Cheek injury/ cheek droops - Do I need surgery ? How can I correct this ? (Photos)

Question

I had an injury to the right side of my face and I have a permanent crookedness to my smile. The right side of my cheek pulls down when I smile and it looks crooked. I’ve tried fillers and Botox which don’t work. the right side of my face is smaller then the left side because of this injury. It’s noticeable that my left cheek is more round then my right one. In sunlight it’s very noticeable that my right corner cheek droops. Do I need surgery ? How can I correct this ?

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

This is my expertise and a huge portion of my practice. Asymmetry is normal and expected. Buccal fat pad gives slimming not symmetry. Masseter botox will make you slimmer and make the jawline more loose. Fillers help give shaping and contouring. If you want perfect or close to perfect symmetry you need maxillofacial surgery or implants customized. I suggest seeing an expert to go through all options. Most of my younger clients use fillers to give them shaping especially on the cheeks, jawline, and chin which make the face look more slim and tight; and threads such as PDO or Instalift can build collagen and support the facial shaping and skin looseness over time, slowing down the aging process and given the face a more “snatched” look; and morpheus8 or PiXel8 deep microneedling RF can tighten crepe skin especially on the neck and jawline and is great for long term tightening of the full face, neck and chest; its often used to give the face a slimmer more sculpted look because it tightens the skin and gives lift. an early face lift can be performed as well even in younger clients if they want a different facial shape, maxillofacial surgery with bone breaking or shaving can also be done. For facial slimming a combination of treatments are always needed. Options include: 1. Buccal fat pad removal to reduce fat on the lower face 2. Factite or Renuvion/J Plasma to tighten the lower face, jawline, and chin to reduce fat and give the jawline and neck tightening and shaping. 3. Botox to the masseter to reduce the muscular size of the jaw giving the face an illusion of being more slender 4. Fillers to the jawline, chin, cheeks, temples and brow help to shape the face and make it more angled and defined Always use at home derma rolling (see link to Emerageskin x anteageMD roller plus stem cells/hyaluronic acid ampules) and peels like emeragecosmetics enlighten or aerify that can be used to improve skin quality and tighten the skin while improving wrinkles, pigmentation, acne, and Melasma. See an expert who does facial shaping with surgical and non surgical methods to get a comprehensive option. Best, Dr. Emer.

Bilgen Katipoglu Erenoglu, MD · Answer

Hi, thank you for your question and photos. 
According to the photographs you uploaded, it looks like a branch of facial nerve (marginal mandibular nerve) may be damaged. The time that has passed over this accident is important. How many years has it been? Is there any progress or the same? It may be not due to nerve but may be because of the chronic edema in the nerve vicinity, imparinig its function. Or it might be a temporary dysfunction of the nerve or the muscle that effects your lip muscles and smile. 
It will be more revealing if you could share the details of the accident, if there was any cuts on your face, any bony fractures, time passed and videos of your current situation with us.

Cheek injury/ cheek droops - Do I need surgery ? How can I correct this ? (Photos)

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Cheek injury/ cheek droops - Do I need surgery ? How can I correct this ? (Photos)

Answers (2)

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Everything you need to know about Cheek Lift

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.