What Is The Best Treatment for My Chin Pad Ptosis after Chin Implant Removal?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am a 23 year old woman, who had a chin implant removed over a year ago. I had it removed because I didn´t like how big/wide it was. Both the implantation and removal went fine (both were done from under the chin) and I am now fully healed. However, my chin is not the same as before.

The main issue is that the chin itself feels (and looks) loose and like the tissues are no longer attached to the bone, but just rests on top of it. I also believe there is excess tissue now as I can sort of “fold” the fat in my chin by pinching it. At rest my chin looks slightly uneven with a bumpy texture and when I smile/talk, one side of the chin is pulled forward and the other down, which gives an uneven appearance.

I would like my chin to be firm again, but not much bigger as I like the size my chin is now.

I was wondering if it might be possible to put in a small medpor implant that is visibly insignificant to give the muscles and fat something to adhere to and at the same time removing the excess soft tissue.

Do you think that could be an option? And if not, what else (if anything) can be done? I can live with scarring under the chin as I already have a 4 cm scar there from the other surgeries.

Additionally, the two surgeries has left me with what appears to be loose skin under the chin. I was hoping that could be addressed at the same time as the chin itself.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

A: When a chin implant is removed the chin almost never goes back to what it was before the implant was placed. Besides the created excess of the soft tissue chin pad the tissues have lost their ligamentous attachments so some degree of ptosis can occur.

A submental chin pad excision and tuck is the correct treatment. Whether a thin layer of Medpor or ePTFE for tissue adhesion can be debated  but there is some theoretical merit to it.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon