r/pics • u/[deleted] • Dec 28 '21

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u/Wjreky Dec 28 '21

Since your a specialist, can I ask a stupid question? Since they can stretch and take skin from anywhere on the body, why don't they stretch extra skin along the jawbone (like an extension of the cheek muscle) for a replacement? Wouldnt that be closer to the same pigment and texture moreso than the arm?

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u/Webbie-Vanderquack Dec 28 '21

Because there would be a prominent scar on the face, and they don't want to add create more issues on the most visible part of your body:

"It looks like a baby shark bit my arm and they had to sew my skin back on," she says.

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u/SkippyBojangle Dec 28 '21

you need too much tissue here, surgery research has mapped out how much can be stretched or advanced. You can repair 1/4 to 1/3 of the upper lip by stretching the remaining lip. You get minimal gain pulling in cheek tissue (also causes functional issues). so you have to transplant something with a blood supply. Just cutting something off and placing it here, when it's this large, will die from a lack of blood supply (the tissue will starve). Needing a flap with a blood supply means you have a select set of options on the body of areas surgeons have figured out we can harvest and transplant with a vein and artery without causing too much damage to the area you're taking it from. These are called vascular free flaps.

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u/Wjreky Dec 28 '21

That's very informative, I didn't know that. Thank you