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POSTED UNDER Genioplasty Reviews

Genioplasty Regret / Trying to Get a Revision

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Genioplasty Regret / Trying to Get a Revision

PaulaJA94

I had a genioplasty of 7mm advancement a month ago and its been by far the biggest mistake of my life. Let me start by saying that the Doctor didn’t do a bad job, actually it looks “aesthetically right” so why do I hate it? I loved the way my face looked from a front view and actually I loved my face BUT I saw a couple of pics from a side view and I didn’t like how my profile looked. I found a great plastic/maxillofacial surgeon in Colombia and I decided to get a chin augmentation. I told about 10 people about what I wanted to do and 10 people told me not to do it but of course I was stubborn and I thought I could prove them wrong and I could show them that my face was going to look better.

I’m going to skip the part of talking to the surgeon and the images he photoshopped of my profile, etc. If you want to know about this let me know. When I woke up from the surgery it was basically painless except for having a sore throat and it was almost 100% painless to this day. But then I saw my face and thought WTF have I done? I immediately started crying. What they DONT tell you:

1. Your lower lip will look smaller not only because of the swelling but because the incision is inside your mouth on your lower lip and also because your skin is stretched.

2. Even if they don’t move your bone vertically the fact that they move your bone forward will make your face look longer (something I didn’t know).

Now… as I said before I loved my face and my smile before, I didn’t want to change how it looked from the front view but I didn’t know it was going to change soooo drastically. Now my face looks long and masculine and I look like a witch specially when I smile. I’ve cried almost every day since I saw my face. Almost all of the swelling is gone now and I can’t stand to look at myself in the mirror anymore. I look at my old pics, my old face and i feel terrible because i did this to myself. I’ve been trying to find information on how to reverse it but every surgeon has a different opinion. My surgeon said it’s possible to reverse it but I should wait at least 5-6 months because we need to let the mentalis muscle and the scar inside my mouth heal properly. Other surgeons say it’s better to reverse it between 6weeks and 3 months since the bone is not fully healed yet. Some say it’s a very hard procedure to do (reversing it because of chin pad or soft tissue sagging) so I don’t know what to do. I’m completely destroyed, I try not to think about it but it’s hard because just the fact of speaking reminds me of what I did since I can’t speak like before since my mouth feels so tight

Replies (5)

