Chin Reduction

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in chin reduction surgery. Here are my questions:

1. What is your recommended approach for me…burring down vs. cutting the bone, intraoral vs. submental, etc? Just the chin or the jaw also? Changes to the fat/muscle/skin?

2. What can it achieve (can you simulate it with a digital image)?

3. What are its limitations and possible side effects?

4. What are the risks and how do you minimize them?

5. What can I do to ensure the best results possible? Are there limitations on travel?

6. Can you share before/after photos of women who have undergone this surgery?

7. Your site states $6500 for chin reduction – does this include anesthesia, operating room, surgeon’s costs? Does the cost differ by surgical method?

8. How much time to I need to plan to take off work and/or work from home?

9. How many trips would be required? (pre-op, surgery day, post-op/follow up?)

10. Would you recommend doing rhinoplasty and chin reduction at the same time or separately?

11. What are your Care Credit terms (6,12,18 months no interest?)

12. Do you require dental x-rays or some other type of imaging?

13. Would liposuction be effective in achieving a more defined chin/jawline? Is this considered a separate procedure from the chin reduction? Is there enough fat in your estimation that re-injecting it to my cheeks would produce a good result? Would  a future pregnancy alter the results?

A: Thank you for sending the detailed questions about chin reduction. My answers to your questions are as follows:

1) If vertical chin reduction is all that is needed than an intraoral wedge bony genioplasty approach would be used (this would include narrowing the chin  if desired) But all other chin dimension reductions are best done by a submental approach.

2) Computer imaging is always done before any facial reshaping procedure. Chin reduction is no exception.

3) Scar (if submental approach is used), asymmetries, uneven jawline, soft tissue redundancies are all potential risks and complications from chin reduction surgery.

4) As you can see in #3 the risks are essentially aesthetic in nature. Knowing how to manage the soft tissues in a chin reduction is actually more important than the bony reduction part of the operation.

5) Preoperative choice of the correct chin reduction procedure is the most important step to ensure the best result.

6) Because of patient confidentiality, there are very few before and after pictures that can be shared. And this is coming from someone who has done a lot of them.

7) This is a logistical question for my assistant Camille. Until we know the exact chin reduction procedure she can not give you an absolute number.

8) Recovery is all about the swelling and when you feel comfortable being seen in public. Everyone is different in that regard. It could be one week for some and three weeks for others.

9) One trip for the surgery is all that is needed. All followups can be done electronically.

10) Rhinoplasty and chin procedures are commonly done together. That is a personal choice.

11) Another economic question for Camille.

12) No preoperative x-rays are needed unless one is getting an intraoral bony genioplasty.

13) Liposuction rarely, if ever, can make a more defined jawline. Such changes are a reflection of what happens to the bone not the soft tissues. Any fat injections done would need a harvest site not from the neck. The amount of fat needed exceeds what can be obtained from the neck. Chin reduction surgery will not be affected by pregnancy.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana