How Zygoma Reduction Surgery Reshapes the Cheekbone: Osteotomy, Repositioning and Fixation

The photograph that started it was taken from above, at a wedding, in flat afternoon light. She had never minded the width of her face in the mirror, but from that angle the cheekbones seemed to push the whole shape outward, and the question she had half-asked for years finally landed on a search bar: what does a zygoma reduction procedure actually involve, and what happens to the bone?

Most explanations stop at “the cheekbones are made smaller.” That is not quite what happens. Bone is not shaved down like a piece of wood; it is cut, moved and fixed in a new position, and the soft tissue that drapes over it has to settle onto that new frame. Understanding those three steps, osteotomy, repositioning and fixation, is the difference between a vague hope and an informed conversation.

This explainer walks through the anatomy, the operation, the recovery, the risks and the questions worth asking, in plain language. It leaves every decision where it belongs: with you and your surgical team.

What a zygoma reduction procedure actually changes

The zygoma is the cheekbone, a roughly diamond-shaped bone that sits below the outer half of each eye socket. It has a solid central portion, the body, and a slender bridge that runs backward toward the ear, the zygomatic arch. The body gives the cheek its forward projection; the arch sets how wide the mid-face looks from the front.

Four neighbors hold it in place. It joins the frontal bone at the outer rim of the eye, the maxilla (upper jaw) beneath the eye, the sphenoid deep inside the orbit and the temporal bone at the back end of the arch. Two of those joints, the one with the maxilla and the one with the temporal bone, are where surgeons most often make their cuts, because the bone is accessible there and the segment between them can be moved as a unit.

Two things attach to the arch that matter later. The masseter, one of the main chewing muscles, hangs from its lower edge. The temporalis, another chewing muscle, passes underneath it on its way to the lower jaw. Any procedure that handles the arch will make those muscles sore, which is why mouth opening feels stiff for a while afterward.

A zygoma reduction procedure, sometimes called reduction malarplasty, does not remove the cheekbone. It repositions the body and arch a few millimeters inward and, if planned, slightly backward, so that the widest point of the face sits closer to the midline. The change is measured in millimeters, yet because the cheekbone is the outermost landmark of the mid-face, small shifts can read clearly from the front.

How is cheekbone reduction done? The three steps in plain language

Think of the cheekbone as a beam fixed at two ends. To move a beam you free it at both ends, shift it and bolt it back down. That, stripped of jargon, is the operation.

Step one is osteotomy, the surgical cutting of bone. One cut is made through the body of the zygoma near the front, usually where it meets the upper jaw. A second, shorter cut is made through the arch near the back, close to where it joins the temporal bone. Between those two cuts, the cheekbone is now a mobile segment.

Step two is repositioning. Depending on the plan, a thin sliver of bone may be removed at the front cut so that the segment can slide inward without overlapping, or the segment may simply be rotated and pushed medially, meaning toward the midline. At the back, the arch is nudged inward (an in-fracture) so that the whole beam sits flatter against the skull.

Step three is fixation. Bone that has been cut will only heal solidly if it is held still. Surgeons secure the front cut, and often the back cut as well, with small plates and screws so that the pieces knit in the new position rather than drifting.

The operation is performed under general anesthesia, which means you are fully unconscious and monitored by an anesthesia team throughout. According to MedlinePlus, general anesthesia is delivered through a vein and by inhaled gases, and breathing is supported with a tube during the procedure. The incisions are placed inside the mouth and, when the arch is addressed, in a short line within the sideburn hair, so visible scarring on the face itself is usually avoided.

Osteotomy: where the cuts go and why placement matters

Cut placement is the part surgeons spend the most time planning, because the bone is not equally thick everywhere and important structures pass nearby.

The front cut runs through the zygomatic body, typically in an L-shaped or I-shaped pattern. An L-shaped osteotomy follows the junction between the cheekbone and the upper jaw, with a short vertical limb and a longer horizontal one. It allows the surgeon to remove a controlled strip of bone and then slide the segment inward so the edges meet cleanly. An I-shaped or single-line cut is simpler and moves the bone by rotation rather than by removing a strip. Which pattern is chosen depends on how much narrowing is planned and where the widest point of the face sits.

Two structures set the limits of that cut. The infraorbital nerve, which supplies feeling to the cheek, side of the nose and upper lip, exits the bone just below the eye socket, so the cut is kept well beneath it. The maxillary sinus, the air-filled cavity inside the upper jaw, lies immediately behind the thin bone here, which is why cuts are made with cooled, fine instruments and why a sinus lining may be exposed during surgery.

The back cut is made through the zygomatic arch, close to its root at the temporal bone. Here the concern is the temporal branch of the facial nerve, which runs across the arch on its way to the forehead muscles. Surgeons approach the arch through a small incision hidden in the sideburn and stay directly on the bone surface to keep the nerve out of the field.

Every osteotomy is a controlled fracture. Its edges will heal like any broken bone, which is the biological reason the fixation step exists.

Repositioning: how far the bone moves and what limits it

Once both cuts are complete, the surgeon holds a free segment of cheekbone. The movement that follows is small, planned in advance and mirrored on the other side.

Medial movement, toward the midline, is the main direction. At the front, the segment is pushed inward until the cut edges meet or overlap by a controlled amount. If a strip of bone was removed at the L-shaped cut, the width of that strip sets the amount of narrowing. At the back, the arch is pressed inward at its root so that it no longer bows outward, a maneuver often described as an in-fracture because the thin arch bends inward at a single point.

Some plans also add a slight backward or upward rotation of the body to soften forward projection. That is a different goal from narrowing, and the two are discussed separately during planning because they change the face in different ways.

What limits the movement? First, the bone edges must still touch. Bone heals across a gap only if that gap is very small; a segment moved too far leaves a step that may be felt or seen and heals poorly. Second, the soft tissue envelope, meaning the skin, fat and muscle over the cheek, has a fixed length. Move the bone too far inward and that envelope can lose its support, which is the mechanism behind the cheek sagging that surgeons discuss as a known risk. Third, symmetry. The segments on each side must move by matched amounts, checked against the pre-operative plan, since the eye is quick to notice even a small difference between the two cheeks.

Repositioning, then, is a compromise between the change a person hopes for and the change the bone and soft tissue can safely support.

Fixation: plates, screws and why bone needs to be held still

A cut bone heals in stages. Blood clot fills the gap, a soft scaffold forms, minerals are laid down and, over weeks to months, the bridge is remodeled into mature bone. That sequence only proceeds cleanly if the fragments do not move. Fixation is how surgeons enforce that stillness.

The front osteotomy is almost always fixed with a small plate and screws. The plate spans the cut, and screws anchor it into solid bone on each side. Titanium is the usual material because it is strong, does not trigger a significant tissue reaction and does not need to be removed unless it causes a problem. Resorbable plates made of polymers that dissolve over time exist as an alternative in some settings; whether they suit a particular case is a decision for the operating surgeon.

The back cut on the arch is thinner and under less load. Some surgeons fix it with a small plate or wire; others rely on the in-fractured arch wedging itself against surrounding bone and soft tissue. Either way, the arch is protected from pressure during early healing.

Fixation has consequences beyond healing. A well-placed plate keeps the segment exactly where it was set, which protects symmetry. A poorly placed or loosened plate can allow the segment to drift, producing a visible step or a slow sag. Occasionally a plate sits close enough to the surface to be felt through the skin, especially in people with thin cheek tissue. Infection around hardware is uncommon but possible, and if it occurs the plate may need to be removed once the bone has healed.

Patients often ask whether the plates set off airport scanners or interfere with future imaging. Small titanium facial plates generally do not trigger metal detectors and are considered safe for MRI, though you should always tell the imaging team they are present.

Osteotomy patterns and approaches compared

Different surgeons use different cut patterns, and the names can be confusing. The table below summarizes the common options in neutral terms. None is universally superior; the right choice depends on the shape of the face and the goals discussed at consultation.

Element	What it involves	Typical purpose	Points to discuss
L-shaped body osteotomy	Two connected cuts through the cheekbone body with a strip of bone removed	Reduces width and, if planned, projection	Amount of bone removed sets the change; requires plate fixation
I-shaped (single-line) osteotomy	One straight cut through the body	Narrowing by rotation without bone removal	Smaller change; edges may overlap and need contouring
Arch osteotomy with in-fracture	Cut near the arch root, arch pressed inward	Reduces the widest point of the mid-face	Facial nerve branch passes nearby; fixation may or may not be used
Intraoral approach	Incision inside the upper lip fold	Access to the body and front of the arch	No external scar; diet and oral hygiene matter during healing
Sideburn (preauricular) approach	Short incision within hair-bearing skin in front of the ear	Access to the back of the arch	Small hidden scar; temporary numbness of the temple is possible

Two patterns are frequently combined: a body osteotomy through the mouth plus an arch in-fracture through the sideburn. That pairing addresses both the front projection and the side width at once. If only width is the concern and the cheek body is not prominent, some plans address the arch alone.

Ask your surgeon to draw the planned cuts on your own scan. Seeing the pattern applied to your anatomy, rather than a diagram, tends to make the trade-offs concrete.

Who a zygoma reduction procedure is usually for, and who is asked to wait

The people for whom this operation is generally discussed share a specific anatomy: cheekbones that project forward or flare outward more than the rest of the face, so that the mid-face reads as the widest part. The concern is bony, not a matter of fullness in the soft tissue, and it has been stable for years rather than changing.

Surgeons also look for things that have nothing to do with the bone. Facial growth should be complete, which is why the operation is not offered to adolescents. General health needs to allow a general anesthetic; conditions that affect bleeding, wound healing or bone metabolism will be weighed carefully. Smoking impairs blood supply to healing tissue and most surgical teams ask for it to stop well before surgery.

Expectations matter as much as anatomy. The NHS advises anyone considering cosmetic surgery to be clear about why they want it, to seek a consultation without pressure and to give themselves time to reflect before committing. A zygoma reduction procedure alters a few millimeters of bone; it does not change how a person is treated by others or resolve unhappiness with life more broadly.

Some people are asked to wait or are advised against surgery. That includes anyone whose distress about their appearance is out of proportion to what others see, a pattern that may reflect body dysmorphic disorder. Mayo Clinic describes this condition as intense preoccupation with a perceived flaw that others cannot see or consider minor, and notes that cosmetic procedures do not typically relieve that distress and can worsen it. A referral for assessment is not a rejection; it is part of safe care.

People planning pregnancy, those with active dental or sinus infection, and anyone recently bereaved or under acute stress are commonly asked to defer as well.

Before surgery: imaging, measurement and the plan

The operation is planned on bone, so the planning begins with pictures of bone. A CT scan of the face is standard. It shows the thickness of the zygomatic body, the exact course of the arch, the position of the infraorbital nerve canal and the size of the maxillary sinus behind the planned cut. Many teams build a three-dimensional reconstruction from the scan and mark the proposed osteotomy lines on it.

Standardized photographs are taken from the front, both sides and from above. The overhead view is the one that most often prompted the consultation in the first place, and it is the view in which arch width is judged.

The consultation itself should cover four things in plain terms. What will be cut and how far the bone will move. What will be fixed and with what. Which risks apply to your anatomy in particular, for example a large sinus or thin cheek tissue. And what result is realistic, with the surgeon explaining what cannot be achieved as clearly as what can.

Pre-operative checks follow the same pattern as other elective operations under general anesthesia: a health questionnaire, blood tests where indicated and a review of every medicine and supplement you take. Some medicines and herbal products affect bleeding or interact with anesthesia. Do not stop or change anything on your own; tell the team what you take and follow their specific instructions.

A dental check is sensible because the intraoral incision sits above the upper teeth and a hidden infection there can complicate healing. Finally, arrange the practical side: someone to take you home, a few days off work and soft food in the house.

The day of surgery: anesthesia and what happens in the operating room

You will be asked not to eat or drink for a set period before the anesthetic, a rule that exists to keep the stomach empty and the airway safe. The anesthesia team meets you beforehand to review your history, explain the plan and answer questions.

General anesthesia is induced through a small cannula in a vein and maintained with a combination of intravenous drugs and inhaled agents. Mayo Clinic explains that during general anesthesia you are unconscious, do not feel pain and have no memory of the operation, while the team continuously monitors heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen level and breathing. A breathing tube is placed once you are asleep; because the surgeon works inside the mouth, it is usually routed through the nose so the oral field stays clear.

The surgical steps follow the plan: local anesthetic with a blood-vessel-constricting agent is infiltrated to reduce bleeding, the intraoral incision is made in the fold above the upper teeth, the cheekbone body is exposed while protecting the infraorbital nerve, and the front osteotomy is completed. Through the sideburn incision the arch is exposed and cut. The segment is repositioned, symmetry is checked against the opposite side and the plan, and the plates and screws are placed. The incisions are closed with dissolving sutures inside the mouth and fine sutures or clips in the hair.

