Facial sculpting for reconstructive purposes involving the ears, nose, or throat (ENT) may be necessary if you sustain serious damage within this area as a result of personal or workplace injury.
What’s termed facial sculpting or facial plastic surgery refers to surgical procedures performed to restore the appearance of areas of the face or neck. The goal is to produce a natural and desired appearance once a face, neck, or throat injury has been treated.
Why Might Facial Sculpting Be Recommended?
Facial plastic surgery, or facial sculpting, is usually done when there’s a need to reshape structures in the head and neck area. Some individuals need this type of surgery if an injury in this area has resulted in a noticeable scar or a facial deformity.
Facial injuries that may lead to some degree of face or neck disfigurement may result from a car accident, exposure to high heat or flames in a work environment, an impact from a flying object, or a hard fall that breaks bones or causes deep tissue gashes in the skin. Facial sculpting may also be recommended when an accident results in
- Damage to facial bones
- Sunken cheek bones
- Deep lacerations
- Misshapen facial features
- Traumatic craniofacial injuries
What Happens Before Surgery?
Before facial sculpting is discussed, your initial injury has to be treated. If, for example, your injury resulted in a severely broken nose, the first priority would be reset your nose and check for related soft tissue damage. It may also be necessary to control facial swelling or inflammation related to the injury, repair damage from cuts or punctures, or take steps to prevent infection from the injuries being treated.
How Is Facial Sculpting Performed?
The approach to facial sculpting is based on the extent and location of the affected area. Some reconstructive procedures involve skin grafts and similar procedures to correct areas where the natural healing process has not fully restored the pre-injury appearance. If a broken nose heals in a way that affects your facial shape, rhinoplasty may be performed to restore it to the desired shape. Tissue loss of the outer ears due to injury or trauma may be corrected with reconstructive ear shaping (otoplasty).
If an injury has caused a loss of facial balance, mentoplasty might be recommended to restore the right symmetry. Facial fracture repair may be necessary if bone damage has affected facial shape. With some serious injuries, reconstructive surgery involves facial nerve repair and rehabilitation to restore sensation to the affected area. Significant soft tissue defects of the face may be corrected with facial resurfacing techniques, such as the placement of an “expander,” or transferred flap of skin, after the removal of damaged tissue.
Facial surgery of this nature is sometimes delayed until injuries from the initial trauma have fully healed. Results from facial sculpting will depend on the extent of the injury or abnormality that’s being corrected. If an injury results in multiple deformities within the face or neck area, multiple procedures may be spaced out over time. This is done to allow tissues to heal and minimize stress to the body.