Portland3931

Not What I Asked For... - Portland, OR

Thought I Was Going to an Eye Hollow Expert...- Bellevue, WA

Howdy, thank you for your comments--it is always nice to hear that I wasn't crazy after all in deciding to have a chin implant! I am now 2 1/2 years out and getting more comfortable by the day with the "new" chin. My husband loves the look and a couple friends have told me it looks "just like me, only better." Like you, however, in my own mind I have struggled with thinking that it looks so foreign and not me at all. One thing that has helped me is to notice that other people's chins sometimes look odd, too. Any body part, when you single it out and stare at it all by itself, can seem rather off. As an objective observer, I think your new chin looks perfectly normal and an awful lot like your before picture, only with a better projection! Probably exactly what you were aiming for, but it will take time for your brain to adjust to the slight changes in contour on your face. Another thing that makes me feel better about my decision to have a chin implant? I look at my old before pics (yikes, my old profile was really bad; so bad that I don't put the photos on the website). Yeah, there was a reason I went for the implant and the same can be said of you. It is my educated guess that in time you will be so glad you got the implant. Give it time! Best of luck to you.

Thanks, Reparata, for sharing your story. Hopefully those of us who have the courage and the conviction to comment about unsatisfactory results will help others to make better choices for themselves.

Hello there, oh it breaks my heart to hear a story such as yours. After dealing for two years with the emotional trauma of my results and how they make me feel, I can only say that you will eventually find some peace in having to live with this situation. For one, over time you will slowly come to accept that this bad outcome and the complications have occurred. Second, you will keep looking for solutions and find some things that you can depend on (I am currently having much better luck with the filler Belotero as injected by a very good injector). Third, you will probably find over time that you become more accustomed to the changes on your face and, I believe, the filler and injections do have some lasting impact (they seem to dissolve more slowly than quoted). I read that even the pin pricks can leave behind tiny amounts of scar tissue which actually serve to help fill in under the eye area. It is very subtle, but better than nothing. Last, be sure to learn about facial exercises that target the muscles under the eye. I believe that by exercising them you can thicken and strengthen the muscle which helps diminish the appearance of hollowing. Because the muscle is small it is not like building up your biceps--the change is gradual and subtle but, again, worth it. It would also help with your concerns about the bags returning due to the stretched skin. A gentle laser could also eventually help tighten that skin if it does indeed stay stretched after your current filler dissolves. Oh, one more thing, it you find that you are feeling desperate, I would recommend considering counseling and/or anti-depressants. I have found both to be very helpful as this situation is a very private trauma that people around you simply do not understand. Unless it has happened to you, you can't begin to imagine how life-altering and scary this road can be. So, talking to a therapist and calming down your emotional reaction with medication can help you privately work on this issue while you work to maintain your relationship with your fiance or with anyone else this has affected. I try really hard to keep my concerns to myself so as not to upset my family, but I do reach out to folks like you because it is so important that victims of botched cosmetic procedures not feel alone. For now just know that there are solutions out there and that you will find them. Be very conservative and careful in who you trust to help you. It may take a long time and tons of research for you to find a good practitioner but that is much better than further complications by rushing to try to fix things. At this point, I would not trust a soul to do any kind of surgical or permanent repair for me. I will only allow temporary fixes such as filler so I know that if it doesn't come out right at least it will eventually dissolve. Hang in there and be assured that you will come to feel more accepting and at peace with this. It takes time and research on your part, but you will get there. A silver lining? This situation forces you to think hard about who you are and how you want to live your life. I love the expression, "Adversity builds character." Not what you signed up for, I know, but a positive outcome of this anyway. Take care. : )

It is my pleasure, Yolanda. I haven't had a lot of luck or satisfaction since I started down this path (mainly due to the outcome of the initial blephs and chin implant in Portland) but I truly feel that the only silver lining for me is to share my story with others so that they have a better chance of making good choices and ending up with good outcomes. Thanks for your kind note!

Appreciate your kind and complimentary comments, gals. Thank you!