Boxing with a chin implant, advice? 5 years p.o.

Question

did a chin implant sergury before almost 5 years ago dur to a weak chin am really happy with the result but I am really into boxing it's almost my only hobby .. my question is can I box with a headgear that protect and cover up the chin? At least can I spar lightly " not full force punches involved" my implants is secured with 3 screws also or should go and do a "genioplsty" ?

Francis R. Palmer, III, MD (retired) · Answer

Hi, I have performed many facial shaping procedures, including Chin Augmentation with dermal fillers or silastic chin implants, for over 30 years.  You may want to ask your chin implant surgeon however, in my experience when a silastic chin implant is properly placed under the periosteum as described below the implant is stable at 1 month post op.  Even in the face of chin impact the implant should not move.  With metal screws in the much softer silastic implant (if it is silastic and not some other material like medpore or gortex), a direct forceful implant to the chin could cause the softer chin implant to tear along the screw placement areas.  In that scenario the implant itself would still not be expected to move or shift significantly.  It's generally felt that the chin and jaw would need to be fractured for the chin implant to move or shift. In my opinion and experience there is no need to secure a silastic chin implants with sutures and screws when the following conditions are met:
 * Select a silastic chin implant ( I prefer the EAC) that doesn't have too much projection (thickness) as this becomes a problem stabilizing the implant under the periosteum when the implant is too thick.
 * Place the implant through a small curved incision under the chin which allows direct access to the periosteum (under the mentalis muscle) while preserving the muscle attachments.  This prevents upward migration of the implant which can occur when the intra-oral approach is used that severs the muscle attachments.
 * While the center or body of the chin implant should be placed at a perpendicular angle the chin bone in order to provide the proper forward projection to the chin, the "wings" of the implant should be at a lower level and follow the inferior (bottom) edge of the jaw line on either side of the chin.  When properly dissected and placed, this will be below the mental nerve foramen and be just wide enough of a dissection to accommodate the tapering wing.  There isn't enough room in this technique to allow the wings to migrate upward and contact the mental nerve.  In contrast if the dissection, along the sides of the chin (jaw line) are performed too high...this will place the mental nerve in danger and if the side dissection is too wide, the wings will have a space within which to migrate upward.
 * We have all of our chin implant patients avoid touching and feeling their chin implant for 1 month post op.  We also ask that they sleep on a U-shaped airline pillow for the same time.
  Our experience when following the technique described above is that the silastic chin implant does not need to be secured with sutures or screws and does not move.  I have placed silastic chin implants in military, SWAT, LE, professional fighters, as well as actors and many regular people who are active.  In addition, I have had the opportunity on numerous occasions to replace silastic chin implants (placed by others) that had been screwed into the bone.  During the replacement it was evident that the metal screws pushed right through the soft silastic implant as it was tightened down on the hard chin bone.  Which makes perfect sense.  So in the long run, these fixation methods alone are no guarantee that the implant won't move.  Proper placement, proper implant pocket creation and meticulous closure of all the tissues layers is what is required in my humble opinion.
Hope this helps.

Boxing with a chin implant, advice? 5 years p.o.

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Boxing with a chin implant, advice? 5 years p.o.

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Everything you need to know about Chin Implant

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