Facial Implant - Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Our cosmetic surgery medical malpractice lawyers deal with claims for financial compensation arising out of negligent behaviour before during or after facial implant surgery If you believe that your treatment, including disclosure of risk, surgical procedure or subsequent aftercare was less than adequate and amounted to negligent action on the part of a healthcare professional, please use the contact form or email our offices and a specialist medical malpractice lawyer will call you on the telephone, at your convenience, to discuss your potential damages claim for negligent facial implant surgery. Our medical malpractice lawyers specialise in cases involving negligent cosmetic surgery and they offer a free consultation with no further obligation. You will receive detailed legal advice over the telephone and they will give their views on liability and the estimated value of your potential facial implant negligence claim there and then.

Cosmetic or Reconstructive

Facial implants can include cheek implants, jaw implants or chin implants. They are used to enhance specific features of your face so that they change the shape of your face in certain ways. The surgery is generally an elective surgery done for cosmetic reasons although it can be done in cases where reconstructive surgery needs to be done when there has been injury to the face. Facial implants are performed by plastic or "cosmetic" surgeons.

As it is usually an elective surgery, you need to be in good physical health and good emotional health so you can tolerate the change in your face. You won't look like someone else but you will have certain features on your face enhanced. Talk to the doctor about what features you would like to see in your face and how you think implants will help you. Your doctor may have a computer program in order to get a sense of what your face will look like with implants in. You may have other surgeries you need or want to have done at the same time so mention this to your doctor. Tell your doctor about any dental problems you might have.

Local or General Anaesthetic

You may have local anesthesia and sedation or general anesthesia when your doctor puts in the implants. It all depends on the doctor’s comfort level, your health and where the implant is going. Most facial implants are done as an outpatient at a free standing surgical clinic, office-based surgery suite or hospital. It takes about one to two hours to put in a pair of implants into any one of three areas.

Lower Jaw

The first implant type is the lower jaw implant. An incision is made inside the lower lip and inserts are placed along the lower jaw line. Dissolvable sutures are then placed within the lower lip and you heal within a week or two. It takes up to two hours to complete the procedure.

Cheek

The second implant procedure is the cheek implant. Incisions are made in the upper part of the lip on the inside or into your lower eyelid area. The implant is placed and sutures are used to close the incision. The third type of implant is the chin implant. It is done through a lower lip incision or an incision placed beneath your chin. It takes half an hour or up to an hour to perform the chin implant.

Chin

Chin implants, cheek implants or jaw implants are easy to recover from. It takes about a week to recover from this type of surgery during which time you should be at home recovering and not at work. Complications include infection, which can result in removal of the implant and replacement at a later date, bruising, swelling and hematoma formation. Bruising resolves within a few days and the swelling goes down sooner than that. Hematomas can persist for a long time and usually need local heat or excision of the hematoma in order to get rid of it. You can have nerve damage to the affected area if a nerve is involved in the implantation procedure. The nerve damage is usually temporary but can be permanent if a major nerve was disrupted.

After Care

If you are having facial implant surgery, you need to have plenty of ice at home to help take down the swelling. Freezer bags are good (or frozen peas) can make a difference, too. Have clean gauze and use any creams or ointments prescribed or recommended by your doctor. Have soft foods available and use mouthwash to keep your mouth clean as you recover. Most sutures are dissolvable so that you can expect them to go away within a week. Expect to eat soft foods for up to a week after surgery. This can include jell-O, ice cream, protein shakes and pudding. Protein shakes will enhance healing as well.

Implants - Medical Malpractice Lawyers

If you are unhappy with the outcome of any cosmetic surgery you should initially discuss your reservations with the surgeon who carried out the work to see if he has any proposals to rectify the problem. The surgeon may be willing to make a refund or may provide further corrective surgery. If you are unable to resolve the matter directly with the surgeon you should take advice from a medical malpractice lawyer with a view to claiming compensation. Our medical malpractice lawyers offer advice at no cost on liability and an estimate of the amount of compensation that you are likely to be awarded, with no charge and without obligation.

The author of the substantive medical writing on this website is Dr. Christine Traxler MD whose biography can be read here