The wearing of facial hair at one time in history represented a matter of convenience, the man didn’t want to bother with the nuisance of shaving. Men wearing facial hair today, however, is done much more often for style reasons and to create a specific facial look. This is evidenced by the observation that many facial hair styles require daily work to keep them in good shape. This is most evident in the manicuring required of a goatee.
A weak chin can throw off the symmetry of an otherwise attractive face, making the nose seem larger, the neck look fuller and even creating the appearance of jowls. It is well known that wearing facial hair can help camouflage a weak chin without resorting to surgery. A weak chin can use a fuller beard to hide and balance that area with the other areas of the face. If you have a diamond-shaped face, a full beard will add girth to the jawline and chin. A goatee is the most common facial hair pattern that I see in men who come in for chin augmentation. The goatee not only adds horizontal projection to the chin but also makes it look wider as well, giving the chin a more square and dominant look.
But for those men who want to lose the facial hair and the daily grooming, chin augmentation can save one hundreds of hours over years. One of the more simpler and less complicated of all the facial implant procedures, it requires just one hour or less of surgery to get the chin you always wanted. Through a small incision of just one inch or inch and a half under the chin (the incision is often less than 25% of the total chin implant length), an implant can be slide in and along both sides of the jawline and centered over the midportion of the weaker chin bone. The subsequent scar under the chin heals in an inconspicous manner.
Chin implant styles for men can easily mimic what a goatee can do. This is because they can provide more than just a one-dimensional effect of horizontal projection. Chin implants come in more square-shaped designs than can make for a wider chin as well as one that just juts out further. Square designs exist that even have a central groove for those that desire an enhancement feature of a central groove or cleft. If properly positioned on the lower end of the chin bone, an implant can add some vertical length as well.
To improve the shape and strength of the male chin, external facial hair or an internal implant can be used. Each approach has its own advantages but the chin implant eliminates the need for any daily care and maintenance.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana