Male Model Cheek Implants

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am looking to receive male model cheek implants. The type of cheeks that I would like to achieve are the high cheekbones that are visible on male models. Now my issue is this: my zygoma is set too low on the face. I believe that this is a particular growth pattern because the same is true about my infraorbital margin. When I trace the infraorbital margin with my hand, it feels too low relative to the position of the centre of my eye. 

So my issue is that my zygoma is too low, which has two salient aesthetic consequences: 1) that the malar prominence is too low relative to the rest of the midface, and 2) the lower border of the zygoma is situated too low. My question to you is whether we can manage this issue and replicate a higher zygomatic bone with implants. My thoughts here are that we would: a) reconstitute the malar prominence with the shape of the custom implant, placing it higher on the face. And b) bone reduction/burring of the lower part of the zygoma, thus raising the lower border of the zygoma. 

The reason why I believe that this particular part is important is because faces with high set zygomas tend to have a ‘hollowed out’ area that starts where the zygoma stops. Unfortunately the lower part of my zygoma sits too low, meaning that this area is ‘filled out’ in a feminine way rather than the masculine ‘hollowed out’ appearance. 

c) My only other question is whether the actual infraorbital margin can be raised as part of an infraorbital extension to the same implant? My thoughts here are that we would both raise and bring the infraorbital margin forward, causing the ‘mew’ margin to sit both higher and more forward relative to the iris.

Thank you for your time, Dr. Eppley

A: I can’t ever say that I have seen anyone whose zygomatic body sits too low with the exception of certain congenital craniofacial deformities. (e.g., Treacher Collins Syndrome) But that comment aside, with custom implant designing you can make infraorbital-malar implants anyway you want. How to achieve the desired external cheek appearance (so called male model cheek implants through such designing, however, remains an art form and not an exact science. Also, It is not rare that such custom infraorbital-malar implants raise the level of the inferior orbital rim.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana