Need help with disappointing jaw surgery result
I’m from Belgium and had upper jaw surgery (zygomatic osteotomy) done in Antwerp.
I had it done to create more volume in my face (especially under my eyes) and to make my nose appear less prominent, or at least that’s what was promised to me.
Here are some pictures of me about 6 months before the surgery:
Next is a picture from the day of the surgery and was taken a few hours before the operation:
Few hours before surgery (taken in hospital)
I had the surgery done in February, 2019. I was 24 at the time. It has now been three and a half years ago and I’m still very unpleased about the end result.
Some pictures after surgery:
Comparison pics - Before & After
Aesthetically speaking It made my face appear more roundish which gives a more feminine and childish appearance. Instead of a fuller face my jawline appears slimmed down because of the cheek widening, giving my face a slimmer look overall than before. All my features look softened down and rounder and I quite liked the sharper edges my face seemed to have before. Especially my jawline looked alot sharper and manlier before this surgery. My nose also got wider than before from making my cheekbones wider and stretching the skin while I wanted a less prominent looking nose. I honestly feel alot worse in my skin right now.
There is litte to zero forward volume under my eyes and there is visibly no difference to my profile under my eyes.
The real issue is functional. The position of my upper lip has changed from doing this surgery. My upper lip sagged / drooped down in the mouth corners and it makes the middle of my lip stick forward causing it to swell up daily. My whole upper lip is extremely dry and I wake up with calluses every morning. I have to massage my upper lip because it's very stiff in the morning. There is also discoloration on my upper lip from all the dryness. Eating, exercising and sweating make my lip hurt and I have to put a lip balm on my lips every few hours.
The surgeon that did it just laughs when I tell him all my issues. He says I look more manly and also says it’s “anatomically impossible” for my lip to change after this procedure. He says he doesn't see anything wrong with my lip. My whole family and all my friends see my lip is different after surgery and say it definitely sticks forward. They also see white dots on my upper lip that weren't there before. I have had a handful of second opinions with other surgeons and they also see the issue with my lip but don’t know how to fix it. They say the lip position can definitely change after a procedure like this from cutting through the muscles and the tissue having to reattach itself to the bone. A few surgeons have recommended I should get it put back because they agree it’s a feminization. But they don't know how to fix my lip. The reason I’m posting this is because I’m kind of at a loss as to what I should do with this. Maybe someone here knows a few surgeons in Europe who know how to fix the issue with my lip or more surgeons that do the zygomatic osteotomy.
The recommendation by a lot of surgeons now is that I get lower jaw surgery done. The surgeon that did the surgery on me said lower jaw surgery still won’t make my lips touch. And also another jaw surgery is not something I wanted to do because I didn’t see anything wrong with my lower jaw before. If I had to do lower jaw surgery I would still want this put back to how it was before.
I also feel lied to by my surgeon (I have also told him I feel lied to). He doesn't agree with anything I say and he says it's my problem claiming I have BDD. I don't have a good feeling with him at all for ignoring everything I said and making such claims when everyone that's close to me can see my lip definitely has changed.