How Can I Re-Inflate My Cheeks?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I’m concerned with an overall deflated look to my face, especially around the under eye area Im struggling to identify if the solution in bone related or soft tissue related. I am young and never had surgery but I’ve done 2 fractional c02 lasers in the past. My goal is to achieve the full look in the picture I included with me when I was younger but I had much better overall volume and under eye support, my eyes also appeared sharper too. Wondering if you have any ideas? Thank you again.

A:Fundamentally what you are referring to are deflated cheeks at least judged by the picture that you are showing when you are smiling. Smiling inevitably inflates the cheeks by pushing the soft tissues upward. While this is obviously a soft tissue issue (loss of volume), given that the bone does not change over time at your young age, treatment options could be either soft tissue (fat injections) or bone -based. (cheek/midface implants, technically cheek implants only sit partially on the bone and their lower half is actually out onto the soft tissues of the cheek)  There is even a role for injectable fillers as a test for cheek augmentation effects.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Plastic Surgeon