What to do before your procedure?

At your initial consultation with Dr. Marciales, he will discuss your medical history and receive a physical exam. You must be healthy and have realistic goals for your procedure. Dr. Marciales will make recommendations based on his expectations and general health. In some cases, a smaller procedure may be enough to satisfy the goals of it.

Explanation of the procedure:

Bichat Balls, also known as Buccal Fat Balls (BGH), are very defined anatomical structures that are highly relevant in the contour of the cheeks and therefore, in the middle and lower region of the face.

Bichat fat balls are a fatty accumulation that is located inside the cheeks, located between the masseter muscle and the buccinator muscle, on each side of the face.

What can I expect from a bichectomy procedure?

The objective of the Bichat balls extraction is to reduce the width of the cheeks, highlight the cheekbones and refine the face.

The extraction of the Bichat balls in an appropriate way and in the indicated cases (eg round or oval faces), results in surprising changes in facial symmetry, accentuating the cheekbones, giving a more attractive facial appearance and providing greater luminosity to the areas malars. It is a very well defined anatomical structure with an important relevance in the contour of the cheeks, and therefore in the middle and lower area of ​​the face.

Post operation:

Given the simplicity and speed of the operation, the postoperative period of a bichectomy is usually not very painful and recovery tends to be quick if the recommendations indicated by the surgeon are followed in terms of hygiene, medication intake and diet.

After the surgical intervention, the patient will have to maintain the compression bandage that the surgeon will have placed for a couple of hours. The main function of this bandage is to reduce the appearance of bruises, as well as reduce the swelling that the operation will cause in the patient’s face. This does not mean that it does not swell, but with the compression band it will swell less than without it. That same night he will also have to sleep with his head slightly raised.

During the two days following the intervention, cold bandages should be applied to the face, specifically, to the cheek area. It is normal for you to notice the area more inflamed than the day before and for your cheeks to feel “hard”. These symptoms will pass in about 7-10 days, maybe sooner.

If you have not taken antibiotics before surgery, after the operation you will start taking them. The surgeon will also prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce the normal swelling that occurs after the intervention. Both antibiotics and anti-inflammatories should be taken for about 5-7 days, according to medical prescription. From the day of the bichectomy, the patient must follow a special diet that will be provided by the surgeon, a diet that will help recovery. In this way, after the operation the patient will be able to drink only liquids.

When the doctor decides so, he can introduce soft foods that complement the diet. Likewise, from the day after the end of the surgery he will have to increase oral cleanliness, especially every time he drinks liquids and food. This will reduce the risk of infection. During the first 24 hours you will not be able to rinse your mouth. After two days, the doctor will recommend rinsing with salt water twice a day for a week. After 2 or 3 days you can go back to work.

After a week you can introduce other foods, always following the recommendations indicated by the doctor. It will be then when the patient goes to the surgeon’s office for revision. If the stitches that the doctor has placed are not absorbable, the doctor will remove them from the inside of the mouth and check that the recovery follows its natural course, that is, that there is no infection and that the incisions heal correctly.

After two weeks the patient will be able to resume most of the habits that they had before surgery, such as practicing physical exercise, and even smoking, although they could also take advantage of the bichectomy to put an end to this bad habit. As we have already mentioned, despite the use of a compression band for a few hours, it is normal for the face to be swollen for a few weeks, so the patient will not be able to admire the results until a month has passed, which will be when the face has recovered its normal appearance.

This surgical treatment will allow the face to be slimmer and refine and stylize facial features. Your face will have a more harmonious and balanced appearance with the rest of the body.

What are the risks?

Although it is a simple procedure, like any other surgery there is a possibility of complications. Perhaps the most common is dissatisfaction with the results, since many times the procedure may not be suitable for those who are not an appropriate procedure due to their facial characteristics.

Facial features can also cause certain individuals to have a prematurely aged or skeletonized appearance of the face over time. This is why patients should go to surgeons who have a lot of experience with this procedure.

Other less common consequences are those involved in the surgical procedure itself. Due to the proximity of the Bichat fat balls to various anatomical structures, there is a certain risk of injuring them, producing important complications, such as facial paralysis and facial pain when the facial nerve is injured, hemorrhage due to damage to the facial artery, or an alteration in the secretion of saliva by injuring the excretory duct of one of the major salivary glands, called the parotid gland. However, in the hands of Dr. Martial, the risk of occurrence of these complications is extremely low.

Call +664 388 0147 for more information or to make an appointment.