1. Home
2. Facial Rejuvenation
3. Cheek Lift

Cheek Lift

Cheek Mid-Facelift Description

One of the earliest signs of aging occurs in the cheek, or mid-face. All of our faces are built with the skin on the exterior, muscles underneath, strategically positioned natural fat pads, and then bone. It is the minimal amount of "droop" to our cheek fat pad that produces the common cheek mid-face descent, often referred to as cheek "festoons." Continued gravity effects in this area also help to produce the prominent nasolabial folds (deep wrinkle between the edge of the nose and corner of the mouth), one of the most common areas of concern in patients seeking aesthetic facial rejuvenation. Without surgery, the nasolabial folds can only be addressed by injecting an absorbable collagen filler. This appearance can be one of the first signs of aging, and Dr. Bassin often times performs procedures on patients as young as 30-35 to address this problem. In order to fully understand the changes that take place, a patient is simply asked to place their finger on the cheek bone which sits under the outer corner of the eyes. Natural fat pads sit on this cheek bone, a position which Dr. Bassin commonly refers to as the "top of the mountain." Aging in this area causes the fat pad to slip from this location on the cheek bone, or top of the mountain, and produce an unsightly appearance. Dr. Bassin informs his patients that this area cannot be addressed with a traditional facelift, a procedure commonly performed to repair changes to the lower face, neck and jowl. Dr. Bassin is one of the few surgeons in the country who performs a cheek lift, scientifically known as the transconjunctival subperiosteal cheek mid-facelift. Dr. Bassin does not feel that placing a cheek implant is necessary to rejuvenate the cheeks, and does not perform cheek implantation, due to his aversion of placing foreign materials into the face that leaves the risk of infection or migration. Dr. Bassin is also averse to the procedure that drives a stitch from behind the hairline into the cheek, as he feels that this produces a "cat-eyed" look and is not a natural lift.

Cheek Mid-Facelift Procedure

During this procedure a 1 cm thick contact lens is positioned over the eye to protect the eyeball. This is to prevent the possibility of any mishap to the eye. An incision is placed on the inside of the lower eyelid. Surgery is then continued over the cheek bone, down to the area of the nasolabial fold, where the attachments between the skin and muscle which contribute to the prominence of this fold, are relieved. The entire cheek mid-face unit is then elevated, and reattached to the corner of the eye, onto the bone. As a result of this procedure, the cheek is lifted in a natural contour, and the cheek fat pad is placed back into its youthful position. Due to the approach that Dr. Bassin takes through the lower eyelid, visible incision lines are avoided, producing an "invisible incision" effect. Dr. Bassin also feels that this approach is the most natural, giving the cheek a lift in the direction from which it fell. This surgery can be performed in the hospital or at an outpatient surgical facility. The surgery takes approximately 90 minutes, and after the procedure the patient will have ice packs placed over the lower eyelids and cheek, and should expect to have bruising and swelling for up to one week. Patients are commonly seen six days after surgery for their first postoperative appointment. This procedure is commonly combined with a lower eyelid blepharoplasty.