I keep going back and forth. They both seem good, but had slightly different approaches. Particularly DB wants to do some facial fat grafting whereas Mardirossian suggested cheek implants (which kinda scare me). But was interested to hear others opinions of either surgeon or their experience with cheek implants or fat grafting.
Trying to decide between DB and Mardirossian
I went to Mardirossian and did not consult with DB. I did consult with Keojampa, Rodman, Rolfes, and Mayer, though.
Mardirossian suggested implants for me from get-go because I actually had negative space in my cheeks -- they were hollow (I'm 40, btw). I got extra-large cheek implants, and I was going back and forth on it up until a week before surgery for the reasons mentioned in this thread, primarily possible infection. Dr. M takes every precaution to ensure they are not contaminated prior to or during surgery, and he mitigates movement of the implants by securing them to the skull.
I never considered fat grafting because the outcome is unknown and highly variable -- some people lose all the grafted fat. The recovery on the implants has been pretty easy, just some cheek soreness as the muscles get used to stretching over them. The body grows a bony capsule around the implant in time.
I'm just over 4 months post-op and the cheek implants have made a huge difference. I love them. Generally, by two weeks post-op, if you don't have an infection you're out of the woods. Mardirossian posted my timeline on his Instagram - I'm the woman with the nine photos of recovery from about a month ago.
Good luck with your decision!
Thank you for sharing that, I learned a lot more about cheek implants (well, at least by Mardirossian) than I knew before. Doesn't sound quite so scary!
Of course! With Dr. M you're rinsing with an antibiotic mouthwash day before and day of surgery, he doesn't open the implants until ready to insert them, then the implants soak in an antibiotic solution. Basically, it sounds like he's as careful as possible.
May I know what is the material of cheek implant?
Imo
Positives of cheek implants - the size you get is the size you get
Negatives of implants - potential for malpositioning, rejection/infection, they stay the same even if your facial structure changes
Positives of fat grafting - no rejection, changes relative and proportional to your face, most "natural" in terms of feel (since it's your face)
Negatives - resorption - you may not retain all of the fat - the fat retainment may be uneven, in rare cases the fat may migrate.
I went to DB and got fat grafting.
Thanks for the response. Were you pleased with your experience with DB and did the fat grafting make a positive difference for you?
I have been extremely pleased so far with my experience with DB at around 2.5 months out. So far I feel I've retained a significant amount of fat which was injected into my temples, lips, cheeks, beneath my eyes and near my naso-labial folds and I feel it's made a significant difference although of course it's hard to totally separate the fat grafting out from the rest of the things he did. I have some older before and afters here https://www.instagram.com/p/CEYNbWvHFG3/ and a whole bunch of photos through the whole healing process.
Every time you post that link, I stop and go look. What he did for your face and especially your profile is just really rather amazing.
*************** For no-tears-left - - be aware, fat grafting is a genuine "art form". It takes a lot of skill and training to get that right and then it still depends on the ability of the surgeon to have the (hate to use the word) "artistic" appreciation of what it will look like - - AFTER the 20-30% of the injected fat is re-absorbed. The beauty of the fat grafting (verses implants) is that one can always go back and enhance the fat grafting without another major operation.
Do you know how much fat he harvested?
50ml.
Where did he harvest the fat from? I'm kind of skinny do I'm curious, thanks.
From the inner thighs. Since it's only like 50cc it's not that hard for them to find enough.
I can't recommend Martirossian enough. I was one of his early patients and have a story on cheek implants.
His service was head and shoulders above the two other folks I spoke to (one being the guy he studied under). Everything was handled smoothly, quickly etc.
Implants story. I'm a trail runner and mountain bike. A few months after my op I was back in FL biking and crashes breaking my cheekbones. Crying, I called him at around 11pm after I got out of the woods. No problem with him, he saw me in his office the very next morning and fixed me up. Fix included cheek implants, there's absolutely no way anyone would recognise the difference between the broken and non broken sides. Breaking your cheeks is a very big ouch by the way.
I was incredibly happy with that level of service.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Do you like the implants look?
It looks exactly like my other cheek (without an implant) so yes very much so.
Fat grafting is better I think. Less invasive, more natural and faster healing.
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Interesting assessment. Keo is generally considered to be one of the best. What makes you think Mardirossian is better?
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From what I've seen, his foreheads and noses are great, but I haven't really seen good jaw/chin work from him (or most ffs surgeons for that matter). I ideally want a sleek jawline but most don't seem to do this
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Yeah sorry this happened. For some reason it seems many ffs surgeons just think making a jaw smaller is all that's needed for feminization. But that often just results in sagging and it completely ignores beauty standards since most female models/celebs have a very defined jaw shape. Have you looking into getting a partial face-lift to tighten the area back up? I've heard they are often very useful post ffs.
I've met a couple surgeons who don't like using fat to augment the cheeks. because of it's highly variable reabsorption rate and the inability to reverse it. With implants, there seem to be steps to mitigate infection, and if complications do occur, then you can easily take it out and let it heal.
IMO, cheek implants and facial fat grafting are typically unnecessary for younger people. It's supposed to be for old people who have volumized facial fat loss and bone loss. HRT should, in theory, give you a feminine distribution fat, and that's enough.
If you can afford DB, go to him. But I would not change anything except your forehead (if that’s an issue) you’re gorgeous and completely passable.
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