August 7, 2022
I have seen positive results with reversals. I’m not sure the time duration between but maybe 2-3mm back can can look more of what you would like.
August 9, 2022
I'm living EXACTLY the same! Actually, my chin before and after look exactly like yours. I did my genioplasty 3.5 weeks ago. I also liked the front view of my face, just wanted to correct the profile view. I specifically told the maxillofacial surgeon that I wanted to advance the chin but didn't want to have a longer chin from a front view. She told me that she'd only advance the chin, not make it longer. But she never explained or discussed that by advancing, it'd look longer regardless. I am so disappointed.
Also, I think I had too much advancement - 8mm. From my research after the procedure, I didn't find anyone who advanced more than 6mm. A surgeon even mentioned that he doesn't advance more than 6mm because it looks artificial and fake.
My chin is now long and too squarish, which makes my face to look too long. When I smile, the chin projects even more and I look like a witch. Also, my smile is tight and weird. NO ONE made any compliment or told me that I look any better. My friends just nod when I complain and make no comments. My husband couldn't look at me for a whole week. I look like Mr. Incredible, the carton character. It's dreadful.
In two days I need to go to back work and I don't know how to face people.
She told me it'd be a subtle change and people would just think I look better but wouldn't be able to identify why. Guess what? I do not look better and people are all asking what I did on my chin.
I'd like to reverse it 2-3 mm. I wonder if chin should also be cut shorter. But I fear having sagged skin. I so much regret doing it. I think if I had advanced it less, I wouldn't be so unhappy.
August 10, 2022
I’ve been in your shoes since the day I saw my face. My doctor didn’t explain anything about the frontal change your face goes through even when I told him that I didn’t want my face to look long. This is definitely one of those surgeries that are not for everybody unless you have a very recessed chin, which I didn’t have. I can’t look at myself in the mirror, I don’t want my husband to look at my face, I can’t even have s*x with him because I feel so ugly. I told my doctor that I didn’t like it and that I wanted to reverse it and he said I should wait at least 5-6 months. Some doctors online say it’s better to do it before 3 months since the bone is not fully healed yet so I don’t know what to do at this point. I’ve been crying nearly every day and it’s hard to do every day tasks and things feeling this way.
Your smile feels tight because of the advancement they made, it will start to loosen up. My swelling is almost 0 since I’m on week 6 and I still hate the way I look. I’m right now in Colombia, where I had the surgery, but i have an appointment with a maxillofacial in the US when I arrive. I will keep you posted on how things workout for me since I definitely want to reverse it but I’m also afraid of skin sagging.
October 6, 2022
Hi! I'm sorry you are going through this. I'm not an expert but I have read online that genioplasty can be done in all directions. You can both advance and shorten the chin from a front view or advance and lengthen it from a front view. So then it should be possible to only advance the chin and not change the front view/the length of the chin from the front view, shouldn't it? I'm considering this surgery since my chin is quite recessed but I don't want any change to the front view. I wonder if your surgeon might have made some sort of mistake by lengthening your chin from the front view? Maybe this lengthening is impacted by the surgeon's skills? I did read some reviews of people who were dissatisfied because the chin got lengthened like yours. It might also be that the surgeon's didn't understand exactly the patients wishes?
March 30, 2023
Hi, how’s your progress in this? I’m going through the same :(
And feel like it’s not easy to find people who get it.
April 5, 2023
I am going through a revision in August'23, which will be 1 year after the first genioplasty.
The plan is not to break the bone again but rather trim the excess. I'm hoping for at least a 2-3mm reduction in both frontal projection and in vertical length. I'm doing it with a plastic surgeon this time.
I'm less sensitive the whole thing now but I still think that it didn't deliver what I was looking for.
Also, I still have paresthesia on the left side of my chin and lower lips, although milder.
August 9, 2022
Also, I have paresthesia on my the left side of my chin and lower lips. I'm already spending a lot of money with physiotherapy to revert it on top of being a really weird and unpleasant sensation.
August 9, 2022
I am 8 years post op from a 10 mm advancement. I look exactly like you. To this day, I can’t stand to look at myself. I talked to the doctor about reversal. At first he was willing, but when I started asking questions about sagging and looks skin, he said we shouldn’t touch anything. I had a fantastic smile, and I had no idea that would change. One side of my lower lip doesn’t pull when I talk or smile anymore. It has gotten less severe over time, but it’s still obvious. I’ve stayed like this for fear of making it worse. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t regret it. I look like Jay Leno. Anyone who sees this, please reach out with any advice or experience you might have. I can’t stay like this, but I’m not sure the original surgeon is who I should go to. I think I need someone experienced in correcting these complications.
August 10, 2022
I’m sorry you’re going through this as well
August 10, 2022
Thank you. The worst part is that I chose to do this. I actually went in for a lower face lift to tighten my jawline. The doctor convinced me that wasn’t what I needed. He said a sliding genio would make my jawline sharp and more defined. He also said I would age better. None of that has been true. I’ve finally decided to have it reversed regardless of the dangers, and if I have to have a lower face lift later to fix 10 mm of stretched out skin and jawline, so be it. Now the challenge is finding the BEST expert in reversing these things. I have yet to figure out who that is. Stay in touch and let me know if you find someone for a reversal. I can send you you photos if you’d like to see
August 10, 2022
Hi, do you have any before and after photos? It’s true it might be risky to go through a surgery to reverse it because there might me sagging tissue but I’ve read that with a submental tuck doctors can get rid of that. I have an appointment on August 22 with a doctor from Houston to find out if he can reverse it and if he has experience doing so, of course. I’ll keep you posted. You can send me a message if you would like to stay in touch because only we know what we’re going through. My family and husband have been supportive but they think I’m thinking too much about it and I get it, they don’t know how I’m feeling.
August 10, 2022
I read about a doctor in Dallas called Craig Hobar that did reversals for patients that didn’t like the result and apparently they were great. The problem is that he retired and another doctor has taken his patients
August 29, 2022
I'm - respectfully - giggling at your Jay Leno reference. I look like Mr. Incredible. hahaha.
August 18, 2022
Let's keep in touch to share information, please. I'm visiting a maxillofacial tomorrow for an evaluation. I'm 33 days post-surgery and also wonder the risks of reversal. I keep you posted.
August 18, 2022
That would be great. I’ll send you a message through real self that way we can keep in touch. Let me know what the Dr says. Ask him about mentalis muscle resuspension, skin sagging, chin ptosis, nerve damage and every side effect possible! It’s so hard to deal with the fact that we didn’t know this before the surgery. Had I known this I would have never EVER gone through this surgery. I hope everything goes great with the Dr and I hope he can give you a solution. Either way don’t go with the first surgeon that tells you he’s willing to do it and your surgery was wrong, etc… I’ll talk to my therapist after my appointment on August 22 to make a decision not based only on what I hear from the Doctor but she’s going to help me think about a decision. I have another appointment with another surgeon on October. I’ll keep you posted
March 30, 2023
Hi guys. I’m just finding this thread. I don’t have a ton of experience in real self but I’m going through the same situation and I’d love to hear from other people. I’ve been living in a limbo or trying to accept this but ultimately realizing that a sliding genio was a mistake. This all resonates: a lot of us didn’t know that vertical length came with it or that it made a chin square. I miss my old face and would like to get it reversed. Do you know of anyone who’s had a 5mm advancement and been able to reverse it?
UPDATED FROM PaulaJA94
2 months post

It’s been almost 3 months since my genioplasty

PaulaJA94
It’s been almost 3 months since my genioplasty and although it has improved and it doesn’t look so big anymore, I still don’t like the way my chin looks. I talked to my original surgeon who suggested we should wait 5-6 months to do a revision. I have seen two other surgeons who also suggested to wait 6 months for the tissues to heal completely, etc. I still regret getting this surgery since now I think it was completely unnecessary. I thought I was going to look “prettier” but it did totally the opposite in my head. I’ve never felt this way before, I miss the way my face used to look and now I don’t think my face will look like before again but having this procedure reversed will probably give me some of my old looks back and I think I will be happy or at least happier with that.

Replies (5)

September 29, 2022
Same here. I'll be 6 months on January, 15th 2023. I cannot decide if doing the revision with my original surgeon or search for a new one.
I did my surgery with a maxillo surgeon. I don't know if I should consider a facial plastic surgeon for the revision. Do you have any thoughts about the pros and cons of a maxillo vs. a face plastic surgeon for this surgery?
September 29, 2022
I'm on the same boat since my original surgeon has not done revisions before. He did a good job with my surgery (except for the fact that I didn't like the outcome) but now I'm not sure about where to go. I live in the US and my surgeon is in Colombia so I would have to travel abroad, also his assistant has been 0 helpful and that makes me feel uncomfortable. I had an appointment online last night with him to discuss the revision and nobody showed up and they didn't tell me anything. My surgeon is maxillo and plastic surgeon and since he did an overall good job in the first surgery i think he's skilled, but again... he has never done a revision to reverse the movement before. I'm going to go through with a consultation with a craniofacial surgeon in Houston (where I live) to find out what he thinks about everything. I've had two consultations with other two maxillofacial surgeons and one of them was kind of cruel and didn't even listened to me and the other one just told me I should wait.
September 30, 2022
I chose a maxillo surgeon in the first place because I thought she'd be more skilled with this type of surgery, but I ended up not liking the aesthetic result. So now, I'm considering a plastic surgeon.
I'm not looking to fully reverse it but to make it shorter on the front view - like it was before - but without losing totally the projection - maybe only by 2-3mm.
I will wait to be at least 4 months before doing more revision consultations. I think I will consult 2 maxillo surgeons and 2 facial plastic surgeons.
The one I'm feeling the strongest is one who also performs facial feminization surgery. I hope he'll have an eye to understand how this long chin created an unbalance to my face and made it too long and a bit masculine.
September 30, 2022
I went to a maxillofacial who specializes in feminization surgery (he was the first surgeon I talked to after my surgery, other than my surgeon) but unfortunately it was still too soon after my surgery (3 weeks after my surgery) so he told me I looked "aesthetically good" and that I was still swollen (I was) and that it was too risky to intervene so soon. Of course I didn't like the "aesthetically good" part since I already know that. What I was trying to explain to him was that it was too much of a change from my point of view and it was more than what I was looking for since I loved my front view and my surgeon told me that was not going to change that much but for me it was too much. They three surgeons (including my surgeon) i have talked to say that my results are "aesthetically good and balanced" (according to the standards of beauty). I didn't look like those standards of beauty and I thought my face was so pretty but i wanted to "improve" my profile... BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE!!! I miss my old face everyday and I'm trying to reverse the full 7mm (although I know it will probably cause some skin sagging).

I've tried to explain this to my family like this: Imagine you go to a surgeon to get bigger breasts. You want them to be a slight big, not so much that is very noticeable. The surgeon tells you, ok, we'll use X breast size that will do what you want. (You don't know much about breast sizes so you say yes because you think it will be what you wanted). Then you wake up to a size way bigger than what you wanted and with time, even after the swelling has subsided, your breasts are still way larger than what you wanted and you don't feel comfortable AT ALL with that size even when EVERYBODY tells you it doesn't look bad. Well... that's how I feel but with my face
January 30, 2023
I disagree with the surgeons who told you it looked "aesthetically good" according to whatever standards of beauty they adhere to. It is objectively too long, large and has changed your frontal view radically, which is clearly something you did not want. I am sure you wanted a horizontal advancement that did not elongate your face (this positive effect is often seen after chin implant placement, which often do a great job of producing these desired changes for patients).
It takes a highly skilled surgeon to pull off a successful sliding genioplasty. Be careful about going with recommendations to shorten the chin as opposed to doing a setback, however. Many surgeons do not acknowledge that the angle of the bone cut is what causes this type of elongation, causing the advancement to go forward and down diagonally as opposed to forward on a horizontal plane.
October 1, 2022
EXACTLY!