I had two facial contouring procedures last August, and it has now been 6 months. About 8 years ago, I had fixed quick cheekbone reduction surgery at another hospital, but I didn’t see much of an effect. So I visited this time because I wanted revision cheekbone surgery, and during the consultation, the doctor said that improving my retruded chin might actually be better than focusing on my cheekbones, so I had anterior chin advancement done as well.
Functionally, I have no problems at all now, and I’m completely satisfied with the results. Recently, I told a friend who didn’t know I had surgery that I had gained weight, and they said, “I think you look better with the weight on.” There isn’t much more to say about the result itself, so instead I’d like to share the symptoms I experienced during the recovery period.
First, swelling was almost nonexistent on the day of surgery, but from day 1 through the first week, I swelled up a lot. I’m not the type whose swelling goes down quickly, so the major swelling lasted about a month, the moderate swelling lasted around 4 months, and even now at 6 months, I still have some minor swelling around the 45-degree cheekbone area, enough that it sinks in when I press it. For me, the cheekbone swelling was severe from my eyes to my temples as well. My chin also felt a bit long and protruded until around month 5, but that feeling is gone now. For those who have had surgery and aren’t satisfied with the result, I really think it would be good to be patient for at least 6 months.
As for pain, other than a general throbbing sensation in my face from the evening of the surgery into early dawn, I think it was okay. Since I don’t remember it that much, it must have been tolerable.
I had a lot of nosebleeds during the first week. The side that was more swollen bled more. It wasn’t the kind of nosebleed people usually imagine; when I tilted my face, it would flow out like a faucet had been turned on. In the beginning, I went to the bathroom every 2-3 hours, tilted my face slightly, and let the nosebleed drain out. Even if more comes out than expected, I think you can consider it part of the recovery process and not take it too seriously.
Right after surgery, the alignment of my upper and lower teeth was a bit off. But over about 3 months, the alignment slowly came back. I think it was temporarily off because after surgery, the inside of the mouth swells and the facial muscles also take time to recover.
During the first week right after surgery, my right ear felt a bit blocked. The right side was more swollen, so I just figured the inside was very swollen and that it was affecting my ear too, and moved on; it got better quickly.
For food, I had a liquid diet for 1 week, soft regular food during weeks 2-4, and I didn’t eat hard foods until 3 months. Now I can eat almost everything. Still, I plan to be careful for about a year.
Along the jawbone line, in front of and behind the chin osteotomy area, something thick and hard formed. The director said it was a natural symptom that occurs as the areas where soft-tissue dissection was done recover, and now it has disappeared a lot. I think it will take quite a long time to disappear completely. Unless I touch it directly, it doesn’t really show, so I’m living without worrying about it too much.
I also felt quite a lot of tooth clenching and jaw tightness in the beginning, but now I don’t feel the tooth clenching anymore, and the jaw tightness is not enough to bother me much.
These are the things I remember from my recovery process. I hope people who are considering surgery or those who are experiencing symptoms similar to mine right after surgery can feel reassured. I’m also a bit insensitive, and I just let everything pass, thinking it would get better with time. But since it’s a major surgery, I’m sure some people may feel anxious about whether they’re recovering properly, so I hope my review helps a little~