When people think of chubby cheeks, the image of cute babies often pops into their minds. Full, rounded cheeks are a sign of vigour and youth.
However, if you have excess fat in your cheeks, it can make your face look too round or too full.
Fortunately, there are plenty of surgical and non-surgical ways to get rid of face fat.
Dr Michael Kernohan is a specialist plastic surgeon performing facial procedures in Sydney, Australia. He offers patients tailored facial rejuvenation procedures that reduce chubby cheeks and create a slimmer face.
Your cheeks are the part of your face that extends from below the eyes to right above the jawline. They consist of many muscles, glands, buccal fat pads, and other facial tissue and play a role in eating, talking, and making facial expressions.
The buccal fat pad is located beneath the cheekbone, between the facial muscles, and gives your cheeks their contour and fullness. Moreover, your facial muscles and cheekbones can also affect how full your face looks.
Some people are born with naturally full cheeks, while others have slimmer facial appearances. The size and contours of your cheeks can also change throughout different stages of your life.
When you gain weight, fat can build up in your cheeks, adding volume to your face. However, some people may have full, rounded cheeks, although they’re skinny.
Here are some reasons that can explain why you have chubby cheeks:
● Weight gain: the fat pads in your cheeks can gain volume and become bigger after gaining weight. Excess face fat can make your cheeks look rounded and full
● Genetics: people accumulate fat in different areas of the body. Your genes can determine which part of your body stores the most fat. Some people are genetically predisposed to having fat deposits in their faces more than anywhere else in their bodies. Others may be born with naturally thick buccal fat pads in the cheeks. That can explain why your face looks chubby but not the rest of your body
Additionally, having large cheek muscles and cheekbones can contribute to how chubby your face looks.
Below are some of the best tips on how to lose chubby cheeks naturally and make your face look slimmer.
Often, excess body fat can build up in your cheeks, making your face look round and chubby.
Cardio, aerobics, and any other exercise that increase your heart rate are great ways to lose weight in your face and the rest of your body.
Walking, jogging, swimming, biking, or dancing on a regular basis can promote facial fat loss and help slim down your face.
Facial exercises that target the cheeks can be effective in helping you tone your facial muscles and giving you a slimmer face.
The most popular exercises for reducing chubby cheeks include the following:
● Fish face: pucker up your lips, then suck in the inside of your cheeks into your mouth to create a fish face. Hold this position for several seconds, then release it. Repeat this exercise around 20 times a day
● Face puff: keep your mouth closed and puff out your cheeks. Pass the air inside your mouth from side to side as if you’re using mouthwash. Do this for several seconds at a time, relax, then repeat
● The X and O: say the letters X and O back to back around 20 times while stretching your face as much as possible with each letter. That can help you work your cheek muscles and create a slimmer-looking face
● Smile and hold: smiling helps you exercise your facial muscles. Smile wide and hold for several seconds while clenching your teeth. Then relax your face and repeat.
You can perform face exercises daily while getting dressed or taking a shower. These exercises may help you build muscle tone in the face and improve your facial appearance.
Staying hydrated is crucial, especially if you’re trying to lose facial fat. Drinking water between meals can keep you full and help you lose weight.
Moreover, not drinking enough water leads to water retention, which can cause your cheeks to bloat and look puffy.
Drink more water and stay hydrated to enhance weight loss and prevent bloating and swelling in your face.
Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol increases water retention, bloating, and fat build-up. It can increase your appetite and contribute to weight gain, including in the face.
Avoid drinking large amounts of alcohol if you want to lose cheek fat.
Refined carbohydrates, such as sugars, pizza doughs, pasta, and crackers, are heavily processed foods that lack beneficial nutrients.
Refined carbs affect your blood sugar levels and can contribute to overeating and weight gain.
Replacing refined carbohydrates with whole-grain foods can help you lose facial fat.
Consuming too much salt (the primary source of sodium in most people’s diets) can lead to water retention and bloating. As a result, your face and cheeks will look puffy and swollen.
Processed foods, such as cereal, canned food, savoury snacks, and processed meat, are rich in salt, sugar, and oil.
Reduce your sodium intake and cut back on processed food to decrease water retention and reduce puffy and bloated cheeks.
Although losing weight can help you reduce excess fat in your cheeks, you cannot specifically target fat stored in your face. Hence, you may lose weight and still have full cheeks. The only way to directly target the fat deposits in your face to make the cheeks smaller is by getting plastic surgery.
Different facial procedures can help your cheeks look thinner even if you can’t or don’t want to lose body weight.
Cheek liposuction can be done for people who want thinner cheeks but are unable to lose facial fat with diet and exercise alone. It permanently removes fat cells from your face.
It usually takes around 30 minutes to one hour and is performed as an outpatient procedure – you can usually return home to recover shortly after the procedure.
During liposuction, you might receive local or general anaesthesia.
Dr Kernohan makes small incisions on each side of your face around your cheek area. He then inserts a small metal tube (cannula) through the incisions to suck out fat from your cheeks.
Cheek liposuction can reduce chubby cheeks and give you a slimmer face contour. Nevertheless, this procedure can only remove a limited amount of fat from the face and is more suitable for people with good skin elasticity.
Dr Michael Kernohan regularly performs buccal fat removal surgery for people with heavy cheeks who desire a slimmer face appearance.
Buccal fat removal, also known as buccal lipectomy or cheek reduction surgery, is a cosmetic procedure that involves surgically removing buccal fat pads in your cheeks.
It takes around 30-45 minutes and can be performed under local anaesthesia.
During your cheek reduction surgery:
Buccal fat removal can reduce full, rounded cheeks. Because the incisions are made inside the mouth, you won’t have any visible scars after buccal fat reduction surgery.
This surgery can be combined with other cosmetic procedures, including a facelift, nose job (rhinoplasty), blepharoplasty, and chin augmentation.
Buccal fat removal and liposuction are similar; they both involve removing fat from the cheeks to give the face a slimmer appearance.
Buccal fat surgery allows your surgeon to reach and remove the buccal fat pad, which is located under the facial muscles and nerves and cannot be accessed by liposuction. It can also remove a larger amount of fat from your face.
On the other hand, liposuction requires smaller incisions and is less invasive than buccal fat reduction surgery.
Keep in mind that as you grow older, your cheeks start to deflate and lose volume. That should be taken into account while planning your cheek reduction procedure.
Dr Michael Kernohan routinely performs facial procedures. During your consultation, he will assess your face and unique cheek anatomy to decide the best approach to change your facial contours.