Thank you for your question.
You submitted your question without a photo but you’re basically asking can asymmetry
of the cheeks be corrected.
And you describe that your left cheek doesn’t have much contour and it’s flat all the
way down to your jaw.
And on the right side, there is some bit of a lift and you’re just asking about surgical
versus non-surgical options.
Well, I can certainly help you understand how I approach the desire for cheek volume
enhancement as well as the issue about asymmetry without the benefit of your specific photos.
But certainly, this is something we talk a lot about in our practice.
A little bit of background, I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial
plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
I have been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years.
And helping people with volume deficit has actually been a significant rise in our practice
thanks to the newer soft tissue fillers and newer and techniques that are now available.
So to help you understand first what is the basic cause of the asymmetry, well, the human
face is naturally asymmetric and it’s natural asymmetric because of the foundation of the
face.
The foundation is the bone structure.
And it is not unusual for one side of the face to be a little flatter than the other.
So sometimes, it’s referred to hemifacial microsomia but really, everyone has some degree.
And so when we treat asymmetry, we’re not fixing it.
We’re improving it.
And how do we improve it?
Well, this is what I was referring to earlier.
The evolution of solutions has been significant since the days of my residency and Fellowship
training over 20 years ago to where we are today.
Back then, we would basically start to figure out what’s the best type of cheek implant
to place and how to modify those cheek implants during surgery.
Well, in the past few years, we actually have newer fillers that can actually last very
long and allow for that benefit of longevity to avoid multiple frequently office visits
as well as what’s even more important is the ability to control and to customize.
Now that being said, we use a technique called Structural Volumizing which is very different
from what is traditionally done with soft tissue fillers.
Soft tissue fillers by definition are placed in the soft tissue.
This means putting volume under the skin and trying to restore some shape.
Well very often, up to a point, it can have value but beyond a certain point, the face
can look doughy and it can look a little bit pillowy.
When we do Structural Volumizing, we’re actually placing the filler at the level of
the bone through a special technique and a method so that there’s minimal bruising
if ever.
And the material being placed at that level actually provides better structure.
It creates this nice, natural appearance as if you have more well-defined cheekbones.
And this is something that has worked out very well.
We use it for cheekbone enhancement.
We use it for chin enhancement.
We use for jawline as well as jaw angle enhancement.
And the change can be quite transformative but at the same time, it’s very natural.
So certainly, I think this is the way that I would recommend typically to my patients
when we have our initial consultation.
I’m a cosmetic surgeon.
There really is no limit in what I can do, everything from almost completely non-invasive
such as the creams and products that we have for topicals to more advanced cosmetic surgery.
And so, what I find is having the knowledge of surgery and placement of facial implants
and other bone type of procedures whether it’s fracture repair, reconstruction, etc.
has been a huge benefit for my application of structural volumizing.
So when I place these fillers, I find that our patients are extremely pleased with the
outcomes.
So whether it’s an asymmetry, I can actually add more to one side compared to the other.
Whether it’s better definition, it’s remarkable how effective this can be.
And with these long lasting fillers, we’re looking up to two years of correction.
So I think meet with qualified, experienced cosmetic surgeons who do a lot of injectables.
A lot of times, surgeons become so busy doing what they do that they don’t do injectables.
Since in my practice, we offer full service for everything from medispa treatment such
as lasers and minimally invasive procedures to surgery and I’ve always kept an open
mind about not just doing a surgical solution for everything but rather the most optimal
solution.
And a lot of times, we’re doing a combination.
Sometimes, we’ll do eyelid surgery and combine it with injectable fillers for the cheeks.
You know, there’s a lot of flexibility.
And this is a very fortunate time to be in this field because we have all these many
options and different techniques to help our patients look better and have minimal downtime
which is truly the goal.
You know, in the modern world, no one has time.
And so the less down time, the better.
And of course, you want to have really good natural predictable outcomes.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question.