Before You Take The Plunge - Facial Implants Complications

from plastic surgery

When a qualified plastic surgeon performs your operation, both your procedure and recovery are likely to be uneventful. Even in ideal circumstances, however, complications may occur. In addition to the specific complications mentioned here, refer to Understand the Risks of Plastic Surgery for an explanation of general complications that mav occur with any procedure.

Sensory Changes

Temporary numbness, pain, and tingling of the chin and cheeks are common, and sensation usually normalizes within two to six weeks. Permanent numbness of the lips can occur if the nerve was injured during surgery

You may develop delayed numbness several years following surgery if your implant shifts and presses on a nerve. Delayed numbness may be improved by removal of the implant.

Infection

Infection may initially be treated with antibiotics, but if it does not resolve, implant removal is usually necessary. Six months after the infection is resolved, another implant may be placed.

Asymmetry

Asymmetry of the chin or cheeks may occur following surgery if implants are not placed symmetrically, if implants move out of position, or if preexisting asymmetries exist. This may be improved through additional surgery.

Implant Displacement

As with any operation involving implants, your surgeon will strive to achieve optimal placement. Yet the forces of healing can drive it out of position. If so, and depending on the severity, you may have an unnatural appearance of your chin or cheeks. Correction of this problem requires surgery to reposition the implant.

Bone Erosion

Occasionally, an implant can become mobile. It may stay in its position, but can move by a fraction of an inch in all directions. When an implant becomes mobile, it generates friction with the underlying bone, which then may cause the bone to be slowly eroded. Chin erosion can be so significant as to affect tooth roots. This is very rare and is treated with removal of the implant.

Detecting the Implant Through Your Shin

You may be able to feel your implant through the skin, depending on the type of implant. This is not necessarily a problem.

Extrusion of Implant

Some implants, if they become mobile, may erode your skin or the lining of your mouth. The implant may then become exposed, greatly increasing the risk of infection. Treatment usually involves removal of the implant.

Need for Further Surgery

If you choose to get an implant, you should expect possible future operations. (This applies not only to plastic surgery implants, but also to artificial joints, pacemakers, and heart valves.) Implants are artificial devices; some may last a lifetime, others will not.

Telltale Signs

There are two classic telltale signs of chin implants: a witch's chin and a button chin. The main telltale sign of cheek implants is a puppet appearance.

Witch's Chin

Witch's chin is chin skin that droops due to the disruption of the attachments between the chin pad and bone. Although no surgeon intends this, it occasionally happens, and the reason is not always clear. Attempts to correct this problem through more surgery may not be successful.

Button Chin

An unnaturally small or round chin may result if the implant is too small or narrow. This problem can be avoided or corrected by using a longer, broader implant that extends along the sides of your jaw.

Puppet Cheeks

As with the chin, use of a small implant causes an unnatural appearance of the cheeks, as the implant fails to blend with the existing facial structure. In the cheeks, the appearance is similar to that of a puppet in that a rectangular protrusion is seen over the cheekbones. Using a broader implant that blends with the underlying bone will prevent this.