Contact & consultation

Arranging an assessment

Outpatient appointments are booked through the hospital on the numbers below; international patients can ask for Michael Yu. Bring a note of what you notice and when it started, whether the two sides of your face have always differed, whether you have ever injured your cheekbone, whether you clench or grind your teeth, and any previous facial treatment or surgery. Each of those changes the plan rather than the conversation around it.

What the consultation should establish

Whether the cheekbone is producing the width at all, and if so which part of it: the body beside the nose, the arch behind it, or both. How thick the bone is along the planned line and where the zygomatic branch of the facial nerve runs. Whether the two sides differ in a way that needs to be planned for separately. And what the soft tissue of the midface is likely to do once part of its support has been removed.

The questions worth asking

Is the cheekbone the cause of the width, or is it the muscle, the fat, or the proportions above it? What does the imaging show about how thick the bone is and how much can safely be moved? Where does the nerve run in my case, and what would a weakness around the eye mean? How much support can the cheek lose before it descends, and how would you judge that in advance? What would you do if it turned out to be too much? A surgeon who can answer the last question is planning conservatively, which is what this operation requires.

Before you commit

No decision needs to be made at the first appointment, and for this operation the imaging usually has to be seen before a plan is meaningful. Take the plan away, read it against the guides on this site, and come back with questions. A discount that expires, or pressure to book before imaging has been reviewed, is information about the clinic rather than about your face.