How Can I Shorten My Long Chin?

Q: Dr. Eppley, When I push up the tissue over my chin it creates a better angle and my face looks less long.  I think that my issue has more to do with the tissue/muscle and a reposition of the tissue or muscle would make a big difference.  But I’m not an expert, this is simply what I think.  

I had a lip lift in 2019 and it wasn’t possible to take off more skin due to my chin otherwise I wouldn’t be able to close my lips properly.  In the future I’d like to get another one. This is one of the main reasons why I would like to fix my chin now.  

Thank you,

A:Thank you for sending your pictures. While pushing up on your soft tissue chin pad creates the desired look, soft tissue resuspension will not work or ultimately have the desired effect. That is not a sustainable procedure unless one has true chin pad ptosis which you do not. You have a vertically long chin which requires shortening of the chin bone. This is done through an intraoral osteotomy technique where an interpositional wedge of chin bone is removed. This largely vertical reduction combined with a slight horizontal movement is what is needed to create the desired effect.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World Renowned Plastic Surgeon