Surgical and Non-Surgical Options to Correct Facial Asymmetry
While on a video call or going through pictures on social media, you may notice that your face doesn’t look completely even. This unevenness in facial features on either side of the face is called facial asymmetry. Everyone has some level of facial unevenness that can be the result of sun exposure, ageing, injury, smoking, genetics, or other factors. But sometimes, people may have concerns about their facial asymmetry and seek cosmetic solutions.
Several cosmetic options can help address concerns about an asymmetrical face. These include facelift (rhytidectomy), rhinoplasty, chin or jaw reshaping (genioplasty) surgery, fillers, and fat transfer to the face.
Dr Jeremy Hunt and Dr Maryam Seyedabadi offer different solutions to patients with different facial asymmetry problems in Sydney and Wollongong. Because they understand how important facial harmony is, they design their surgical solutions to give you beautiful, natural, and long-lasting results.
What is Facial Asymmetry?
An asymmetrical face is a face with features that aren’t perfect mirror images of each other on either side of the face. Everyone has facial asymmetry, but in some cases, one side might be very different from the other side. Facial asymmetry can be attributed to:
- One eyebrow is higher than the other
- One eye looks more closed than the other
- The nose is toward one side or the other
- One cheek is fuller than the other
- The jaw or chin is uneven or asymmetric
- One ear looks bigger than the other
- One side of the face has more signs of ageing than the other
Dr Maryam and Dr Jeremy Hunt can offer you a range of different alternatives that can make your facial features look more proportional, depending on the facial areas you are concerned about.
What Causes Facial Asymmetry?
Although some faces come pretty close, no face is completely perfectly symmetrical. Uneven facial features are very common.
Asymmetrical facial features can be the result of:
- Genetics: asymmetric lips or noses can run in the family. When you have the same facial asymmetries as other members of your family, then it’s probably genetic
- Dental work: getting dental work done, like removing a tooth, can change your bite or make a part of your face look sunken. This changes the lower part of your face and makes it look asymmetric
- Injury: asymmetry on one side of the face can be because of an injury you’ve had as a child, at work, or in an accident. Face injuries include a broken nose, a fractured cheekbone, or a deep face cut that can leave marks on the face
- Bad posture: chronically applying more pressure on one side of the face than the other can contribute to the asymmetry in the face. This can happen when you frequently sleep on your face or rest it against your hand
- Sun exposure: exposure to UV sun rays can result in thick skin patches and dark spots unevenly distributed over the face. This is especially true for taxi and truck drivers who have one side of their face (the driver’s side) more exposed to the sun
- Ageing: with age, the soft tissue of the face starts to become lax. Different parts of the face experience different levels of tissue laxity. This can cause parts of the face to become lower than others, leading to uneven cheeks and other asymmetric facial appearances
- Smoking: when you smoke, you expose your face to a lot of chemicals including nicotine. These chemicals can make it harder for nutrients to reach certain parts of your face which can damage your face in different spots
How Can Facial Asymmetry Be Fixed?
The outcomes shown are only relevant for this patient and do not necessarily reflect the results other patients may experience, as results may vary due to many factors, including the individual’s genetics, diet and exercise.
Mild asymmetry of the face can go unnoticed and usually doesn’t need to be corrected. However, if the difference between your facial features is too prominent, there are several facial procedures that can be done to fix facial asymmetry:
1. Facelift (Rhytidectomy) Surgery
A facelift (rhytidectomy) can help tighten and smoothen the skin on your face. During a facelift (rhytidectomy), your surgeon can make your face look more symmetric by giving both sides of your face the same degree of skin firmness and facial muscle tone. Different types of rhytidectomies can target uneven facial features in different locations:
Upper facelift or brow lift (cornoplasty)
During a brow lift (cornoplasty), your surgeon will be able to target your eyebrow asymmetry by lifting one eyebrow more than the other to bring them into the same position. Lifting the excess skin in the forehead can also decrease the pressure on the eyes and allow them to open properly. The fine lines and wrinkles on your forehead can also be smoothened.
Mid-facelift rhytidectomy (cheek lift)
A mid-facelift rhytidectomy allows your surgeon to evenly tighten your middle face area, reduce deep nasolabial folds, and lift the cheeks into a balanced position. This can help fix uneven cheeks, depending on the needs and circumstances of the individual.
Lower facelift rhytidectomy
Jowls and wrinkles on the chin can make the lower part of your face look asymmetrical. During a lower facelift or rhytidectomy, your surgeon can contour your jawline and target any jaw and chin asymmetries.
Full facelift rhytidectomy
A full facelift rhytidectomy can target the asymmetry in different portions of the face, including the forehead, cheeks, jaws, and neck.
2. Nose surgery (Rhinoplasty):
The outcomes shown are only relevant for this patient and do not necessarily reflect the results other patients may experience, as results may vary due to many factors, including the individual’s genetics, diet and exercise.
An asymmetric nose is a common cause of facial asymmetry. The whole nose might be tilted to one side of the face in some patients. In others, the nostrils or the tip might be uneven. Rhinoplasty can target these asymmetries, aiming to bring more harmony to those areas which are a concern for the patient.
In some patients, the cosmetic nose concern might be localised in a small part of the nose, like the tip or the nostrils. These patients have the option of getting a less invasive rhinoplasty, such as:
Tip rhinoplasty (tip-plasty)
This rhinoplasty is done specifically to reshape the tip of the nose. If you are worried about the shape, size, angle, or projection of the tip of your nose, you might consider this option.
Alarplasty – Nostril Surgery
This is a type of rhinoplasty reshapes wide nostrils. During alarplasty, your surgeon can reduce the size of your nostrils and make them more symmetrical.
Septal deviation surgery (septoplasty)
A septoplasty is a surgery that focuses on straightening the nose septum to restore normal airflow to the nose and address its aesthetic appearance. A septoplasty can be done on its own or as a part of a full rhinoplasty.
A deviated septum can change the symmetry of your nose and affect the symmetry of your entire face. It is usually caused by nose trauma during childhood or adulthood. During a septal deviation surgery, your surgeon will straighten the deviated bone and cartilage. Since the septum acts as a “core” for the nose, straightening it will straighten the whole nose. Straightening the deviated septum gives the nose a better alignment in the centre of the face. A septoplasty can improve both the shape of the nose and its symmetry with the rest of the face. But this will all depend on the patient and their needs and desires for surgery.
3. Chin reshaping surgery (genioplasty or mentoplasty):
The chin plays an important role in the balance of facial aesthetics. Chin reshaping surgery can improve the proportions of the face by altering the appearance of the chin:
Chin augmentation surgery (mentoplasty)
During this type of chin surgery, mentoplasty, your surgeon adds volume to the under-projected chin by inserting a chin implant or moving the chin bone forward. This will bring the chin forward with the aim of making it look more prominent. Chin augmentation or mentoplasty surgery aims to improve the proportions between your chin and nose.
Chin reduction surgery
On the other hand, a chin that’s overly projected can be reduced by removing excess bone.
4. Jaw Reshaping Surgery
Jaw corrective surgery, also known as orthognathic surgery, is a complex surgery that can correct facial asymmetry by reshaping the jaw.
Having an overbite, underbite, or crossbite can make your jaw and face appear uneven. Corrective surgery of the jaw allows your surgeon to move your upper or lower jaw sideways, forward, or backward, making the oral opening more symmetrical with a perfect bite and even smile.
This surgery, thus, helps correct the alignment of your jaw and its shape.
5. Facial Injectables & Fillers – A Non-Surgical Solution
Injectables like dermal fillers and anti-wrinkle injections are two very popular non-surgical options to help correct facial asymmetry:
Dermal fillers
Facial fillers usually contain hyaluronic acid (HA) or other volumising substances. The injected filler gives more volume where it’s needed in the face. They can be strategically injected to correct uneven cheeks, balance asymmetric eyebrows, and make the lips more proportionate.
Neuromodulators
Wrinkles in the face can be caused by facial muscle contractions. Botulinum toxins can paralyse and relax the muscles in the face. This smoothens out the facial wrinkles that might be appearing only on one side of the face and causing facial asymmetry. Anti-wrinkle injections can also be performed to open up the area around the brows. This can help fix low and uneven brows and restore their balance.
Keep in mind that injectables don’t have permanent effects and you’ll likely require recurrent injections every few months.
6. Fat transfer to the face
Another way to correct facial asymmetry naturally is by facial fat transfer.
During fat transfer to the face, no foreign material is used. Your own fat is removed from another part of your body (like the stomach or buttocks) and strategically injected into targeted areas of your face. Facial fat injections are commonly used to help fix facial unevenness by augmenting specific parts of the face, like the chin, cheeks, or jaw.
Despite the many advantages of fat grafting, injected fat can shrink after a while, so you may need more than one injections to reach the desired facial volume.
7. Buccal fat removal
Buccal fat removal surgery removes fat from the inside of the cheek if one of the cheeks is bigger than the other. Since this involves the surgical removal of fat, this option has long-lasting results comparted to injectable options.
During buccal fat removal surgery,a small amount of tissue and fat will be removed from the inside of one or both of your cheeks. Dr Maryam and Dr Jeremy Hunt will aim to remove a specific amount of fat so as to restore and preserve symmetry.
Which is the Right Treatment Option for Facial Asymmetry?
The right facial asymmetry treatment for you depends on your own goals and the specific cosmetic problems you have. It also depends on your age, the degree of facial unevenness, and the presence of other cosmetic concerns.
For some, a facelift rhytidectomy might fix facial unevenness. For others, additional fat grafting or dermal fillers alone might do the job. It all depends on what you have.
Dr Jeremy Hunt and Dr Mariam will thoroughly explain different options to fix facial asymmetry during a consultation and will help you choose the suitable one.
Further Reading about Face Surgery options
- Read Dr Hunt’s Rhinoplasty page
- Read Dr Hunt’s Septoplasty procedure page
- Read Dr Hunt’s Deep Plane Facelift (Rhytidectomy) procedure page
- Read Dr Hunt’s Face Surgery page
- See Dr Hunt’s Real Patient Rhytidectomy Before and After Photos
- Read Dr Hunt’s blog about Chin Implant vs Jaw Implant (Genioplasty)
- Read Dr Hunt’s blog about Difference between Neck lift (Platysmaplasty) or Lower Facelift (Rhytidectomy) Surgery
- Read Dr Hunt’s blog about Solutions for a Receding Chin
Medical References about Facial Asymmetry
- The Relationship between Age and Facial Asymmetry<
- Factors contributing to facial asymmetry in identical twins<
- Smoking: Does it cause wrinkles? – Mayo Clinic<
- Eyebrow asymmetry: ways of correction<
- Asymmetric nose: The asymmetric face – ScienceDirect<
About Dr Jeremy Hunt – Specialist Plastic Surgeon
Dr Jeremy Hunt is a specialist plastic surgeon performing breast, body, face and nose surgery in Australia. He is a member of FRACS & ASPS and has over 20 years of experience providing plastic surgery in Sydney.
Careful, considerate and honest, Dr Jeremy Hunt works with you to find a solution that is suitable for your body and your lifestyle. Every patient is unique and requires a personalised approach to reach their goals.
Dr Hunt has provided his one-on-one service and attention to detail to thousands of women and men from the Sydney & Wollongong NSW area and across Australia.
Dr Hunt’s qualifications and education
Dr Jeremy A. Hunt MBBS FRACS graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine degree from Sydney University in 1990 and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and member of ASPS – the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons. He completed a Fellowship at the University of Texas in the United States, where he learnt from well-established and experienced plastic surgeons.
Next Step – Make an Enquiry or Request a consultation with Dr Hunt
Want more information before scheduling your consultation?
- Find out more about pricing, medical payment plans and paying for your surgery
- Request more information about the procedure – call on 1300 157 200 or contact us
If breast reduction mammoplasty is something you’re considering, Dr Hunt can thoroughly explain all the options to you in a one-on-one consultation.
- Make an Enquiry or Request a consultation with Dr Hunt
Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health professional.
