Is Fat Injections Or Implants Better For My Sagging Cheeks?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I’m currently 30 years old and after a long career of modeling I see that I’m not longer as popular as when I was younger. Since I have seen good plastic surgery turn people 5 to 10 years younger, I was wondering if the same thing could be done for me. Could implants help me to retrieve a more youthful look. I’m not expecting to look any younger then 25, I am realistic about the possibilities. What would you suggest? What would help me the most to fight the “aging”. Even though I’m still young, it is important to me to know what my options are. From what I have understood. Elasticity of the skin declines and the cheeks start to sag, so will an implant help with that? I also have a bit hollowness under my eyes. What could be done against that? People have advised me to get some kind of fillers, or fat transfer to create that younger look again. But what is your opinion? Is it surgically possible to make even a fairly young person look younger? Thanks.

A: Most likely at your age the initial changes that you see are best treated by some skin rejuvenation techniques and fat injections. The quality of your skin can be improved, at any age, by such techniques as light fractional laser resurfacing. Loss of some facial volume, particularly over the cheeks, is very amenable to improvement by fat injections as is the infraorbital hollowing. Depending upon your natural skeletal anatomy of the infraorbital-malar area, the concept of cheek implants is also an option. But I would have to see pictures of your face for further assessment as to the benefits of fat injections vs cheek implants.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana