Chin Implant after Chin/Jaw Liposuction

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am a 35 year old female, 5’5 160 lbs (have lost about 70 and plan to lose 50 lbs more). I am having chin/jaw liposuction done in September but do not want a chin implant until after I have healed from the liposuction. Do you believe that I can still get good results by doing the chin implant after I am healed? Also do you think that the implant and liposuction alone will fix the issue of my face blending in to my neck (no jawline even in elementary school and very thin). My face is also very flat and I am wondering what you could do about that as well. Also I do have sleep apnea and I do believe I have had it even from a young age/low bmi but I am not sure if jaw surgery would be an appropriate alternative. Thank you.

A: While I think that liposuction of your neck will provide some good improvement, it is not the optimal treatment for the congenitally full neck that has a short chin and low hyoid bone. More ideally a submentoplasty which combines liposuction above the platysma muscle, central neck defatting below the platysma muscle and then midline platysmal muscle plication creates the best neck reshaping with the most well defined cervicomental angle. Because of the low hyoid bone and the benefit of anterior muscle pull and the need for some slight vertical chin lengthening, a sliding genioplasty in your case is preferred. Together with the submentoplasty a clear separation of the lower face and neck will result.

For the upper face, the combination of central face defatting (buccal lipectomies and perioral liposuction) combined with infraorbital-malar augmentation is the best approach to make an inversion of the facial shape below the eyes.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana