After Jaw Angle Reduction Submental Tissue Fullness

Q: Dr. Eppley, I’m 26 years old and of Asian descent. I recently flew back to my home country of Korea two months ago to get jaw angle reduction surgery for cosmetic purposes. I unfortunately didn’t communicate to the surgeon well enough (as I had thought) that I didn’t want my jaw angles amputated up to the ear, but that’s what happened and it’s something that doesn’t cause me a lot of distress and I can just deal with it. 

What does cause me distress is the newly founded pudginess or fullness of my submental area. It may or may not be residual swelling as I am only 2/3 into the minimum “full recovery” of three months, but I would like some insight if you will.

I did read a past response on courses of action, in the case the pudginess or double chin effect remains after recovery. From memory it was a soft tissue tuck from under the chin or chin liposuction. I am open to both these ideas to get rid of the double chin if it does not retract. But I do have some questions which I hope you will answer.

(1) How would liposuction help if the double chin is caused by excess soft tissue sag and skin? I do not think I had a lot of fat underneath the chin area prior to the surgery and a double chin only appeared when I smiled. Do you think that something like CoolMini fat freezing would still be beneficial in my case?

(2) If liposuction of the chin area is not the solution in my case, I would be interested in a soft-tissue tuck instead. What happens with a soft tissue tuck? Is excess skin and tissue excised from beneath the chin area? How long is the scar?

(3) As I am Asian and I personally tend to scar quite badly, I am worried that if I were to proceed with a soft tissue tuck, it may leave a nasty scar from underneath the chin. Are there any other potential methods to reduce submental fullness from jaw angle amputation or reduce the scarring from underneath?

A: in answer to your after jaw angle reduction submental tissue sag/fullness questions:

1) Whether submental liposuction would of benefit for your double chin I can not say as the would depend on the thickness of your subcutaneous tissues. At the last it would be a lot more effective than any non-surgical fat reduction therapy.

2) While a submental tuck would undoubtably be the most effective procedure, I would he very hesitant to do so in an Asian patient, particularly a young female for the obvious scar concerns.

3) Other than liposuction or a submental tuck there are no other procedures to treat your postoperative jaw angle reduction submental fullness.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana