery to be prepared for your friends and family to be less than thrilled by your decision, and once you have given it a lot of thought and ultimately decided to do it, seek out people who will give you the positive feedback that you really want and deserve and don't focus on the neutral or negative responses.

I'm happy to answer questions about my experience, and I am going to be adding photos soon.