How Do I Fix My Cheek Implants Which Made My Asymmetry Worse?

Q: Dr. Eppley, In 2016 I sought facial surgery and had cheek implants to correct some asymmetry. The cheek implant surgery has exacerbated the asymmetry. What do I do now? 

A:Thank you for your inquiry and sending your pictures. For the cheeks, since I don’t know what you looked like before, I can not say what is exactly wrong with your current cheek implant(s). I would need to have some more specifics such as when was the surgery done and what type of cheek implants were placed. But those questions would actually become a bit irrelevant since a 3D CT scan of your cheeks would answer the questions of what is your natural cheek bone shape and the exact reason for your cheek asymmetry as well as the style/size/placement of your current cheek implants. It is very common that the use of standard cheek implants when asymmetry exists actually make it more apparent. It just seems like this approach would work and surgeons frequently think that ‘eyeballing’ the implant style/size and placement will work. But the symmetry of the cheeks is so unforgiving and the eyeballing technique almost never works. This is where the use of a custom cheek implant design is so superior. The first step is to get a 3D CT scan and see how your current cheek implants look on the bone as well as the bony shape of your cheeks.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana