Recovery from chin liposuction
One of the huge benefits of chin liposuction is that you only have local anaesthetic, not general anaesthetic. General anaesthetic carries much greater risks, with newer liposuction techniques avoiding this entirely. Liposuction is safer than ever, and a small procedure on the chin and neck area is considered very low-risk.
The small incisions used during chin liposuction heal up like any small cut to the skin, and the whole chin and neck area is usually back to normal within several days. Compression garments will need to be worn for several days, as per instructions from your surgeon. Bruising and swelling may last for up to two weeks, but is usually quick to dissipate due to the small treatment area.
You will be advised to wait to perform certain activities, since while chin liposuction is a minimally-invasive procedure, your tissues will need to be treated gently for a smooth recovery. Any discomfort can be managed with regular pain-killers, with some tenderness expected.
You can return to normal activities very soon after chin liposuction, but several days off work may be required for aesthetic purposes only, depending on what you had planned.
If you have a high-visibility occupation or events to attend, you may wish to consider some extra time off or prepare to wear clothes/scarves/special products that can disguise any remaining bruising. Specific disguising techniques can be discussed with your surgeon, who will have a range of options for bruising and blemishes, such as second skins and colour-matched make-up.
Risks of chin liposuction
Dr Michael Rich, who does all the liposuction at our Melbourne clinic, is one of Australia’s foremost liposuction experts. This means you are in the very best of hands.
Every surgery does come with risks, however, which Dr Rich & his team will explain to you prior to treatments. Some of the risks of liposuction include the possibility of infection, though this is mitigated with antibiotics.
Managing your own expectations is also important. Every patient is different as every person is unique – so outcomes can vary depending on skin texture, the nature of fat and other factors. It is very important to follow post-procedure instructions, including wearing the compression garment for the allocated time, to attain the best results possible.
Will people notice that I’ve had chin liposuction?
The results of chin liposuction are usually very subtle to the untrained eye, and people don’t notice that you’ve changed your appearance, but they will notice you look better. Compliments on how well you are looking or how you look as if you have lost weight are often in plentiful supply after chin liposuction.
Chin liposuction can make a profound difference to your appearance. Many people are not aware of chin liposuction as a cosmetic surgery option, so they will think you just ‘look good’.
Most people don’t walk into a cosmetic surgery office and request chin liposuction; instead, they come in unhappy with the lower third of their face. Chin liposuction may be recommended as either a stand-alone treatment or as part of a larger facial sculpting plan.
Chin liposuction is invisible to the casual observer, so you can feel confident that nobody will know. What you will notice is that you no longer have to try to hide your double chin in photos or under clothes. You can look life directly in the eye, instead of trying to angle your way around having your double chin frozen in time.
How long does chin liposuction last for?
The change in your profile will be lasting, because liposuction is a fat-removal procedure. Your fat cells – of which there is a finite amount in your adult body – don’t migrate around your body, but have a ‘home base’. Your chin fat cells are like your other fat cells – they grow and shrink in response to the directions given by your body hormonally and genetically, rather than increasing in number.
This means that once you remove fat cells from one place in your body, they are gone for good. It then becomes critical that your surgeon has left enough fat in the area so that should you put on weight after liposuction (which is normal throughout your life), you do so evenly throughout your body, including the face and chin, as you would normally.
Will chin liposuction leave me with saggy skin?
No. Skin usually stretches and retracts to accommodate its contents, much like a balloon does. There are also many other skin-tightening treatments that can be performed to tighten any saggy skin that has not retracted back.
Trusculpt
The device uses innovative monopolar radiofrequency (RF) technology to target fat selectively and therapeutically heat it until fat cells are slowly removed and excreted through the body naturally.
It’s non-invasive and the procedure is performed by one of our highly trained, experienced nurses. Rather than remove the fast instantly as per liposuction, this procedure heats the fat and it is gradually excreted by the body. This can take up to 12 weeks for the excretion process to complete. Trusculpt can remove up to 24% of the fat in the treated area. It can also help with skin tightening in some instances.
Trusculpt on the chin requires 3 treatments, over a 6 weeks period and then results will take up to 12 weeks to show completely. Often a second treatment block is required to get a stronger result. Trsucuplt is good for those who have time for results to show, don’t require a large percentage of fat removed from under the chin and prefer a non-invasive treatment.
Fat Dissolving Injections
Fat dissolving injections contain a substance that breaks down fat cells so they can be reabsorbed by the body in much the same way the fat heating treatments aim for. This is usually performed on very small areas. It is a reasonably quick treatment. There is some swelling of the treated area that can last for a couple of weeks. This treatment is performed by one of our aesthetic doctors.
Anti Wrinkle injections
Anti-wrinkle injections can be used on the chin area to decrease chin movement and soften chin dimpling. A good complementary treatment in the chin sculpting tool box.
Dermal Fillers
One of the benefits of dermal filler is the visual trickery on the observer’s eye. We can strategically add dermal filler to make a prominent chin or jaw look smaller – by making it bigger but more balanced. By adding dermal filler into hollows and rounding out square shapes – or squaring out round shapes – we can recontour the chin and jawline with ease.