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Can I Make my Long Face Appear Shorter by Shortening my Nose and Chin or Possibly a Fat Graft?

I have a long face but i was wondering if there are things i can do to either make my face look more oval or square with good overall balance. My question is: can i shorten my nose and give myself more philtrum...to create a smaller looking midface. Further question: would shaving my chin slightly and adding a fat graft around my cheek and jaw help. I would really appreciate your opinions on this, and also suggestions on what you think would work well towards achiving my goals. .

Doctor Answers 1

Augmenting the "Long Face"

August 28th, 2012
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It would be helpful to see your profile view, but I think that you are on the right path.  Regarding your nose, it is somewhat long and can be shortened a bit (but be careful that your surgeon is not overly aggressive and turn up the nose too much, which feminizes the appearance).

While your chin is a bit long, shortening it by removing some of the vertical height is indeed an option, but it is quite a bit of surgery for a small amount of gain.  Rather than fat grafting, I would consider implants at the outer part of your lower jaw (the "mandibular angle) which would "square" the lower face.  Usually a combination of a few of these maneuvers will lead to a nice improvement in your overall facial balance.

John Frodel, MD


Atlanta Facial Plastic Surgeon
5.0 out of 5 stars 1 review

August 28th, 2012

Augmenting the "Long Face"

{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}

It would be helpful to see your profile view, but I think that you are on the right path.  Regarding your nose, it is somewhat long and can be shortened a bit (but be careful that your surgeon is not overly aggressive and turn up the nose too much, which feminizes the appearance).

While your chin is a bit long, shortening it by removing some of the vertical height is indeed an option, but it is quite a bit of surgery for a small amount of gain.  Rather than fat grafting, I would consider implants at the outer part of your lower jaw (the "mandibular angle) which would "square" the lower face.  Usually a combination of a few of these maneuvers will lead to a nice improvement in your overall facial balance.


Atlanta Facial Plastic Surgeon

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