Will the Face Look Longer After Cheekbone Reduction Surgery?

Hello, this is Dr. Jo Hyun-woo from 3D Plastic Surgery Clinic.

Today, I’d like to talk about the question that people who come in for consultations ask most often.

"Will cheekbone surgery make the face look longer?"

Cheekbone reduction surgery is an operation that pushes protruding cheekbones inward to reduce the width of the face.

Many people worry that their face may look longer after cheekbone surgery, but this is actually related to facial proportions.

If you know the ideal proportions of the face, you can predict in advance whether your face will look longer after surgery.

When the face is divided into ideal proportions of 1:1:1, it is considered the most ideal face.

The facial division in East Asians is slightly different, with a preference for a somewhat smaller lower face at around 1:1:0.8.

In particular, textbooks also mention that for a long face, cheekbone surgery may make the face look even longer.

If someone has a narrow facial width but prominent cheekbones, their face was already relatively long vertically before surgery, so if cheekbone reduction surgery significantly reduces the width, the face is more likely to appear longer.

Does that mean people with this facial type should not have cheekbone surgery?

Not necessarily.

When looking at facial width, the width of both temples and the width of the ears are also very important factors.

In reality, reducing the cheekbones does not necessarily make the face look longer; rather, you can think of it as refining a rough facial line.

Let me show you cases of patients who actually underwent cheekbone reduction surgery.

Long chin: square jaw surgery, chin surgery

First, it is important to check which part of the face looks long.

If the main cause of the face looking long is the lower jaw and chin, then square jaw surgery and chin surgery can reduce the length of the lower face and lessen the tendency for the face to look large and long.

However, if someone has a long face and no cheek volume at all, but only the cheekbones protrude, it is important to be careful because reducing the cheekbones too much may make them look older.

If the main reason is that the midface is long, orthognathic surgery may also be considered.

Long face: cheekbone reduction surgery, square jaw surgery, chin surgery

This patient had not only prominent cheekbones but also a developed lower jaw.

You can see that the long, rough facial shape before surgery changed into a smaller, more refined shape after cheekbone reduction surgery, square jaw surgery, and chin surgery.

230-degree three-dimensional cheekbone reduction surgery (resorbable pins)

This patient had a protruding side cheekbone, resulting in a rough facial line.

As the width of the cheekbones was reduced, the facial line became more refined and the face looked softer.

You can see that there is no feeling at all that the face looks longer.

230-degree three-dimensional cheekbone reduction surgery (resorbable pins)

The amount by which cheekbone reduction surgery can reduce cheekbone width is about 1 cm in total for women and about 1.5 cm for men.

That may seem like a very small amount, but in terms of facial width, it is a reduction of about 6–7%, so from the front, you can still feel that the face looks slimmer and the facial line becomes more refined.

However, this is not an absolute amount that would make the face look long, so there is no need to worry. Since facial proportions are not determined only by cheekbone width, there is even less reason to worry.

So far, I have explained whether the face looks longer after cheekbone reduction surgery, using cases as examples.

People whose faces look long usually do not have prominent cheekbones.

Therefore, if you think your cheekbones look large, there is a high chance that your face does not actually look long.

Also, if the lower jaw is developed and makes the face look long, combining square jaw surgery and chin surgery can make the face look shorter enough, so it would be good to consider surgery while taking various factors into account.

Thank you.