Where the regret actually comes from
Read every regret thread carefully — this practice does — and three profiles account for nearly all of it:
1. The wrong face: naturally slim or athletic faces with low facial fat, operated on anyway. These faces had no surplus; removal created a deficit that ages badly. The who-should-not page exists because of them.
2. The trend decision: the 2022–23 celebrity wave sent thousands to surgeons for a look borrowed from someone else's bone structure. Cheekbones create that shadow; removal only reveals what your skeleton already has. Deciding during a trend spike is deciding at maximum distortion.
3. The aggressive surgeon: whole-pad removal for "maximum result" — hollowing that looks striking at 25 and skeletal at 45, because facial fat naturally declines with age on top of what surgery took. Conservative partial removal is the modern standard precisely to leave that ageing reserve.
The regret-proofing architecture
Every rule in this practice's protocol maps to one of those three failure modes: candidacy gates that turn away thin faces and unstable weights; an age preference (typically 25+, when the face's baby-fat phase has finished its own slimming — the age guide covers why); conservative partial excision as the default, titrated per side; and a consultation culture where "your face doesn't need this" is a complete, respected outcome. The gaunt question gets its own honest page for the same reason.
Decide from steady, not from trending
The best regret insurance costs nothing: let the decision survive a season. If the wish is still there when the algorithm has moved on — and the mirror, not the feed, is still making the argument — you're deciding about your face rather than about content. That's the patient who does beautifully, and the only one this practice wants on the table.
Your own face, honestly assessed
Send relaxed and smiling photos via the free assessment — the reply covers whether your fullness is buccal at all, what conservative removal would change, and when the honest answer is "don't."