Operating time varies with the pattern used and whether both body and arch are addressed. A compression dressing or elastic garment around the head and cheeks is often applied to limit swelling and support the soft tissue.

You wake in a recovery area. Nausea, a sore throat from the breathing tube and a feeling of tightness across the face are common in the first hours and are managed by the team.

Malar reduction recovery time: what the days and weeks usually look like

Recovery after cheekbone surgery has two overlapping timelines: the visible one, driven by swelling, and the invisible one, driven by bone healing. The figures below are typical ranges described by surgical teams for elective facial bone surgery, not promises, and your own team will give you a schedule based on what was done.

The first three days are the swollen days. Puffiness builds after surgery and usually peaks around day two or three before starting to recede. Bruising may track down toward the jaw. Mouth opening feels stiff because the chewing muscles attached to the arch have been handled. Cold compresses, sleeping with the head elevated and a soft, cool diet are the standard supports. Pain is generally described as aching and tight rather than sharp, and is managed with medicines the team prescribes; follow their instructions and do not add anything without asking.

Over the first two weeks most of the dramatic swelling settles, the head dressing is removed, sutures in the hairline come out and many people feel presentable in ordinary company. Oral hygiene matters throughout: gentle rinsing after meals keeps the intraoral incision clean while it heals.

Bone healing runs on a slower clock. Early bridging across the osteotomy takes roughly six weeks, and full consolidation continues for months. During that window the cheek should be protected from pressure and impact: no contact sports, no sleeping face-down, no chewing very hard foods. Residual firmness and mild swelling in the cheek can persist for several months as the soft tissue settles onto the new bone position.

The final shape is judged only after that settling is complete. The NHS notes that recovery from cosmetic surgery varies widely and that you should have a clear follow-up plan before you leave the hospital.

Zygomatic arch reduction risks and complications, explained neutrally

Every operation carries risk. Here the risks fall into three groups: those common to any surgery under general anesthesia, those specific to cutting facial bone, and those specific to the cheek.

General surgical risks include bleeding, hematoma (a collection of blood under the skin), infection, poor wound healing and reactions to anesthesia. Mayo Clinic notes that serious complications from general anesthesia are uncommon in otherwise healthy people but that existing medical conditions, smoking and certain medicines increase risk.

Bone-specific risks follow from the osteotomy itself. Nonunion means the cut edges fail to heal together; malunion means they heal in the wrong position. Either can leave a palpable or visible step at the cut line. A plate may loosen, become infected or be felt through thin skin, and may need removal. Because the maxillary sinus lies behind the front cut, sinus irritation or, rarely, a persistent communication with the mouth can occur.

Cheek-specific risks are the ones most often discussed at consultation. Numbness of the cheek, upper lip or side of the nose reflects bruising of the infraorbital nerve; it is usually temporary but can occasionally persist. Weakness of the forehead on one side reflects injury to the temporal branch of the facial nerve near the arch, again usually temporary. Sagging of the cheek soft tissue can follow if the bony support is reduced more than the skin envelope can take up, and this risk rises with age and with larger movements. Asymmetry between the two sides is possible whenever paired bones are moved. Limited mouth opening usually improves as muscle soreness resolves, but prolonged stiffness has been reported.

Ask your surgeon which of these apply most to your anatomy, and how each would be managed if it occurred. A candid answer is a good sign.

Alternatives to cheekbone reduction surgery

Not every concern about facial width needs bone cut. Before committing, it is worth understanding what else exists and what each can and cannot do, so the decision is made on evidence rather than on the assumption that surgery is the only route.

The first alternative is no intervention. Facial proportions that feel prominent in some photographs may look entirely ordinary in others, and the overhead angle that exaggerates arch width is one most people rarely see. A period of reflection, which the NHS specifically recommends before any cosmetic procedure, costs nothing but time.

Soft-tissue approaches address the cheek envelope rather than the bone. Reducing fullness in the lower cheek, for instance by removing buccal fat, changes the lower contour and can alter how the cheekbone reads without touching it. Adding volume to the temple or jawline with fillers or fat can rebalance proportions by building up adjacent areas so the cheekbone appears less dominant. These options do not narrow the bone; they change the frame around it, and fillers are temporary.

Bone shaving, sometimes called burring, removes a thin surface layer from the cheekbone without cutting it free. It can soften a sharp edge or a small bump but cannot move the arch inward, because the arch is thin and there is little to remove. It is sometimes combined with an osteotomy rather than used instead of one.

Orthognathic surgery, the repositioning of the jaws, is a different operation for a different problem and is not a substitute, though the two are occasionally planned together when the bite and the mid-face both need attention.

Which path, if any, fits your situation is a conversation for a qualified surgical team who can examine you in person.

What people often get wrong about the zygoma reduction procedure

A few misunderstandings come up repeatedly, and correcting them changes how people weigh the decision.

“The bone is shaved smaller.” It is cut and moved. Shaving alone cannot narrow the arch, because the arch is already thin. Understanding that the operation is an osteotomy explains why plates, screws and a bone-healing timeline are involved.

“Once the swelling is gone, that is the result.” Early swelling clears within weeks, but soft tissue continues to settle over the repositioned bone for months, and bone remodels for longer still. Judging the outcome early can lead to disappointment or, worse, to requests for revision before the true shape has emerged.

“It will make my face look smaller overall.” It changes the widest point of the mid-face by millimeters. The lower jaw, forehead width and soft-tissue fullness are unchanged, and in some faces narrowing the cheek makes the jaw look relatively broader. Good planning looks at the whole face, not one bone.

“Sagging is a rare freak event.” Soft-tissue descent is a recognized mechanical consequence of reducing the skeletal support under a fixed skin envelope. Its likelihood depends on age, skin quality and how far the bone moves, which is why surgeons often recommend smaller movements in older patients.

“Plates have to come out.” Titanium plates are usually left in place permanently unless they cause a problem such as infection or palpability.

“If I dislike it, it can simply be reversed.” Revision surgery is possible but is more complex than the first operation, because scar tissue, healed bone and existing hardware all have to be managed. The safest revision is the one that is never needed, which argues for careful planning and realistic goals at the outset.

Questions to ask your care team before deciding

A good consultation is a two-way exchange. The NHS advises that you should feel free to ask a cosmetic surgeon about their training, how often they perform the specific procedure and what would happen if something went wrong. Applied to cheekbone surgery, the following questions tend to draw out the information that matters most.

• Which osteotomy pattern do you plan for me, and why that one rather than the alternatives?
• Can you show me the planned cuts and movement on my own CT scan?
• How many millimeters do you intend to move the bone on each side, and how will you check symmetry during the operation?
• Will you fix both the front cut and the arch, and with what material?
• Given my age and skin quality, how do you assess my risk of soft-tissue sagging, and does that change what you recommend?
• Where exactly will the incisions be, and how will they be closed?
• Which anesthesia team will care for me, and where will I recover?
• What is your plan if there is numbness, forehead weakness or asymmetry afterward, and how long would you wait before considering any revision?
• What activities, foods and sleeping positions should I avoid, and for how long?
• How will follow-up be arranged, and who do I contact out of hours?
• Is there anything about my health, medicines or habits that makes you hesitant, and what would you want changed first?

Write the answers down. If anything is unclear or feels rushed, a second consultation, with the same surgeon or another, is a reasonable step. No one should feel pressured into elective surgery on the face, and a team confident in its plan will welcome careful questions.

When to call your doctor after zygoma reduction surgery

Most of the early course after this operation is uncomfortable but expected: swelling, bruising, stiffness on opening the mouth and dull aching that eases day by day. Some signs are different, and they warrant a call to your surgical team the same day rather than waiting for the next scheduled appointment.

Contact your team promptly if you notice swelling that is increasing rapidly on one side, especially if it is tense, hot or accompanied by worsening pain; this can indicate bleeding under the skin that needs assessment. Call about fever, spreading redness, foul-smelling discharge from the mouth incision or from the hairline wound, or a bad taste that persists, all of which can signal infection. Report any new weakness of the forehead or eyebrow, an eye that does not close fully, or numbness that spreads or deepens rather than slowly improving. A visible shift in cheek shape, a new step you can feel along the bone, or a clicking sensation when you chew may mean the fixed segment has moved.

Seek emergency care immediately, without waiting to reach your surgeon, for difficulty breathing, swelling of the tongue or throat, chest pain, a calf that becomes painful and swollen, sudden severe headache, confusion or fainting. These are rare after facial bone surgery but are the situations in which minutes matter.

Vision changes deserve their own mention. Because the cheekbone forms part of the eye socket floor and rim, any blurring, double vision or a feeling of pressure behind the eye after surgery should be reported urgently.

Keep your team’s contact details and the out-of-hours number somewhere easy to find before you go home. When in doubt, call; a reassuring conversation is far better than a missed problem, and every decision about what to do next rests with the clinicians who know exactly what was done.

Frequently asked questions

What is a zygoma reduction procedure?

It is a facial bone operation, also called reduction malarplasty, that narrows or reduces the projection of the cheekbones. The surgeon cuts the zygomatic bone at planned points, moves the freed segment inward and slightly back, and fixes it with small plates and screws while it heals. Incisions are placed inside the mouth and within the sideburn hairline. It is performed under general anesthesia.

How is cheekbone reduction done, step by step?

In three stages. First, osteotomy: the bone is cut through the cheekbone body near the upper jaw and through the arch near the ear. Second, repositioning: the mobile segment is slid or rotated toward the midline, with a thin strip of bone sometimes removed so the edges meet. Third, fixation: plates and screws hold the pieces still so the bone knits in the new position.

What is the typical malar reduction recovery time?

Surgical teams generally describe swelling peaking within the first three days and mostly settling over about two weeks, while early bone healing across the cuts takes roughly six weeks and full consolidation continues for months. Soft tissue keeps settling onto the new bone for several months, so the final shape is not judged early. These are typical ranges, not promises; your team will give you a personal schedule.

What are the main zygomatic arch reduction risks?

Recognized risks include temporary or occasionally persistent numbness of the cheek and upper lip, weakness of the forehead from irritation of a facial nerve branch, asymmetry between sides, a palpable step at the cut, nonunion or shifting of the bone, hardware infection or prominence, sinus irritation, and sagging of cheek soft tissue. General risks of surgery and anesthesia, such as bleeding and infection, also apply.

Does cheekbone reduction surgery leave visible scars?

Usually not on the visible face. The main incision sits inside the mouth in the fold above the upper teeth, and the arch is reached through a short incision hidden in the hair-bearing skin in front of the ear. Scars in those locations are typically concealed once healed, though the hairline incision can leave a small mark and temporary numbness of the temple.

Will the plates and screws need to be removed later?

Generally no. Titanium miniplates used in facial bone surgery are designed to stay in place permanently and are considered compatible with MRI scanning, though you should always tell imaging staff they are present. Removal is considered only if a plate becomes infected, loosens or can be felt uncomfortably through the skin, and only after the bone has healed.

Can cheekbones be reduced without cutting the bone?

Only to a limited degree. Bone shaving, or burring, removes a thin surface layer and can soften a sharp edge, but it cannot move the zygomatic arch inward because the arch is already thin. Soft-tissue options such as reducing lower cheek fullness or adding volume to adjacent areas change the frame around the cheekbone rather than the bone itself, and fillers are temporary.

Why does my mouth feel stiff after cheekbone surgery?

Two chewing muscles are involved with the arch: the masseter attaches to its lower edge and the temporalis passes beneath it. Handling the arch during surgery leaves these muscles bruised and sore, so opening the mouth feels tight for a time. Stiffness usually eases as the muscles recover, and your team may suggest gentle stretching once healing allows. Report stiffness that worsens or persists.

Who should not have a zygoma reduction procedure?

It is not offered to adolescents whose facial growth is incomplete, and it is approached cautiously in anyone with conditions affecting bleeding, wound healing or bone metabolism, active dental or sinus infection, or who smokes. People whose distress about their appearance is out of proportion to what others see may be referred for assessment of body dysmorphic disorder first, since cosmetic surgery does not typically relieve that distress.

Can the results of cheekbone reduction be reversed?

Revision is possible but more complex than the original operation, because healed bone, scar tissue and existing plates all have to be managed, and restoring width may require grafts or implants rather than simply undoing the cuts. This is why careful planning, realistic goals and a period of reflection before surgery matter so much. Discuss the revision pathway with your surgeon before deciding.

References

• MedlinePlus: Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery
• MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: General anesthesia
• NHS: Cosmetic surgery

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.