If you’re often told that you have a “babyface,” it’s possible that you have large buccal fat pads in the middle of your cheeks. Everyone has buccal fat pads in the cheeks, but an enlarged buccal fat pad can affect your face shape, making your cheeks seem puffy and round. Dr. Jeffrey Lisiecki performs a highly personalized buccal fat pad removal in NYC to extract excess fat cells from the hollows beneath the cheekbones, making your face seem slimmer and more chiseled.
About Buccal Fat Pad Removal
What is buccal fat pad removal?
The buccal fat pad is the rounded mass of fat cells located in the middle of the cheek, just underneath the cheekbones. Everyone has buccal fat pads, but some people have larger buccal fat pads than others. The size and shape of the buccal fat pad determine the shape of your face. If you have extremely large buccal fat pads, your face might seem extremely large, rounded, or full, sort of like chipmunks.
Buccal fat pad removal is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that involves extracting excess fat cells from the cheeks. Also known as a buccal lipectomy or cheek reduction surgery, the procedure involves making an incision on the inside of the cheeks to extract excess fat cells. The surgeon reduces the volume of the buccal fat pads to make your cheeks look more defined, giving you sharper facial angles.
The benefits of buccal fat pad removal:
- Minimally invasive procedure performed through small incisions in the mouth
- No visible scars or incision marks on the cheeks
- Improves the angles of your face and cheeks
- Improves overall self-esteem and confidence
Candidates for buccal fat pad removal:
- Have a round and full face with excess fat pads in the cheeks
- Are in good physical and mental health
- Have realistic expectations from the buccal fat pad surgery
- Are nonsmokers or willing to stop smoking before the surgery
- Have sufficient excess fat cells in the cheeks
- Don’t have progressive hemifacial atrophy, which makes the skin on one side of the face shrink
Dr. Lisiecki’s buccal fat pad removal technique
Dr. Lisiecki performs buccal fat pad removal in NYC at his state-of-the-art surgical center under general anesthesia or under sedation with local anesthesia. During the procedure, the surgeon makes a small incision inside the cheek. The surgeon applies pressure on the outside of the cheek to expose the buccal fat pad, following which the excess fat cells are cut and removed. The incision is closed with dissolvable sutures, following which you can return home.
Recovery after a buccal fat pad removal
You will have to rinse your mouth with special mouthwash to prevent bacterial infections. You should be on a soft diet for a week. Your face might seem swollen and bruised for a few weeks, but that’s completely normal. You can resume most of your daily activities and work within a week, but the full recovery may take two to three weeks. Please follow the surgeon’s aftercare guidelines to ensure optimal recovery.
Schedule a consultation in Manhattan
Dr. Jeffrey Lisiecki is a fellowship-trained aesthetic plastic surgeon in New York City, specializing in cutting-edge plastic surgery techniques for the face, nose, breast, and body. Dr. Lisiecki maintains open channels of communication with all of his patients through every stage of the process — before, during, and after the surgery. He tailors each surgical plan according to the patient’s unique goals and anatomical considerations, ensuring natural results. Please schedule a consultation to explore your options for buccal fat pad removal in NYC.