What Can Be Done To Make My Chubby Face And Cheeks Look Thinner?

Q:  Hello! I’m a young girl who has very puffy and big cheeks. From my cheekbones down to my jawline it is very full. I really love my face otherwise, but it’s too much fat there. I am a very thin girl and no one in my family has these big cheeks. Is there any way to reduce the chubbiness of my face? Do you think liposuction would make it thinner? Or is there something else to make my face thinner? I’m willing to do anything for this, because I’m depressed and desperate. Thanks.

A: Chubby cheeks are part of many person’s facial makeup, particularly when they are young. You did not provide your age other than to say you are young. But if you are under the age of 16, your chubby cheeks may become less so as you mature further. If you are over the age of 18 and at a good body weight then the fullness of your cheeks is built into your genetic code so to speak. Some reduction in the fullness of one’s cheeks can be done by buccal lipectomies and small cannula liposuction of selective facial areas. Potential liposuction areas include the perioral mounds (below the cheeks) and lateral facial areas around and in front of the parotid glands. These facial fat reduction methods will not make a chubby face thin but they will help provide some more shape and contours to an otherwise amorphous round face.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana