How Risky is Jowl Liposuction?

  It is very rare to get nerve loss  from liposuction of the jowls, since the nerve is deep to the muscle and there is no fat in that area. The best treatment for jowls is not  liposuction, it is re-suspending the jowls back up into the buccal space where they descended down from with either a mini lift or a face lift. Liposuction of the jowls can leave irregularities and undulations in that area, so we  do not perform that procedure

I love this question because I think the risks of this procedure can be a little understated at times.

Essentially what you're surgeons have told your true. There is risk of nerve damage though it is slight. However, most providers now will use some laser assisted technology such as SLimLipo or Smartlipo. What is that mean? It means that the nerves and muscles of the jowl and corner of mouth are it slightly increased risk. So can you have some with weakness or nerve damage that could last weeks to months after this procedure? You absolutely can. I've seen it another patient's father offices and I've seen it in my own patients. I Mark the patient's anatomy and jowl preoperatively and deliberate effort to avoid those specific spots where nerves are crossing but also treat the jowl and other problem areas as effectively as I can. What I explained to the patient's is is that we can be more aggressive and treat more the face but with increased risk to a temporary impairment or damage to some of the nerves providing muscular movement of the mouth and lips. This usually is pretty slight and other people do not notice it but use the patient certainly do. If you're willing to take that risk and deal with a week corner of the mouth or lower lip for a number of weeks and possibly months they need generally can get a better improvement. It's always a trade-off. That being said I still treat patients with this technology as aggressively as I can within the boundaries of safety but if the patient and I have have that conversation about the risks and they want as much as they can without actually having a facelift then I would say 10% of the time patients have some temporary weakness of at least one side of the lower lip. I've never had any permanent issues but I like it that you've asked this question because again I feel like chin and jaw life of section is described as a procedure that is without risk and that is not true.

 

I hope that is helpful