Consultation preoperatively accomplishes several objectives. A thorough medical history and appropriate physical examination will be taken to ascertain your health status. If you are a smoker you will be asked to stop smoking well in advance of the plastic surgery. Smoking seriously constricts blood vessels and therefore decreases blood flow to a given area resulting in poor healing. Aspirin and certain anti-inflammatory drugs and other medications (discussed in DO’& DON’TS section) can cause increased bleeding, so you must avoid these. Details of any previous chin surgery will be noted. In the consultation we will examine the facial structure and decide the appropriate shape, size and type of chin implant to achieve the optimal result.

Chin implant routinely takes approximately 30 minutes. The cosmetic surgery can be done with a very small incision through the mouth or under the chin. We create a tight pocket under the periosteum and place the implant which is made of solid silicone. This feels exactly like bone

It is normal to experience swelling, bruising and some pain and discomfort in the days following plastic surgery. Typically it takes around a week for most of the swelling to settle. You may also experience some numbness in the area. There will be a dressing which is waterproof and shaving is not recommended for a week. Typically sutures are removed 7 to 10 days following plastic surgery.

All cosmetic and plastic surgeries carry general risks of bleeding, infection etc. Specifically for this operation, there are 3 main risks. There is a risk of nerve injury that can cause numbness in the lower lip, it tends to be temporary but it could be permanent in extremely rare situations. There is a risk of displacement of the chin implant. This can happen in rare situations in reconstructive facial surgery, about 1% of people. This may need corrective surgery. Another risk is infection. The chin implant acts like a foreign body, if infected and the antibiotics that we gave are not effective it will have to be removed and replaced at a later stage when things settle down.

Most patients can resume normal life activities within 10 days to 2 weeks following the plastic surgery.