Though many factors contribute to our perception of attractiveness, facial symmetry is undoubtedly chief among them. * In other words, we generally judge people with more symmetrical facial features as being more beautiful. Of course, everyone has a little bit of irregularity among their facial features. However, if features such as your chin or nose are disproportionate, it could cause disharmony across the board. That’s why combining a chin augmentation and a rhinoplasty remains an enduringly popular choice among patients who want to achieve a greater aesthetic balance.
Measuring Your Facial Symmetry
Because your nose and chin are the most prominent features on your face, if one or both of them are irregularly shaped or out of proportion, it can make your face look misaligned. For example, if you have a weak or receding chin, it can make your nose look out of balance with the rest of your features.
How symmetrical is your face? There are two simple ways to determine this, ** based on artistic principles.
- The Rule of Fifths: With this test, draw five vertical lines down a photograph of yourself. Each segment should be approximately the width of one of your eyes. The width of the base of your nose should be about equal to the distance between your eyes.
- The Rule of Thirds: This principle states that a well-balanced face should fall into three equally sized vertical sections. Measure the first third from your hairline to the top of your eyebrows. The middle third will fall from just above your brow line to the base of your nose, while the final third will be from bottom of your nose to the tip of your chin.
For patients who wish to achieve greater harmony among their facial features, San Francisco-based cosmetic surgeon Dr. Michael Kulick recommends combining a chin augmentation and a rhinoplasty. As a plastic surgeon who specializes in – and regularly provides – both procedures, Dr. Kulick is both board-certified and highly qualified, with the skills of a doctor and the eye of an artist.
Chin Augmentation Surgery
If you have a weak or receding chin, surgical chin augmentation is a procedure that can subtly improve the appearance of your entire face, especially when viewed in profile. The surgery entails inserting a solid flexible silicone implant on top of the chin bone to make the chin more prominent and reduce the appearance of jowls. The results of chin augmentation surgery are permanent, because your body will not reject or break down the biocompatible implant.
There are various sizes of chin implants available. During your pre-surgical consultation, Dr. Kulick will go over your options to help you choose the right implant for your face shape. Bring pictures of chins and jawlines that you like and do not like to this in-person meeting to give the doctor an idea of what you are hoping to achieve. Dr. Kulick can evaluate your unique facial anatomy to help give you a realistic expectation of your surgical outcomes.
During chin augmentation surgery, Dr. Kulick makes the incision for the implant inside your mouth, just below your bottom teeth. This placement minimizes scarring and helps you keep your surgery more discreet.
Rhinoplasty Surgery
A rhinoplasty surgery can dramatically improve both the shape and the size of your nose. During this 
intricate procedure, Dr. Kulick can increase the projection of your nose, change the shape of the tip or bridge (reduce the nasal “hump”), narrow the span of the nostrils or change the angle between your nose and your upper lip, among other things.
Using his 20 years of experience, Dr. Kulick can reshape and redefine your nose by re-sculpting the bones and cartilage, perhaps reducing some areas while making others more prominent. Most often, Dr. Kulick performs rhinoplasty surgery by making a small horizontal incision across the columella, which is the vertical strip of tissue between your nostrils. This incision should heal so that it remains virtually undetectable.
Why Add a Rhinoplasty to a Chin Augmentation?
The primary advantage to combining a rhinoplasty with a chin augmentation is that striking the right balance between the nose and the chin will help improve your overall facial appearance, and you will only have one recovery process, as opposed to getting the two procedures done separately. Click to see an example of a patient that benefited from both procedures at the same time.
Dr. Kulick can perform this powerful pair of procedures on an outpatient basis, and you can expect the majority of your healing to take place within the first few weeks of getting surgery, with your final results appearing gradually over the next year or two.
If you are ready to learn more about getting a chin augmentation alongside a rhinoplasty, contact Dr. Kulick’s office to schedule your consultation at 415-956-2550.
* Source: Pennsylvania State University, March 2014
** Source: pinkmirror.com, November 2011
Dr. Michael Kulick, MD is a leading board certified plastic surgeon in San Francisco, California. During an initial consultation, he’ll examine your individual anatomy, discuss all your options, and create a unique treatment plan along with any other necessary procedures. If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of plastic surgery and are looking for a qualified cosmetic surgeon, use this online form to request a consultation with Dr. Kulick or call 415-956-2550.
