Chin lipo and buccal fat removal or just lipo? (Photo)

Question

My wedding is coming up (and I’m increasingly unhappy with the appearance of my face. In all my photos I look podgy and chip munk face with basically no jaw line unless I pose closely at an angle. I would like chin lipo but am wondering if this will give the desired effect of a thinner face and defined jaw or if I need buccal fat removal too. 36 year old female. I also feel my face looks uneven. Fatter on the right which makes my face look lopsided.

Matthew Tamplen, MD · Answer

Hi,Thank you for the question. I have reviewed your photos and I think you would be a great candidate for buccal fat removal and chin liposuction. Lack of chin definition sometimes called a "double chin" is caused from what we call an obtuse cervical mental angle. This can be from several factors; excess adipose tissue in the neck, lack of chin projection or short setback chin, and or loss of skin elasticity or too much skin on the bottom of the neck. Based on your photos it looks like your chin has nice projection and your skin maintains good tone and the appropriate tension to retract once we remove the fat underneath the neck. I think you would be a great candidate for chin liposuction to help improve your chin definition. 
Buccal fat is a great operation in the right patient who is bothered by a round face especially on the front view. I can see the round profile in your photos and I think buccal fat removal can really help narrow and define the lower part of your face. The incisions are all done inside the mouth and both of these operations require little downtime and no general anesthesia. I frequently preform them together and believe you would be a great candidate for them both. 
I hope that helps. Congratulations on the upcoming wedding!
Matthew Tamplen, MDTamplen Plastic Surgery

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear kiwi85,
it is hard to tell for sure without an examination. Based on your photos, it looks like you would benefit from chin liposuction. If you are considering surgery, I would suggest you consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. Only after a thorough examination, you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Now it’s probably not the right time to be having facial cosmetic surgery.

Your face looks normal and appropriate for a 36 year old woman.

There’s nothing wrong with you and you don’t need surgery.

The procedures you describe a permanent and irreversible.

Making decisions for these type of changes when you have an upcoming wedding it’s probably adding unneeded stress and not putting you in the best frame of mind for how to approach having these procedures.

I generally steer people away from buccal fat removal because with time too many patients regret having had the procedure and reversing the procedure is extremely difficult or not possible.

Chin and neck liposuction it’s pretty straightforward but results vary quite a bit depending on who does the procedure.

Is this really the time in your life for you to go through the process of finding the right plastic surgeon and still have time to recover for your wedding?

Finding the most talented and experienced provider is much more difficult than people think.

Chin and neck liposuction is fairly straightforward but delivering consistent quality results is more difficult than most people believe.

Defined the best provider encourage patients to have lots of in person consultations.  Doing so takes a significant amount of time and shouldn’t be rushed.

During in person consultations ask each provider to show their entire collection of before and after pictures. This is important to get a sense of how many of these procedures the surgeon has done and to get a sense of what average results look like in their hands.  ask specifically for them to show you excellent results, average results and less than results.

A highly experienced surgeon should have no difficulty showing you 50 or more sets of before and after pictures.

See a handful of selected pictures which in reality are probably the best results of that providers career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like.

Without having a clear idea of what average results look like you are guessing with your facial aesthetics in regards to the outcome.

The great majority of people don’t get the best result of a provider‘s career.

I suggest you slow down the train and when the time is right with your spouse being in full support schedule a few consultations and then a few more.

Take your time in the decision process because by far the most important decision is finding the right provider.

To do that takes time.

You can’t do it by spending a few hours clicking on your computer.

Focus on what’s important and at this time I would think that would be your future spouse your family and friends and your upcoming wedding.

Let the make up artist, hair designer and photographer make sure that you look spectacular.

There’s nothing wrong with considering facial cosmetic surgery but I do recommend not doing it under duress.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD

Chin lipo and buccal fat removal or just lipo? (Photo)

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Chin lipo and buccal fat removal or just lipo? (Photo)

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