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Facial Surgery / Re: Mentalis muscle resuspension
« Last post by KRTexas on February 03, 2012, 11:43:59 pm »I had surgery about 2 months ago to have my mentalis muscle reattached and resuspended.
My situation is a bit unique because my mentalis muscle was injured by a cut during an accident instead of from a chin implant insertion/removal.
Regardless of my circumstances, I'll share my experience with anyone considering this type of surgery.
First of all, I highly recommend Dr. Michael Yaremchuk:
http://www.dryaremchuk.com/english/index.htm
I turned to Dr. Yaremchuk because his credentials are impeccable (Chief of Craniofacial Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital, a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Harvard Medical School and the Program Director for Harvard's Plastic Surgery training program) + he was recommended to me by a highly knowledgable mentalis muscle expert.
I began by emailing Dr Y a detailed description of my injuries and photos of my face (FYI: I had other facial injuries from the accident, but will only list those regarding the mentalis muscle in this post).
Dr. Yaremchuk responded with a preliminary diagnosis and recommended surgery to resuspend my mentalis muscle. He also recommended that I schedule an in-person evaluation and also schedule any possible surgery.
I made the appointment for an in-person evaluation but decided to postpone scheduling any surgery for a later time in order to have an opportunity to consider his recommendations and make a decision.
During the exam, Dr Y confirmed his original email diagnosis that my mentalis muscle needed to be resuspended. Dr Y also mentioned that because of the damage to my muscle, he might also need to use a chin implant to lift the mentalis in place in addition to using anchor ties for attaching it back to the bone.
Dr. Yaremchuk was very courteous and professional during the evaluation. He included another plastic surgeon during my exam, showed me diagrams of the muscle along with photos of previous before/after resuspension surgeries, and answered my questions in a very thorough clinical manner. He was also very honest. He told me that he could not make me look the way I did before the accident since he had to use my damaged parts. But he said he could make me look better than my present condition -- that surgery would enable my mouth stay to shut at rest so it would not droop or gape open anymore.
I was nervous about the prospect of surgery, but decided to trust Dr Y's skill & expertise.
Dr Y and his anesthesiologist met with me to discuss the procedure and answer questions before the surgery began. The nurses were caring and compassionate which helped to sooth my trepidation and fears before being wheeled in for surgery.
The surgery itself took 3 hours to perform. Since my mentalis muscle was severed in two by the cut, Dr Y stitched it back together prior to resuspending it with anchor ties to the bone. This portion of the surgery was done intra-orally. Dr Y determined that the damaged muscle needed to be further supported & inserted a very small chin pad to lift the mentalis into place. This portion of the surgery was done sub-mentally.
I had to stay overnight at the Boston Center (The Boston Center is where Dr. Yaremchuk offices and performs surgery) and was released the next morning. Post-op included using a chin strap, ice and medication for 3 days.
Recovery included a continuation of the chin strap and surgical tape for 3 weeks. I was on a soft food diet for the initial week and transitioned into more solid foods for about 3-4 weeks. The good part about this phase was that I lost 10 pounds!
It's been nearly two months later and I'm very happy with the results. Dr Y was correct that I don't look exactly the same as I did before the accident. But I look so much better than before the surgery. My mouth shuts at rest and doesn't droop or gape open. If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it exactly the same way. I absolutely have no regrets.
My situation is a bit unique because my mentalis muscle was injured by a cut during an accident instead of from a chin implant insertion/removal.
Regardless of my circumstances, I'll share my experience with anyone considering this type of surgery.
First of all, I highly recommend Dr. Michael Yaremchuk:
http://www.dryaremchuk.com/english/index.htm
I turned to Dr. Yaremchuk because his credentials are impeccable (Chief of Craniofacial Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital, a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Harvard Medical School and the Program Director for Harvard's Plastic Surgery training program) + he was recommended to me by a highly knowledgable mentalis muscle expert.
I began by emailing Dr Y a detailed description of my injuries and photos of my face (FYI: I had other facial injuries from the accident, but will only list those regarding the mentalis muscle in this post).
Dr. Yaremchuk responded with a preliminary diagnosis and recommended surgery to resuspend my mentalis muscle. He also recommended that I schedule an in-person evaluation and also schedule any possible surgery.
I made the appointment for an in-person evaluation but decided to postpone scheduling any surgery for a later time in order to have an opportunity to consider his recommendations and make a decision.
During the exam, Dr Y confirmed his original email diagnosis that my mentalis muscle needed to be resuspended. Dr Y also mentioned that because of the damage to my muscle, he might also need to use a chin implant to lift the mentalis in place in addition to using anchor ties for attaching it back to the bone.
Dr. Yaremchuk was very courteous and professional during the evaluation. He included another plastic surgeon during my exam, showed me diagrams of the muscle along with photos of previous before/after resuspension surgeries, and answered my questions in a very thorough clinical manner. He was also very honest. He told me that he could not make me look the way I did before the accident since he had to use my damaged parts. But he said he could make me look better than my present condition -- that surgery would enable my mouth stay to shut at rest so it would not droop or gape open anymore.
I was nervous about the prospect of surgery, but decided to trust Dr Y's skill & expertise.
Dr Y and his anesthesiologist met with me to discuss the procedure and answer questions before the surgery began. The nurses were caring and compassionate which helped to sooth my trepidation and fears before being wheeled in for surgery.
The surgery itself took 3 hours to perform. Since my mentalis muscle was severed in two by the cut, Dr Y stitched it back together prior to resuspending it with anchor ties to the bone. This portion of the surgery was done intra-orally. Dr Y determined that the damaged muscle needed to be further supported & inserted a very small chin pad to lift the mentalis into place. This portion of the surgery was done sub-mentally.
I had to stay overnight at the Boston Center (The Boston Center is where Dr. Yaremchuk offices and performs surgery) and was released the next morning. Post-op included using a chin strap, ice and medication for 3 days.
Recovery included a continuation of the chin strap and surgical tape for 3 weeks. I was on a soft food diet for the initial week and transitioned into more solid foods for about 3-4 weeks. The good part about this phase was that I lost 10 pounds!
It's been nearly two months later and I'm very happy with the results. Dr Y was correct that I don't look exactly the same as I did before the accident. But I look so much better than before the surgery. My mouth shuts at rest and doesn't droop or gape open. If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it exactly the same way. I absolutely have no regrets.