Injecting sunken cheeks? First of all, the various causes must be considered. With age, a plug of fat in the cheek, the so-called Bichat’s fat body, shrinks, which means a loss of tissue. This makes the cheeks look empty.
In the case of severe weight loss, sunken cheeks can hardly be prevented by the reduction of the fat plug. This also applies to severe consumptive diseases such as cancer, HIV, etc.
However, hollow cheeks are often only inherited as a normal variant. Although there is no underlying disease, those affected often appear sickly, which can be very emotionally stressful. The desire for cheek correction is therefore usually easy to understand.
However, the so-called chubby cheeks can be just as distressing in otherwise slim people, who then decide to have the cheek fat removed in order to normalize their appearance.
What can you use to plump up sunken cheeks?
If sunken cheeks are the result of intentional, exaggerated weight loss, it stands to reason that they can be normalized again by gaining weight. This is particularly true in the case of anorexia.
In the case of congenital hollow cheeks that are not pathological but are psychologically impairing, cheek injections can be considered.
Depending on the findings, injections are generally carried out in the area of the cheekbones as well as in the soft tissue area, the so-called hollow cheeks.
Injecting sunken cheeks with hyaluronic acid
It is possible to fill in sunken cheeks with injections. However, the result is temporary. Depending on the hyaluronic acid and the person, it can last 1-1.5 years.
The cost of this correction is quite low. After the application of an anesthetic ointment and a certain exposure time, the treatment can be carried out without severe pain. Further information on tissue filler can be found in the article Hyaluronic acid.
Other fillers
There are other fillers besides hyaluronic acid that are suitable for filling hollow cheeks, such as those based on hydroxyapatite. Basically, the treatment is similar to that described above. The material lasts for a similar length of time.
Autologous fat injection
Injecting sunken cheeks: At Yuveo, we can also do this with autologous fat injections. The fatty tissue is harvested by liposuction from an area of the body with fat deposits, processed (sieving or centrifugation) and injected into the cheeks.
With autologous fat transplantation, however, only 40-70% of the fat cells are used, so that overcorrection is necessary to achieve the desired result. The healed fat cells have a very long shelf life as they are the body’s own.
Is there another option instead of fillers and autologous fat?
In very stubborn cases, there is also the option of filling in sunken cheeks using cheek implants. In this operation, an incision is made on the inside of each cheek and the soft silicone implants are inserted into the cheek. They are intended to compensate for the shrunken Bichat’s fat plug and fill the hollow cheeks.
This form of soft cheek implants should not be confused with those intended to build up the cheekbone. The shape and consistency are very different.
Injecting sunken cheeks for older generations
Older people often suffer from hollow cheeks. Weight loss is usually not the cause of sunken cheeks, but rather the sagging of the face.
This leads to sagging of the cheek fat, both from the cheekbones and from the soft structures of the ‘cheeks’. These then sit one level lower and cause a bump on both sides, which further ages the face.
Injecting a sunken cheek: Whether it makes sense in old age must therefore be decided on an individual basis.
In principle, the methods described above can also be used here.
However, the more logical method is the refixation of the muscle fiber plate (SMAS), the skin and the fatty tissue. This means a facelift, because with its help these things can be corrected.
If there are also significant age-related changes to the neck, a simultaneous neck lift should be considered. The cost of this procedure is of course higher than injecting into sunken cheeks. However, the advantage lies in the effectiveness and durability of the procedure.
Sources:
- Plastic Surgery – Grabb & Smith – Lippinkott Williams & Wilkins – Philadelphia USA – 2007
- Aesthetic surgery – Lemperle, von Heimburg – Ecomed – 2008 – (ring binder)
