Cheek implants before surgery?

[cocomecrazy]

I did consider cheek implants. I had an underbite and crossbite. My right jaw was longer than my left PLUS an underbite.

At first, I didn't understand how the hell did my left cheek got bigger and more fuller than my left

Then I concluded, because my bite was shifted to the left, much of the jaw activities were concentrated on the left. And when I meant jaw activities, smiling, eating, talking, grinning, pouting, you name it

It's very hard to be conscious about this because we don't really know what's going on with our face when we're not looking at it!

I came across to this site and there were reviews about cosmetic cheek implants. The negative reviews mostly said that it sagged, didn't match with the other right cheek, vanished 6 months-a year later

It makes sense because unlike for example a thigh when you do cosmetic surgery on a thigh, it lasts for years because it a thigh doesn't move as much as our faces where we constantly move through facial expression.

I think our asymmetrical cheek is due to the lack of muscle volume in one cheek compared to the other cheek because much of the jaw activity was concentrated on one side.

How am I dealing with? I did some research on how to do cheek muscles. I must be honest, I haven't done them daily at all -just when I remember them. So I can't really say whether they work or not. I'm also sleeping on the side where I don't have much muscle volume... I thought it might help because I actually had been sleeping on the other side where there was more volume

But maybe these will help you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WOI1Ce5L4A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhCO5iN0V7Y

Be careful if you copy some exercises on other videos that might actually cause more creases/wrinkles

p.s. I actually have not developed the muscles that make my smile reach my ears as far as possible like it can only reach as much. Idk if this is biological. My smile parentheses are asymmetrical but I'm counting on my braces for that

[Neverloved]

Both your body and mind needs to be in tip top shape before undergoing something as serious as jaw surgery. How did you recover from your first breakdown...surely you spoke with people to talk you through it....maybe just talking with someone will help.

Talked to someone? More like 2 weeks hospitalisation and 3 weeks on Valium , followed by a diagnosis of cyclothymic disorder with psychotic features, panic disorder, and combined avoidant-borderline personality disorder. Did it help? Not one bit. Psych drugs don't work - at best they subdue you so you can pretend the problem doesn't exist, but that's no solution to anything. The only reason I'm still taking my current mix of crap is to ward off withdrawal symptoms.

You say I should talk to someone, but who? I hate psychiatrists and their methods, I hate my old friends for being perfect when I'm not, and I hate my parents for not doing anything to prevent these deformities when there was still time, then lying to me for all these years about there being no problem just to cover their own asses when it's blatantly obvious that there is a problem.

BDD would just be yet another diagnosis, and the "treatment" for it is exactly the same as what I'm taking already, so it wouldn't be much use. Isn't BDD and obsession with imagined defects, anyway? Mine definitely aren't imagined, since even my ortho told me I needed surgery.

I don't want the world to know I'm having surgery to look better - I don't want people to know what they see afterward isn't what I "really" look like. I don't want them to know I'm "fake". I'd much rather have them think I've recovered from trauma and they've just forgotten what I look like.

As for cheek implants, I know that the wrong kind can make your cheeks look "sunken in", and the implant can shift if it's not properly secured, but hopefully a competent surgeon shouldn't be making those sorts of mistakes. Some implants are meant to be resorbed and renewed (or replaced with permanent ones) later, but that wouldn't be a problem in my case, in fact it might be an advantage, since it means they won't get in the way of the Lefort.

[Broadway Bill]

Neverloved, I've gotta say that I think you are looking at this all wrong. It may not be my place to tell you this, but as someone who recently underwent surgery and was also hospitalized (multiple times) in my younger days for mental health issues and drug problems, I feel like I might have some stuff to say that it would do you well to hear.

Chiefly among those things is this; jaw surgery is not going to fix your problems. No surgery is. I won't get into the specifics of how competent mental health professionals really can help, but they can. What I will get into is how much of an ordeal these surgeries are, and how depressing the whole process is. In fact, my surgical team does some pretty intense screening and counseling to be certain that the prospective patient is in a position of mental and emotional well-being so that they can responsibly operate on them. The preparation for--and recovery from--surgery is quite serious, and really can cause serious depression and anxiety. And that is before you take into account the almost inevitable realization post surgery that you are still the same person, you still look mostly the same, and your problems are still there. This stuff is not a cure-all for anything other than (at best) a misaligned bite. If you can not stand how you look now for even a couple of months, how will you feel after surgery when you are swollen, bruised, skinny, hungry, and mumbling for a couple months?

I am not, by the way, saying that surgery is not worth it, or that you should not have it. If you want it, and a good doctor tells you it is a good idea and a doable procedure, go for it. What I am saying is that if I had done this when I was at a low point, it would have been throwing fuel on the fire in terms of making me worse. As far as the cheek implants before surgery goes, do you think it is genuinely a good idea to undergo a serious medical procedure in order to have a couple months of (unlikely) happiness? Hell, I would think you would just be getting unswollen and out of pain from the implants by the time surgery came around. And, knowing that the long-term outcomes and risks of the implants are what they are, I can not see any reason to do that.

As for your ortho telling you that you need surgery, take that with a grain of salt. Nearly every person I know who has had any orthodontic treatment in the past 20 years was told at some point that they "needed" surgery. Most don't. You might, but my point is that an orthodontist's opinion on it is not the be all end all.

On top of all of this, if you are in a place that makes you think it is a good idea, or acceptable, or even possible to lie to cover up these sort of procedures, I doubt you are in a position to have surgery safely. After surgery, I looked, quite literally, like I had my head and face split in with a baseball bat (I know what that looks like, because that has happened to me before). In that situation, even if I had wanted to, I would not have been able to lie to cover it up. And, part of the beauty of life and surgery and all of that is doing tough, heroic things to better yourself and being open about it. And to hell with anyone who takes issue with it. You do not want to try and lie to avoid letting people know. And, surgery does not make your looks "fake" or "not you"...I am still me, and I look every bit as much like myself as the day I was born.

In short, I think you need to really examine where you are, in terms of mental health and emotional health, and where surgery will get you. And let me reiterate: surgery is not a silver bullet.

[smitasharma54]

How much does cheekbone implants cost in the UK?
I have slightly sallow cheeks and would like to improve them.
Thanks in advance for any answers.

[americanabroad]

Implants are done under general anesthesia, right? In terms of safety, it's probably better to only go under anesthesia once rather than twice....