Cheek Implants - 28 Years Old Female - Before and After Pictures!
My name is Danielle C and I am 28 years old from Beverly Hills, CA. I have struggled with my cheek appearance as long as I can remember. Even in college, I would look in the mirror and feel like I needed some sort of "boost" to my cheekbones. They seemed rather flat and almost sunken in.
About 2 years ago, I decided that I was going to do something about this so I visited a local board certified plastic surgeon to see what could be done about my facial structure. During my consultation, he urged against cheek augmentation surgery and said I would be a good candidate for a non-invasive procedure like injectable fillers. He explained that although these were not permanent (I would have to return about 3 times a year), I would be able to see a lot more volume in my cheeks without any downtime.
Although I wanted something permanent, I did agree with him that implant surgery right out the gate could be a bit extreme. He set me up with his nurse practitioner that day to get dermal fillers. She injected Juvederm into my cheeks - this took about 20 minutes and I was out the door.
This went on for about a year and I had spent a few thousand dollars on fillers. Honestly, I was thrilled with how I looked but did not love having to go to the office so often. Plus it was quite expensive. I do well working at a high end art gallery, but the amount I was spending on fillers would add up quick if I did this for many years. This led me to start researching invasive procedures.
Towards the end of 2016, I made a consultation with a facial plastic surgeon in the California area (recommended by a friend of mine who just had a brow lift). I explained to him my lifelong insecurity of sunken cheeks, how my last year or so was spent using fillers, and how I really wanted to find a more permanent solution.
According to him, I would be an excellent candidate for cheek implants. He explained the procedure as being rather simple with small incisions being made through my mouth towards the cheek area to make a pocket for the silicone implants. The incision is made within the mouth so you do not have any scarring on your face. I agreed to the procedure and was scheduled my cheek implant procedure to be done in early 2017.
The night before my surgery I did not sleep a wink. It was a cluster of nerves and excitement - hoping everything would go well. A couple of my family members stayed over to take me to the surgical facility the following morning. By 5 am I was up in the kitchen moving around ready to get my journey started.
When I arrived at the facility, the nurse met me with a smile and took me back to my room. I was in there for about 20 minutes before the doctor came in to greet me and ask if I was ready for my chin implant (as a joke to calm my nerves). The anesthesiologist administered general anesthesia and the next thing I knew I was in the recovery room.
My mom and cousin were there to greet me when I woke up asking how I felt. Honestly, when I woke up I felt a bit groggy but I did not feel any pain yet. This was an outpatient procedure so after about an hour or two of recovery I was ready to head home. The doctor did come in and say everything went great and it would be about 3 months until the inflammation in my face was back to normal but after a week or so I should be fine to go back to work.
After the pain medication from the surgery started to wear off I definitely started to feel the facial implants. My cheeks felt like a chipmunk and it was tough for me to even pronounce some words. I took my prescribed pain medication and tried to sleep as much as I could.
My mom (she lives in San Francisco) stayed with me for a week. I took off from work for a full week because I knew I wasn't going to need some time to recover. The swelling did not really subside in the first 3-5 days and I started to get a little worried. I even had my mom call the doctor but he assured me that this was completely normal and not worry and get as much rest as I could.
I think that I should reinforce that this one week post surgery was a lot harder than I imagined. I am a bit of a baby but my cheeks were continuously in throbbing pain, I could barely speak, and I could barely eat anything because it hurt to chew. I stuck mostly to a liquid diet but this lack of nutrition combined with pain medication made me feel continuous nausea.
8 Days after the procedure I was set to go back to work. My face with still completely swollen and I still had some bruising. At this point I had switched to over the counter pain medication because the prescription pills made me feel sick. Luckily, at my art gallery I do not work with too many people (plus they knew about it) so I didn't really have to interact with anyone. If I did I would probably feel quite uncomfortable because of the unnatural look of my face.
One month in the swelling did go down a bit but it still did seem to look like I had chipmunk cheeks. I was still not able to pronounce some words which gave my co-workers quite a laugh. At this point I did feel more comfortable being in public though. My cheeks were big but I didn't look like a "freak".
Three months post-op I started to see what my new cheek structure would ultimately be. I still think I was a bit swollen but not nearly anywhere close to the beginning. I was beyond ecstatic waking up each day to see my new cheek structure. I have to admit it - it looks very natural. I still think that I will continue to see better results after 6-12 months.
I am in month 7 post op while I am writing this review and have never been happier. I want to thank my doctor for helping me achieve my aesthetic goals. If I were to give advice to any women (or men) looking to have this procedure done, I would say "be patient and trust the process". The healing definitely takes time. Just make sure you do research and go to a board certified plastic surgeon who has done many of these procedures before. Good luck to all!
Who was your doctor and how much did it cost?
also, I got the same procedure done but I feel the implants are too big for my face and whenever I smile the implants push down Malar cheek fat. Does this happen to you?
Can cheek implants lift jowls?
Will cheek implants help my long face shape?