Will Brow And Cheek Reductions Make My Eyes Look Less Sunken?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I feel my cheeks are a bit large so want to reduce their appearance as well as my upper outer brow bone. From the side my eyes look sunken, not for the front though. I feel that maybe reducing the brow and cheek bone would make eyes stand out and not seem so deep set from side view. However, I also have hollowness on direct sides of nose by nostril and have tried filler but it didn’t help. I also like my nose profile but from front, it looks wide around the tip so also looking into narrowing it from front view. Thank you for your help!

A: In looking at your pictures. I would not disagree with your contention about altering the bone to try and open up the eye area. There are two fundamental approaches to doing it. One option is a tail of the brow reduction through an upper eyelid incision combined with intraoral cheek reduction either done by burring or an anterior body zygomatic osteotomy. The second approach is a coronal incisional approach for lateral brow, lateral orbital and zygomatic reduction. (I think this approach is more than you need) From a nose standpoint you are describing two nasal issue, a paranasal deficiency and a broad nasal tip.  Your nose concerns could be addressed by paranasal implants (placed through the same incision as for the cheek reduction) and a closed rhinoplasty for tip (dome) narrowing.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana