The left side of face is chubbier/wider than the right side - what can I do to even out cheeks? (photo)

Question

The left side of my face is a lot more chubbier than the right side. It looks like my left lower face is drooping a little too. I didn't used to have this much asymmetry as far as I can remember before. I had fillers back in november for my nasolabial folds. I have also gained some weight in past year. What can I do to make my left cheek same as right cheek? Will losing the gained weight help?

Yannis Alexandrides, MD, FACS · Answer

Hi, 
I would like to reassure you, that facial asymmetry is a very common finding. Actually, all people have a certain level of facial asymmetry, some more pronounced than others. If the asymmetry is just simple and is localized around the cheek area, removing the buccal fat from that size might improve it. However, it seems like you might have some more laxity on one side too, in which case a Facelift operation might be necessary, possibly combined with Fat Injections and potential Liposuction. The exact plan can be confirmed after face to face examination and in-depth consultation.

Tim Neavin, MD · Answer

Losing weight may help.  What is probably the easiest, quickest, and most effective solution is to do a buccal lipectomy.  A small 1 cm incision can be made inside the mouth and fat pockets in both cheeks can be removed to both improve symmetry and slim the face.  It will improve the definition of your cheekbones.  And it will make it look like you lost a significant amount of weight.  This can be done under local anesthesia and the results are permanent.  It is one of my favorite operations performed because the results are stunning in the right people.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Less than 2% of people have even close to symmetrical faces.

Asymmetry is the norm for the great majority of people and your degree of asymmetry is very much within normal range.

Symmetrical faces are seen why the human mind as of being abnormal and strange looking because they typically don’t exist in nature.

Even great artist throughout history haven’t corporated natural asymmetry in the classic words of art.

Does human face during embryological development forms as two separate house independent of each other and eventually fuse in the midline.  incomplete midline fusion is what causes some people to have birth defects like cleft lips or cleft palates.

Because the two sides form independently there is inherent variation.

The primary asymmetry is almost exclusively based on bone structure with very consistent soft tissue coverage and most people.

And attempt to manipulate soft tissues to compensate for skeletal asymmetry will only create two asymmetries.

For this and many other reasons it’s far better to except your face as being normal and treating for the sole purpose of creating symmetry is generally a mistake.

You’ll find plenty of plastic surgeons and other providers happy to take your money under the belief that facial symmetry is some type of aesthetic ideal which in fact it is not.

I suppose this is somewhat subjective and obviously gross asymmetry falls outside the norm just like perfect symmetry does.

My recommendation is to stop looking in the mirror and focus your gaze on what to mount  and what to conquer.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD

The left side of face is chubbier/wider than the right side - what can I do to even out cheeks? (photo)

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