Mid-face Lift vs. Cheek and Chin Implants

Your situation illustrates a common dilemna faced by people interested in facial rejuvenation procedures.  The key to achieving youthful and natural results is to first perform a careful assessment and identify the cause of the aged appearance in each individual.  Facial aging can be categorized into three basic groups known as the 3 D's:  1) Deterioration of the skin surface, 2) Deflation or loss of volume and 3) Descent of the facial tissues.  Once the role that each of these aging processes is playing is assessed in each individual then the proper corrective procedures can be selected, depending on the patients desires.  One of the hallmarks of facial aging is that the basic shape changes from a triangle in which the base is located across the cheeks and the apex towards the chin during youth to an inverted triangle in which the base is now located across the jowls and the chin and the apex is across the midface.  This finding can be viewed as a "boxy' look through the lower face.

In this 44 year old male it is likely that the full cheeks characterisitc of youth have given way to a flattened appearance due to a combination of deflation and descent.  Revolumization procedures such as injectable fillers, fat transfer or placement of cheek implants will all restore the fullness of the cheeks.  Injectable fillers are quick and simple but the results will only last 1 to 2 years at most.  Fat transfers and even better, cheek implants are a more permanent method or restoring lost volume.  Surgical lifting of the cheek region can be accomplished through either an extended facelift approach or through a midface lift technique.  I view these procedures as a means to reposition tissues that have descended "southward" due to th effects of gravity and weakening of the zygomatic retaining ligaments over time. If you are not ready for a full surgical lifting procedure then an isolated midface lift plus cheek implants would be a good alternative to reposition the descended  tissues and restore volume.

As far as the chin and neck is concerned, it is likely that some early signs of jowls and perhaps a heavy appearance due to some fat accumulation are combining to give a "weak chin" appearance.  These are all the result of descent of tissue under the influence of gravity.  The ideal correction would indeed be a lower face and neck lift combined with submentoplasty.  However, if you are not ready for this then a chin implant combined perhaps with liposuction will provide enough improvement. 

It is very difficult to answer your question without seeing your pictures – but based on your description you appear to be a good candidate for a chin implant and cheek implants.  

Buccal fat removal will at times help with the chubby cheeks, such as in the link below

See a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon for a facelift consultation.  I would put the implants down the list as options to consider.  They can be effective in the short term, but in the long term, they can cause some bone erosion as I have witnessed on many occasions.