Do The Ligaments Ever Reattach After Cheek Implant Removal?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I’ve been reading a lot on your blog how you mention that some degree sagging is likely to occur after cheek implant removal because the ligaments do not reattach. 

I was hoping I could get some clarification on this. 

In a 2013 RealSelf answer, I see you wrote the following in reliance to someone who has concerns after his implants were removed: 

“ It will likely take at least 6 months or more for all the effects of having had cheek implants to subside. The capules will usually go away completely and the tissues will stick back down to the bone. What effects having had these cheek implants will have on your long-term facial aging is unknown.” 

What confuses me is here you mention that the tissue will stick back to the bone. But elsewhere I understood you to say that the tissue does not stick back because the ligament attachments are lost. Maybe I’m misunderstanding. Perhaps I’m confusing the ligaments with the soft tissue (that is to say that the ligaments don’t reattach but the soft tissue does?) 

I was also wondering if it’s impossible for the ligaments to reattach, or merely unlikely? 

Thank you for the help.

A: While the tissues will eventually stick back and the capsule will be resorbed, this will be longer after the initial tis slide has occurred when the implants are removed. In other words the cheek tissues willfully heal in a LOWER position than where they were initially.

Once ligaments have been released they re not going to reattach. That applies to whether the ligament is big or small.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana