POSTED UNDER Buccal Fat Removal REVIEWS
28 Y.o. with Buccal Fat Excision and Pre-Jowl/Neck Contouring - Newport Beach, CA
ORIGINAL POST
Procedures: Minor Buccal Fat Excision, Pre-Jowl,...
GreenHeronSeptember 16, 2015
WORTH IT$8,600
Procedures: Minor Buccal Fat Excision, Pre-Jowl, and Neck Contouring
Cost: $8,600 (all fees included)
Location: Newport Beach, CA
Doctor: Dr. Sajjadian
Background: I am a 28 y.o. female who has been struggling with chipmunk cheeks for as long as I could remember. I've never been incredibly overweight but because of the power of genetics my chubby cheeks always made me appear at least 30 lbs more than I actually am. I recently found out about Buccal Fat Excision as it is a fairly new procedure but it seemed like an answer to my issues.
Research: I found a lot of 'Buccal Fat Excision' gone wrong stories online. There are a bunch of price options depending on where you want to have the procedure done. The best place I found were in the Los Angeles area. I called a few different offices and one even drew a blank on what BFE was. I ended up picking Dr. Sajjadian since I called and spoke to Liz. Not only was she knowledgeable, she also provided a lot of direction on where I can find more information on the procedure. We made an appointment for a consultation the following week.
Consultation: I showed up an hour early and had no wait time. I had my consultation with Marisela who had a great personality and very patient. Not to long after, Dr. Sajjadian came in the room. He has a very calm personality. I told him about the procedure I wanted done and asked him for suggestions. He started by saying that he thought my face was perfect the way it was and proceeded to give me his expert opinion.
What I always dreamed of was having less chubby cheeks and being able to see my jawline. No matter how skinny anyone is in my family, you can never see our jawline. I'm not exactly kate moss but someone with my body composition should have a visible jawline. Dr. Sajjadian suggested that we do minor buccal fat removal and round it off with neck and jowl contouring to get the image I visualized.
Marisela came back after my consultation to work out the details. I was quoted $8,600 for all the procedures. I was a little bit taken back since it was over the budget I planned for the procedure. From my online research I was prepared to pay around 5-7k. I went home and did a little more research on the additional procedures and felt more comfortable with the cost. There really isn't much on the internet about pre-jowl contouring. Long story short, it basically defines your neck so that instead of a direct angle from your neck to your chin, it creates a 45 degree angle so people can see you have a neck and jaw.
The Procedure: I opted with local anesthesia. The procedure was estimated to be approximately under 2 hours and I felt more comfortable being lucid. If you had to choose I would definitely recommend local. A visit to the dentist is more painful than this procedure. Dr. Sajjadian is an attentive doctor. He's always checking on your pain level and is quick but precise. We started with the neck and jowl contouring. Left, Right, then chin. This procedure took the longest since he had to make sure that both sides were symmetrical.
The Buccal Fat Excision took probably 15 minutes total. 3 minutes on the left side, and 12+/- minutes. You feel a slight tugging when the fat is being taken out but there is no pain. The stitching is done in record time. I got to see the results before the nurses applied the bandage and I almost started crying. You can see the results right away. My cheeks were starting to swell but I can already see a huge difference. The jowls that have been bothering me for years were gone. They told me it'll look better once the swelling goes down so I can't wait to see.
Post-Op - Since I was under local, I remained lucid the whole time. I felt perfectly find on the ride home even though my face was pretty swollen. They gave me a couple ice packs so those helped. I felt no pain that day so I almost didn't remember to take the pain pills. I took the antibiotics and went to sleep.
Day 1 - My face is still swollen so I'm on a liquid diet. No adverse reactions so far. I don't have any nerve damage or any of the adverse side effects I read about from other people having a similar procedure. I'm still crossing my fingers since I'm still about 3 days away from my Post-op checkup. At the moment I'm just taking the antibiotics and resting as instructed. I wear the compression garment all the time. The office recommended that I keep it on 24/7 so that's what I'm doing. The hardest part is washing your hair without getting the tapes wet. Wait for at least 3 days after the procedure to attempt to wash.
I didn't take any before photos but I'll post the after photos on here once I'm 1, 2, and 4 weeks out.
Cost: $8,600 (all fees included)
Location: Newport Beach, CA
Doctor: Dr. Sajjadian
Background: I am a 28 y.o. female who has been struggling with chipmunk cheeks for as long as I could remember. I've never been incredibly overweight but because of the power of genetics my chubby cheeks always made me appear at least 30 lbs more than I actually am. I recently found out about Buccal Fat Excision as it is a fairly new procedure but it seemed like an answer to my issues.
Research: I found a lot of 'Buccal Fat Excision' gone wrong stories online. There are a bunch of price options depending on where you want to have the procedure done. The best place I found were in the Los Angeles area. I called a few different offices and one even drew a blank on what BFE was. I ended up picking Dr. Sajjadian since I called and spoke to Liz. Not only was she knowledgeable, she also provided a lot of direction on where I can find more information on the procedure. We made an appointment for a consultation the following week.
Consultation: I showed up an hour early and had no wait time. I had my consultation with Marisela who had a great personality and very patient. Not to long after, Dr. Sajjadian came in the room. He has a very calm personality. I told him about the procedure I wanted done and asked him for suggestions. He started by saying that he thought my face was perfect the way it was and proceeded to give me his expert opinion.
What I always dreamed of was having less chubby cheeks and being able to see my jawline. No matter how skinny anyone is in my family, you can never see our jawline. I'm not exactly kate moss but someone with my body composition should have a visible jawline. Dr. Sajjadian suggested that we do minor buccal fat removal and round it off with neck and jowl contouring to get the image I visualized.
Marisela came back after my consultation to work out the details. I was quoted $8,600 for all the procedures. I was a little bit taken back since it was over the budget I planned for the procedure. From my online research I was prepared to pay around 5-7k. I went home and did a little more research on the additional procedures and felt more comfortable with the cost. There really isn't much on the internet about pre-jowl contouring. Long story short, it basically defines your neck so that instead of a direct angle from your neck to your chin, it creates a 45 degree angle so people can see you have a neck and jaw.
The Procedure: I opted with local anesthesia. The procedure was estimated to be approximately under 2 hours and I felt more comfortable being lucid. If you had to choose I would definitely recommend local. A visit to the dentist is more painful than this procedure. Dr. Sajjadian is an attentive doctor. He's always checking on your pain level and is quick but precise. We started with the neck and jowl contouring. Left, Right, then chin. This procedure took the longest since he had to make sure that both sides were symmetrical.
The Buccal Fat Excision took probably 15 minutes total. 3 minutes on the left side, and 12+/- minutes. You feel a slight tugging when the fat is being taken out but there is no pain. The stitching is done in record time. I got to see the results before the nurses applied the bandage and I almost started crying. You can see the results right away. My cheeks were starting to swell but I can already see a huge difference. The jowls that have been bothering me for years were gone. They told me it'll look better once the swelling goes down so I can't wait to see.
Post-Op - Since I was under local, I remained lucid the whole time. I felt perfectly find on the ride home even though my face was pretty swollen. They gave me a couple ice packs so those helped. I felt no pain that day so I almost didn't remember to take the pain pills. I took the antibiotics and went to sleep.
Day 1 - My face is still swollen so I'm on a liquid diet. No adverse reactions so far. I don't have any nerve damage or any of the adverse side effects I read about from other people having a similar procedure. I'm still crossing my fingers since I'm still about 3 days away from my Post-op checkup. At the moment I'm just taking the antibiotics and resting as instructed. I wear the compression garment all the time. The office recommended that I keep it on 24/7 so that's what I'm doing. The hardest part is washing your hair without getting the tapes wet. Wait for at least 3 days after the procedure to attempt to wash.
I didn't take any before photos but I'll post the after photos on here once I'm 1, 2, and 4 weeks out.
GreenHeron's provider
Replies (4)
September 24, 2015
I'm happy for you. Just curious do you know how much buccal fat Dr Sajjadian took out (whether in total or from each cheek)? Thank you.
October 3, 2015
No offense but reviews without pictures are almost pointless. What is there to see and compare ?
UPDATED FROM GreenHeron
4 days post
Day 4 Post Op
GreenHeronSeptember 18, 2015
It's been 4 days since my surgery. I got my tapes removed today and while my face is still swollen there is very minimal bruising. Dr. Sajjadian informed me that my face is still very swollen and that I'll see more of a difference over the next couple of weeks. Regardless of the swelling, my cheeks are noticeably smaller than before I got the surgery. It's insane how a little extra face fat can make you look 30lbs heavier than you actually are.
I wasn't worried about how much smaller my face would get over the next few days because I saw all the fat that was removed the day of the surgery - another reason why I endorse local anesthesia. Even if it grosses you out, you should LOOK at what they took out. It really helps to remember it later when you look/feel like big hero 6 day 1 post-op. In my case, I knew that regardless of the swelling, there WILL be a noticeable difference once all the puffiness is gone.
A few days post-op it is normal for you to feel numbness along the site of the procedure. The incision from the BFE are inside the mouth and I don't notice it at all. There is slight numbness from the swelling of my cheeks but I can still feel pressure from my fingers so no nerve damage. The neck and jowl were more numb but that is normal for the procedure that was done.
During the whole time I slept elevated and regulated icing my cheeks 20 minutes per side. I also drank A LOT of pineapple juice. This really helped in minimizing my swelling and bruising. After we took the tapes off, Dr. Sajjadian instructed that I switch from cold to warm compresses and continue sleeping elevated for another week. He also suggested that I stop by the Vitamin Store for some Bromelain (enzyme from pineapples) and Arnica Gel and tablets.
The Bromelain is a large pill but easily broken up. I got the Arniflora brand of the Arnica Gel. It's a topical gel that dries quickly. For the pills, I just got a 3 pack of Arnica montana which dissolves under your tongue and tastes like mint.
Other things I've done to minimize swelling has been to stay away from foods with high sodium content, preservatives, and casein.
I wasn't worried about how much smaller my face would get over the next few days because I saw all the fat that was removed the day of the surgery - another reason why I endorse local anesthesia. Even if it grosses you out, you should LOOK at what they took out. It really helps to remember it later when you look/feel like big hero 6 day 1 post-op. In my case, I knew that regardless of the swelling, there WILL be a noticeable difference once all the puffiness is gone.
A few days post-op it is normal for you to feel numbness along the site of the procedure. The incision from the BFE are inside the mouth and I don't notice it at all. There is slight numbness from the swelling of my cheeks but I can still feel pressure from my fingers so no nerve damage. The neck and jowl were more numb but that is normal for the procedure that was done.
During the whole time I slept elevated and regulated icing my cheeks 20 minutes per side. I also drank A LOT of pineapple juice. This really helped in minimizing my swelling and bruising. After we took the tapes off, Dr. Sajjadian instructed that I switch from cold to warm compresses and continue sleeping elevated for another week. He also suggested that I stop by the Vitamin Store for some Bromelain (enzyme from pineapples) and Arnica Gel and tablets.
The Bromelain is a large pill but easily broken up. I got the Arniflora brand of the Arnica Gel. It's a topical gel that dries quickly. For the pills, I just got a 3 pack of Arnica montana which dissolves under your tongue and tastes like mint.
Other things I've done to minimize swelling has been to stay away from foods with high sodium content, preservatives, and casein.
Replies (3)
October 3, 2015
Please post before and after pictures :) I'm really looking into doing this procedure
October 12, 2015
Sorry guys, I forgot my password for a while and finally got around to resetting. I posted the before and after photos below.
October 7, 2015
While many of us appreciate your description of both the procedure and postoperative recovery, pictures are all telling. As others have already requested, I too request thst you please post pictures.
UPDATED FROM GreenHeron
27 days post
2 weeks post-op
GreenHeronOctober 12, 2015
The swelling has gone down substantially. I still wear the chin strap every night. The numbness is almost completely gone. I can't believe I have a jawline!!!
Great, thank you for sharing your experience! Yes, please post photos when you are ready - love to see those results!
What happens during contouring? Is fat removed?