With age, a person's face changes. Sudden changes in weight also do not have the best effect on your appearance. Subcutaneous fatty tissue is displaced, proportions are disturbed. Sunken cheeks appear, questions begin to worry about what to do and why this is happening.
The quality of the cheeks depends on the tone of the facial muscles. In youth, the cheekbones are in hypertonicity. We smile more often, enjoy life, and the best exercise machine for the facial muscles is a smile. With age, there are fewer and fewer reasons for joy. The muscles that pull the corners of the lips down are involved. The chewing muscles shorten due to tension, and the zygomatic muscles weaken and stop working. The skin, along with fat packets, moves down and towards the center, forming nasolabial folds, and sunken cheeks appear. Neck muscles with incorrect posture aggravate this effect, tightening the face.
Let's look at several ways to remove sunken cheeks in women. This information is also relevant for men.
Cheek contouring
For quite a long time, surgeons around the world have been practicing contour plastic surgery to eliminate the defect of sunken cheeks and increase their volume. The corrective procedure consists of injections into the cheek area, as a result of which the subcutaneous tissue, deep and shallow wrinkles, and scars are filled with special preparations - fillers. In addition to correcting the defect of sunken cheeks, the injection technique is widely used to increase the volume and change the shape of the lips, and these two procedures are perfectly combined and can be performed simultaneously.
Doctors and cosmetologists give the greatest preference to fillers based on hyaluronic acid. Such fillers are temporary and require repeated injection, due to the absorption of water molecules contained in hyaluronic acid by the skin. The most common fillers on the cosmetics market are products presented by the companies Restylane, Juvederm, Perlane.
The duration of contour plastic surgery will not take more than 1 hour, after which the patient can leave the clinic and return to their normal lifestyle. Results are visible immediately after injections and last for up to 1 year.
Surgical methods
Specialists at the SM-Plastic clinic offer three options on how to remove sunken cheeks in women and men:
- Lipofilling.
This technique effectively solves the problem if it is caused by a lack of subcutaneous fat. The idea is that the doctor removes fat tissue from other areas of the body, usually where there is excess fat. And then through a skin puncture it introduces them to where there is a deficiency. The great advantage of this method is the complete absence of risks of rejection of the transferred tissues, because they were taken from the patient himself. - Contour plastic.
The technique is most effective for correcting disorders caused by age. The doctor injects special fillers into problem areas of the cheeks. This is the name for substances that visually increase tissue volume. Most often they are based on hyaluronic acid. Both of the above methods allow you to model a new shape of the cheeks and are considered minimally invasive plastic interventions. Such corrections are usually performed under local anesthesia and by injection, without large surgical incisions. - Installation of implants.
This is a universal method for correcting sunken cheeks, but it is usually used only when the defect is highly severe or is genetic in nature. The implants are made from bioneutral silicone and are given an individual shape and size. The installation takes place under general anesthesia and is considered a full-fledged surgical intervention. But the result of such correction lasts for many years.
Lipofilling
The procedure is of a medical, cosmetic nature, during which the shape and volume of the cheeks are changed by introducing the patient’s own fatty tissue. For this purpose, fat cells are used, taken from those places where they are found in abundance: buttocks, abdomen or thighs. After taking the fat cells, they are sent to a special centrifuge, where they are cleaned of impurities of blood, lymph and medications, and the output is high-quality material that can be used for transplantation into the cheek area.
This technique has a significant advantage, because the body does not reject its own tissues; they take root well in a new place. After the procedure, the effect lasts for a long time, which is due to the germination of blood vessels into the transplanted tissue.
Before performing the procedure, the patient is given local anesthesia, after which fat cells are injected into the cheek area: first into the deep layers, then moving closer to the superficial layers. After the procedure, swelling may persist for the first 3-4 days.
The lipofilling procedure involves introducing a volume of adipose tissue larger than required, because the cell survival rate is 75%.
Non-surgical correction methods
Obviously, this problem is based on a change in the anatomical shape of the cheeks, so most conservative methods of solving it will have low effectiveness. So, gymnastics of facial muscles will help to correct the situation somewhat. Gaining weight as a method of correcting sunken cheeks is not suitable for everyone, since fat deposits will accumulate not only and not so much on the face, but mainly on the hips, abdomen and other problem areas.
The only effective option for non-surgical correction is only possible if the receding cheeks are caused by missing teeth. In this case, the problem can be effectively eliminated by installing implants or prosthetics.
Installation of implants
Depending on the cause of the formation of the defect of sunken cheeks, a technique for implanting prostheses can be used, and their production takes place directly for each client based on the anthropometric data of the area where the implant will be installed.
The procedure involves the administration of local, sometimes general anesthesia, after which the surgeon creates a special pocket in the cheek area for installing the prosthesis and places the implant there. They are fixed from the outside with a medical plaster. Within an hour after installation of the implant, a special capsule is formed in this area, which acts as a holder for the endoprosthesis.
The duration of the procedure is no more than 1 hour, swelling may remain after the procedure for 7-14 days, and numbness in areas of the face may also be observed, which is due to the proximity of the implant to the nerve endings.
Why do my cheeks sink?
The most common cause of this deficiency is age-related changes associated with the loss of elasticity and firmness in soft tissues. The skin resists gravity less and less, the subcutaneous fatty tissue atrophies, loses structural proteins (elastin and collagen), and as a result, the cheeks visually “fall” inward.
The situation can be aggravated by constant stress, which leads to mental (nervous) and sometimes physical exhaustion. An unhealthy lifestyle with bad habits, especially smoking, disturbances in the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness, lack of physical activity in the fresh air, etc., is also of great importance. Another reason for sunken cheeks is excessive weight loss. Less commonly, missing teeth can lead to the appearance of such a deficiency. In this case, the cheeks “fall in” due to the fact that on the other side of the soft tissue there is no solid frame that forms the support. Finally, an ugly, sunken shape is sometimes caused by genetic features of the structure of the hard and soft tissues of the face.
Should a malocclusion be corrected?
People, regardless of age, rarely think about the possible consequences of malocclusion on health, given that careless chewing of food harms the digestive system, poor posture leads to impaired coordination of movements, and causes degenerative processes in various parts of the spine. If so, let’s focus on the aesthetic component of orthodontic treatment.
Orthodontists are able to diagnose malocclusion based on external signs, without looking into the patient’s mouth. Most people also note signs indicating the presence of skeletal abnormalities leading to the formation of malocclusions. Another thing is that rarely does anyone evaluate these signs from a medical point of view; more often the person is simply considered ugly. And if a person also has a repulsive smile with crooked yellow teeth, then interpersonal communication can be significantly impaired.
Correction of malocclusions must be corrected in patients of all ages. Parents should not put off a visit to the orthodontist in the hope that “the child will outgrow it.” Adults who did not receive orthodontic treatment in childhood will benefit from wearing braces or aligners, as they will save teeth from abrasion, improve diction, and normalize nasal breathing. And a perfect smile never hurt anyone!
Facial asymmetry
Some discrepancy in the size of the right and left halves of the face is normal. Not so long ago, the predominance of emotional and rational principles in a person was judged by the width of which side predominated. The skeletal anomaly underlying the formation of a crossbite significantly increases facial asymmetry, which deprives a person of attractiveness.
Asymmetry is revealed during external examination. During the dental examination, the doctor determines the presence of a displacement of one jaw relative to the other, which is accompanied by a change in the relative position of the dentition; one of the dentition may be expanded or, conversely, narrowed. Malocclusion leads to impaired diction, swallowing, and rapid abrasion of the enamel of the chewing surfaces of the teeth.
Visual reduction of the face
As for a deep bite, its characteristic feature is the overlap of the lower incisors with the upper incisors by more than half (while the norm is one third). However, this may apply not only to the incisors, but also to the lateral teeth. With such a bite, the face appears flattened from below, and the lower lip often turns outward, since it has nowhere else to go. If the owner of a deep bite does not have a very high forehead, then the face looks very small, but if the forehead is high enough, then the disproportion of the upper part of the face relative to the lower becomes noticeable. If a person gets into the habit of pursing his lips (to avoid turning out the lower one), then the lips will appear thin, which will visually make the face appear even smaller.
Non-surgical solutions
Massage will help remove tension, relieve tension and relax the facial muscles. In addition, it is necessary to work on the back of the head, temporal zones, and parietal region.
You can do it yourself by watching training videos, or contact a professional massage therapist.
To look perfect, you need to start doing facial gymnastics as early as possible. Adjust your diet according to your skin's needs.
If you notice severe sunken cheeks, go to a beauty salon or plastic surgery clinic.
Surgical
If the above methods do not give the desired result, surgery will help correct sunken cheeks. Any surgical intervention involves a rehabilitation period. The patient experiences mild pain for several days. Swelling and hematomas persist. In some cases it is necessary to wear a bandage. The duration of rehabilitation depends on the type of surgery.
There are several methods to get rid of sunken cheeks:
- Removal of Bisha's lumps is carried out surgically. The operation is performed under general anesthesia or local anesthesia. Lumps are excised completely or partially. Sometimes excess fat moves to the cheekbones if there is a lack of volume in that area. As a result, cheekbones are raised, the volume of sagging cheeks is reduced, the oval becomes clearer, and the face takes on a perfect shape. The operation is recommended for indications after 25 years. There are no complications after the procedure.
- To get rid of jowls, a method of facial correction with biocompatible threads is used. They are carried up to the chin and fixed behind the ears. After six months, they dissolve and are eliminated from the body naturally. A collagen framework is formed at this site.
- A lower face lift will lift the corners of the lips, eliminate nasolabial folds, and make the contour clearer. The number of incisions in inconspicuous places is minimal. The tissues are separated from the bone and fixed in their new position. You will get a sculpted face that is close to Hollywood standards.
