Have you ever felt that your cheeks were not prominent enough? If so, then cheekbone augmentation may be right for you. This procedure uses a variety of materials – such as natural tissue grafts, injectable fillers, or synthetic implants – to improve the contours and overall size of the cheeks. The goal of cheekbone augmentation is to highlight the cheekbones or fill in sunken cheeks.
Also known as malar augmentation, this procedure is popular among both women and men. Many have noticed sagging cheek tissue due to aging, or have poorly defined cheekbones because of heredity, trauma, or a medical condition.
There are three major options for augmenting the cheekbones. First, a hard silicone implant can be surgically placed underneath the skin. The surgeon can also graft natural tissues, such as bone, fat, and skin from elsewhere in the body, for a more natural alternative. Finally, this procedure can also be accomplished with injectable products such as collagen, hyaluronic acid, and other dermal fillers, in order to plump up the cheeks.
Cheekbone augmentation takes anywhere from one to three hours to perform, depending on the technique used and the amount of change desired. Both implants and grafts require incisions, usually inside the mouth or in the lower eyelid, which injectable treatments are delivered by a syringe with no incision needed.
After undergoing this procedure, patients can expect sore, bruised cheeks for about a week. They may experience swelling or "black eyes." Keeping the head and neck elevated can relieve these side-effects. The cheeks may feel stiff for about a week. After this healing process, patients are left with fuller, more prominent cheekbones with improved contours.
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