Cant you just liposuction the fat creating the tear trough and nasolabial fold? (Photo)

Question

My cheeks are already as fat as it is i feel like fillers will just make them chunkier. I like how m face looks when i lift it or pull it back but Im way too young for a mini face lift apparently? So my question is can you just lipo some face fat, i feel like that's what makes my nasolabial folds prominent. I'll show two females with similar problems as I.

Christopher S. Verbin, MD · Answer

You have a moderate degree of lower cheek descent and fullness creating a volume void below the eyes, as well as some prominence and protrusion of the lower eyelid fat pockets, A surgical lifting and tightening of the cheek foundation (underlying fascial support) together with lower eyelid reduction of the fat pads and volume enhancement of the lid-cheek junction is the best and most corrective in my opinion. Liposuction takes away cheek volume - without saving and repositioning it to where it belongs. Liposuction could likely worsen your facial aging and aesthetics. Every face is different, from bony structure to tissue integrity, and as I know you see, the descent and changes in your face are real not necessarily proportionate to  the youthfulness your age deserves. Some may consider a buccal fat pad reduction targeting the lower cheek volume and this should be considered after evaluation and examination.  I had the opportunity to restore the youthfulness to a 35yo woman of the same type of facial type and volume descent/laxity this past month - and I couldn't be more pleased with the way her face shaped up in all the best ways - it was just what she needed. I advise you to learn about  the procedures that are available to you from well qualified plastic surgeons in your area.

Nelson Lee Novick, MD · Answer

For most, if not all cases of nasolabial line and tear trough formation removing fat via liposuction would constitute a real mistake. To understand this, it is critical to understand the age-related changes that befall with the passage of time the robust, heart-shaped fat pads that sit in youth only less than a quarter of inch below the lashes of the lower lids and whose wings swing upward and outward toward the direction of the root of the nose and to the sides of the eyes. In youth, the heart-shaped fat pad is convex and outwardly projecting and gives rise to the desirable rounded appearance of the cheeks. After two to three decades the fat pad shrinks and shrivels and goes southward and inward. It takes on the appearance of a shrunken triangle, a remnant of its former self, whose lower end presses downward and inward to create the jowls of the smile lines. At its uppermost end, owing to the consequent deflation of the under eye area, bags, dark circles and tear troughs appear--which, like the smile lines are a consequence of volume depletion. In short, it's not too much fat that is the problem; in fact, it is too little volume. Clearly then removing more fat, via liposuction is not only ill-advised, but has the potential of making matters worse. Parenthetically, facelifting, which simply cuts away skin and stretches it, might result in a cadaverous face of skin and bones.Volume repletion in the midface region, so-called nonsurgical mid-face rejuvenation using volumizing fillers, such as Voluma XC or Stylage XXL helps to reinflate the sunken areas and round and reposition, the areas that were more rounded and outwardly projecting in youth (without bloating the face into a chipmunk look). Consultation and treatment by a board certified aesthetic physician with extensive expertise and experience in "sculpting" the contours of the face in this manner is an absolute must.

Tae Ho Kim, MD · Answer

Liposuction of the cheeks would not be the right choice.  From the 2 example photos you show, the problems of the tear trough and nasolabial fold are connected to the shape and volume of the cheeks.  Most people and unfortunately many doctors do not understand the important transition from the lower eyelid to the cheek and the cheek to the upper lip.  For most people who look normal there is a natural transition.  So, what can be done when the lower eyelid looks too prominent because the peri-orbital fat seems to be more prominent?  What can be done when the nasolabial fold appears to be too accentuated or deep?  The obvious answer to a non-discerning person or doctor is to inject a filler to the tear trough and nasolabial fold.  Unfortunately, injection of a hyaluronic acid to these areas does not solve the problem most of the time.  In fact, it can make someone look a little swollen and strange.  For some people, filling in the cheeks with Sculptra (which is very different than hyaluronic acid like Juvederm) can make the difference by rebalancing these areas.  For some, removal of the lower eyelid fat from an operation called blepharoplasty could do the trick.  Or a combination of both.  I follow an algorithm that is designed to avoid the strange swollen look.  My advice to you is to see a plastic surgeon board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, who will have your best interest in mind and can offer you both non-invasive and surgical solutions.  Good luck!

Cant you just liposuction the fat creating the tear trough and nasolabial fold? (Photo)

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Cant you just liposuction the fat creating the tear trough and nasolabial fold? (Photo)

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Everything you need to know about Cheek Augmentation

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