How Should Witch Chin Be Treated When You Smile?

Hello, I’m Dr. Jo Hyun-woo of 입체성형외과.

These days, I’d like to talk about a newly mentioned side effect of chin surgery that patients have been bringing up.

It’s called a witch chin.

Usually, it seems to be the term used by people who say that when they smile, the tip of the chin appears to drop downward.

A chin tip moving downward also occurs frequently in people who have not had surgery.

It is often felt this way by people who have a lot of muscle and soft tissue in the chin area.

If it occurs after surgery, the biggest cause can be said to be excessive bone removal.

If a person has a lot of muscle and soft tissue in the chin before surgery and undergoes a T osteotomy to reduce the chin volume or move it backward, or has a contouring procedure that excessively reduces the volume, this can still occur even if the muscle and periosteum are well repositioned onto the bone.

I have explained several times that the cause of sagging cheeks and sagging soft tissue is a reduction in volume.

Even if you want to remove a lot, if there is a lot of facial soft tissue or muscle, excessive removal is something you should reconsider.

Even if the bone has become much smaller, if there is a lot of soft tissue, it often does not show visually.

It seems most important to judge carefully before surgery, think about how much volume reduction is needed, and then decide.

So, going back to the beginning:

If a witch chin occurs because of surgery, how should it be corrected?

These days, various procedures such as muscle binding and muscle reduction are being performed.

In fact, if the skin is not excised, there are quite a few cases where even worse results can occur.

Therefore, I think the best way to resolve it is to restore the original bone condition.

When considering ways to increase volume,

• Improvement through chin advancement surgery 2. Improvement through bone grafting 3. Improvement through implant insertion

I think it is fine to simply think of these as three methods.

Because the above three methods move the bone forward, you may think they will make the face look longer or the chin look more prominent, but if the soft tissue is sagging downward, the feeling of forward projection is not very strong, so there is no need to worry too much.

In fact, there are not many people who want correction for a witch chin, but in theory, I think that a lack of volume should be solved by adding volume.

As I always say, during preoperative consultation, it is very important to determine in advance whether such a result could occur for you.

You may already have a witch chin, or if you have a lot of soft tissue or muscle, even if you want to reduce the length a lot, it is better to avoid surgery that excessively reduces volume.

Please make sure you know this in advance and receive consultation so that you can achieve a good result.

Thank you.