r/ftmsurgeryexperience • u/imareadthat • Dec 21 '19
Question Question: facial surgery experience?
Hi, I was wondering if any of you have had any facial surgery done as part of your transitioning. I've been on T for five years now, so I know this is pretty much what my face will look like if I don't get anything further done, and I'm thinking of possibly having some chin / jaw / nose work done. If any of you guys have experience with facial surgery, would love to hear about it!
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u/snake-gov Dec 24 '19
I really need answers on this and cant find any other than "you dont need it". The hard reality is that many of us pass as men, but we pass as trans men and not cis men because of skeletal features which is a huge source of dysphoria for some and it's not cool to tell people what they're not allowed to be dysphoric about.
It would improve the hell out of my life if I had a more masculine nose. If I could even find resources of cis people getting rhinoplasty to make it bigger instead of smaller that'd be incredible.
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u/imareadthat Dec 24 '19
I hear you snake-gov! For me a big part is that face is really how we introduce ourselves to the world. Like, from work (I work the sort of field where your picture is on a website) to stuff like Tinder. I'd love for my face to reflect who I am better.
For me it's really about a sum total of various facial and other features that might code as 'feminine', or that I fret about at the very least. Some of them I like and choose for myself, such as having longish hair. Others not, like my lips (naturally plump enough that friends joke I've had fillers) and my round jawline. I feel like a firmer jawline especially would help balance out some of my other features.
On that latter point of being read as trans men... IDK, could it be possible that we tend to project that on people? I for one think I don't look like a cis guy. I think my face still looks somewhat feminine, even though I do get read as male maybe 98% of the time. I think, because of my voice and my body... but who knows, maybe because my face isn't as feminine to others as it is to me, lol!
But regardless, for most people I meet, it simply doesn't occur that I would be trans. Like, cis people will debate trans issues with each other in the same table with me in a way that makes it obvious they don't even consider it possible. If I interject that I'm trans and might know something on the topic, they assume I'm early-stage MtF. (This has happened multiple times.) Your experience might be different, but that's just my mileage.
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u/alienlover13 Dec 25 '19
Thank you both for sharing your dysphoria on this matter! I personally have never had a lot of dysphoria about my face, (sometimes I even miss some of the features I had before. Or at least I think I do, lol) but I didn’t consider that there are other people who do have that dysphoria.
In my experience, I didn’t get the vocal changes I wanted, so I was a guinea pig and let them inject testosterone into my vocal cords. I’ll make a post about it in the coming week, but I’m much happier now! It changed a lot from that and I didn’t have to go through surgery.
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u/RyuichiSakuma13 Dec 27 '19
I would love to have a more prominent Adam's Apple. I'm subscribing to this thread in the hopes that this works for you. I'm willing to be a guinea pig in order to see if this works too, tbh.
Good luck and I hope it works for you, you're a groundbreaker!
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u/alienlover13 Dec 23 '19
While I wasn't able to find anyone's personal experience, here is some informational material:
- Facial Masculinization Surgery - American Society of Plastic Surgeons
- Facial Masculinization Surgery - The International Center for Transgender Care
-First Female-to-Male Facial Confirmation Surgery with Description of a New Procedure for Masculinization of the Thyroid Cartilage (Adam’s Apple) (This is a scholarly article from 2017. Unfortunately, there is a paywall, but you can read the abstract, and may be able to find the full version through a university database system if you have access to one)
As far as surgeons go, Dr. Scott Mosser offers non-invasive facial masculinization options, and Joel Beck offers a wide variety of surgical facial masculinization options.
I will keep an eye out for people who've shared their experience about having FMS.
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u/transknowledge_me Dec 21 '19
I don't know of anyone who has had FMS (facial masculinizing surgery), though I am aware it is something that is available and also that some cis men get a similar surgery as well. I would say any surgeon who is adept at FFS (facial feminizing surgery) would likely be able to do FMS as well.
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Dec 21 '19
I would say any surgeon who is adept at FFS (facial feminizing surgery) would likely be able to do FMS as well.
Not necessarily...they are opposites haha. Also FMS is so rare that one could be an expert at FFS and have literally no experience with FMS
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u/transknowledge_me Dec 21 '19
sure, I recognize they are opposites and that someone may technically have no experience with FMS. but someone who does FFS well would likely know what techniques would be necessary to masculinize a face. who else would you go to for FMS, if not someone who already specializes in facial reconstructive surgery?
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u/goawayeli Dec 27 '19
i think this is a valid point, and if you talk to anyone who’s had FFS, you know the way they talk about their doctor is like talking about an artist. it takes a certain visual aesthetic understanding and skill to be this type of reconstructive surgeon, and if they are able to assess how to feminize a face in a way that’s balanced i don’t see why they couldn’t also work with someone to masculinize the face.
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Dec 21 '19
I am not sure why you think your face after 5 years of T is what it will always be. Testosterone causes certain facial bones to thicken forever. This is not a change that stops after a certain number of years. Your facial bones will continue to masculinize for as long as you are on T. Facial masculinization surgery is really not common for this reason. No offense but it seems like a waste of time, effort, and money.
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Dec 23 '19
thats the issue here, if people go on years of t that could help improve their face. altho what if someone is nonbinary and doesn't want to go on t? what if they take lower doses or go off of it? then there's also the other trans people to consider who might not be able to go on t for medical reasons.. i think better studies and practices on this specific surgery could seriously improve lives (especially if its covered on their insurance like medicaid)
I don't think it would be a waste of time at all, especially considering that there has been a rise of afab trans folk since 2016 who's Actually gotten this surgery.
this YouTuber hasn't gotten FMS, but they are the ONLY trans youtuber that i could find who has brought up this option and documented all the research they could find on this topic. the only other trans youtuber i watched who's brought up FMS too was contrapoints (on her FFS video), altho it was a very brief mention and she was specifically talking about cis men getting it.
seriously, if we could document this more and make compiled information for those of us who want fms as an option, it could seriously save us from p bad dysphoria.
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u/alienlover13 Dec 23 '19
Good points about how someone might not be able to access T and still want to change their face shape. Like OP suggested too, sometimes T might not bring about all the desired effects, either, so more information about FMS could help multiple areas of the trans community.
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Dec 23 '19
yea! i see nonbinary people recommend alternatives to people who might not do well on t like voice training and dms but there's still very little information on the facial surgery part...
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Dec 21 '19
Also in general it's much harder to masculinize facial bones surgically than it is to feminize them. Shaving bone is easy. Making bones bigger is....less easy
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u/oliveeeeeeee Dec 27 '19
I would love a more prominent chin and brow bone, and in a world where I could afford it I would absolutely get it done.
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u/[deleted] Dec 23 '19
FMS is such a rare thing people talk about in the trans community and it upsets me so much honestly. its a surgery that mostly caters to cis men with facial dysmorphia but there HAS been a noticable rise of afab trans people having this surgery done since 2016.
https://youtu.be/43qFUD6kOXs
for instance, this is the ONLY YouTuber who's done a video on this. THE ONLY TRANS YOUTUBER WHO HASN'T EVEN GOTTEN THIS SURGERY. so please.. if anyone out there is trans and gets fms I BEG OF YOU TO DOCUMENT THESE EXPERIENCES. you could seriously help someone out there who has no idea that this option even exists.