Can Temporal Implants Make My Face As Wide As My Cheek Bones?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am going to have temporal implants next month and have a few questions. Will the silicone be cut and shaped after my physical consultation or prior? The reason I ask this is because the pictures I provided show less indentation than there is in reality. I feel I will need quite a thicker implant to fill the area especially since I would like the widest part of my face to shift from below my eyes to in level with my eyes or slightly higher.Will the implants be even with my zygoma arches? I have prominent cheekbones and because they’re a bit lower, they have made my face look short when I wear bangs. I would like my temples filled in to slightly wider than my cheekbones to make my face appear longer since right now it has the unwanted “hour glass” shape and separates the forehead from my lower half.Unfortunately I only have 48 hours to recover and this makes me nervous, can I take Sinnech 3 days prior to surgery?

A:  Temporal implant sizing is done either the day before or just before surgery. There are two basic sizes of temporal implants. Most likely you will only require the smaller size given your face, stature and being female. That implant thickness is 6 to 7mms which is actually quite substantial when actually in place. Whether the implant needs to be reduced in any manner is determined during surgery if I feel that it might be too big or give too much fullness. The implant is placed under the fascia down to the zygomatic arches. In some cases, the fascia is actually released at that point to allow the fullness of the temporal implant to be in the same plane as that of the zygomatic arch tissues. Usually the recovery from temporal implants is quite quick. There is virtually no pain and minimal swelling. Bruising can occur if the fascia needs to be released. But if not there can be virtually none. But taking Sinnech before and after surgery is always a good idea.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana