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Sunken cheek after surgery and looking for answers

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Serra:
Since jaw surgery last year, I noticed my face looked gaunt. What I noticed only later on is that one of my cheeks looks normal whereas the other looks like it's wasting away. I had BSSRO and genioplasty.

I asked a 2nd surgeon about this and she said it's hard to say. I don't trust my original surgeon. I'm too young for this to be natural. Has anyone heard of anything like this?  :-[

Serra:
I just found out online it could be muscle atrophy due to denervated muscle. I'm devastated. Has anyone heard of this?

Lazlo:
i once had a blow to the side of my head and it left a very bad bruise. Several months later! There was an indentation and I thought it might be a dent in the bone, but it was actually the soft tissue had atrophied and fat had dissolved from that area. My doctor told me that happens sometimes when you receive a blow to the face or head area.

I think your problem might be asymmetry of the bones --in the sense that one side after the operation is draping the soft tissue in a different way.

Can you see a noticeable asymmetry in terms of how the mandible or maxilla is shaped on either side?

Serra:
The new surgeon said my chin area was naturally asymmetric and that's why my step-offs are different. The thing is, when I look at 3/4 view pictures before the surgery of the same gaunt cheek, it looks like my normal cheek - with soft tissue protruding outwards, not pulling inwards.  :-\

Did your indentation ever get better?

It might also be worth noting that ever since the jaw surgery, my normal cheek often has this pulsating feeling in it, like a very slow spasm. The gaunt cheek never had this sensation. Rarely, I've also had some pain near my jaw joint in the gaunt cheek after the surgery (upon opening my mouth) but don't anymore.

PloskoPlus:
We are all asymmetrical to various degree to begin with.  Unfortunately, advancing stuff may exacerbate any pre-existing asymmetry.

I had an LF1 advancement.  My right side was more recessed and was advanced 1 mm further than the left.  It looked fuller than the left for months and months after.  This was, of course, worse in the morning, because everyone has a more swollen face in the morning, jaw surgery aside.

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