Cheekbone implant

Yes. A solid cheek implant is permanent, unlike fat transfer, which lasts several years, or filler, which resorbs. It can be removed or exchanged surgically, but removal after many years can leave a contour depression where the implant has eroded bone and the soft tissue has contracted around it.

They do different things. An implant gives fixed, permanent projection to the skeleton; fat grafting gives softer soft-tissue volume that partly resorbs. A 2023 study of 152 transfeminine patients undergoing malar augmentation reported 97.7% satisfaction with implants against 87% with fat transfer, and concluded implants are the more permanent option where major malar enhancement is needed, with fat still useful for minor augmentation.

Usually not. The most common approach puts the incision inside the upper lip, so there is no external scar at all. A lower-eyelid approach leaves a fine line beneath the lash line, generally inconspicuous, but it carries a risk of lid malposition.

Most people return to non-physical work within the first week, once the worst of the swelling has passed. Visible swelling and redness take 2 to 4 weeks to resolve, and strenuous exercise or heavy lifting stays restricted for several weeks after that.

Displacement is a recognised complication and a leading reason for revision surgery. Fixing the implant to bone with a screw or suture is intended to prevent it — a review of silicone facial implants found displacement in 2.5% of fixated and 1.98% of non-fixated cases, while overall complication rates were substantially lower with fixation.

At Vanity an all-in cheekbone implant package sits between €2,500 and €4,500, depending on whether one or both implant positions are addressed and what else is done in the same operation. For comparison, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports an average US surgeon fee of $3,876 for cheek implants — a fee that excludes anaesthesia, facility, implants, tests and prescriptions, so a realistic US total is well above it.

A malar implant sits over the cheekbone itself and builds the angle and width of the bony prominence. A submalar implant sits lower, filling the hollow beneath the cheekbone in a gaunt or volume-depleted midface. Both can be combined in one operation where you need definition and volume together.

We ask for 10 days in Istanbul where possible, and 7 at the earliest — the guidance the American Society of Plastic Surgeons gives, as reproduced in the CDC Yellow Book, is 7 to 10 days after facial surgery before flying. The reason is not wound drainage but swelling, being reachable if an early infection or malposition declares itself, and clotting risk: the CDC notes that surgery and air travel each raise the risk of DVT and pulmonary embolism, and that flying soon after surgery compounds it.

We ask that you are in good general health, at a stable weight, and off nicotine entirely — smoking and vaping impair healing and raise the risk of infection and implant exposure around a permanent device. We will postpone or decline surgery for an active infection anywhere, and especially an untreated dental or sinus infection near the implant pocket; for uncontrolled diabetes; for a bleeding or clotting disorder, or anticoagulant medication that cannot be safely paused; and for a condition or treatment that suppresses your immune system. The facial skeleton also needs to be fully grown. And if the real complaint is descended skin rather than a flat cheekbone, we will say so — an implant is the wrong operation for that.

Call us for a fever over 38°C, redness or warmth spreading across the cheek, discharge or a foul taste from the incision inside the mouth, pain that gets worse after the third day instead of better, sudden one-sided swelling, or a change you can see — the cheek shifting shape or an implant edge becoming visible or mobile. Do not wait for a scheduled review, and do not assume you are in the clear once you are home: in FDA adverse-event data the median time for a malar implant problem to declare itself is 55 days after surgery, and infection is the single most common complaint. We are reachable for twelve months — we would far rather hear about something that turns out to be nothing.

No. An implant changes the skeleton — it adds projection and width to the bone — but it does not reposition soft tissue that has descended. If jowling or loose midface skin is the actual complaint, an implant under lax skin can even make the drop more visible, and a midface lift or facelift is the honest answer. Where volume loss and mild descent occur together, a submalar implant can restore the hollow beneath the cheekbone, and we will tell you plainly in planning which problem your face actually has.

Often, yes. Bacteria on the surface of an implant sit in a biofilm that antibiotics alone rarely clear, so while an early, superficial cellulitis of the cheek may settle on antibiotics, an established infection around the implant is usually treated by removing it, letting the tissue quieten for a few months, and placing a new one later — not by trying to sterilise the device in place. Infection is the most frequently reported adverse event in this operation and it tends to declare itself weeks after surgery rather than days, which is why you fly home with the operative note and the implant's make, model, size and lot number, and why we stay reachable for twelve months.

€2,500 to €4,500 with us, confirmed after a consultation rather than quoted blind. For comparison it is typically £4,000 – £7,000 in the United Kingdom and $5,000 – $10,000 in the United States. Implant size and shape set the figure, along with whether fat transfer is combined to blend the edges into the surrounding face.