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• A new photo of Lea Michele's defined cheeks created social media chatter around buccal fat removal surgery. 
• Plastic surgeons said buccal fat, or cheek fat, removal and other jaw-defining procedures have increased in popularity.
• But buccal fat removal surgery's results are often subtle, and can make a person look gaunt as they age.

Social media users are speculating about celebrities that may have gotten rid of their buccal fat, or cheek fat — and plastic surgeons said the procedure could have long-term consequences. 

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A photo of "Glee" and "Funny Girl" star Lea Michele circulated on Twitter after she appeared to have more hallowed out cheeks and defined jaw compared to earlier photos.

"Jaw filler and buccal fat removal running through hollywood like tomb raider this year my god," user @brokebackstan said in a Tweet that has amassed 85,000 likes as of December 16. 

—carey (@brokebackstan) December 12, 2022—julia hava (@binchcity) December 14, 2022

Michele has not said that she had buccal fat removal surgery. However, it is becoming a popular operation among A-listers these days, plastic surgeon Dr. Arash Moradzadeh told Insider's Julia Naftulin after similar buzz over a photo of Khloe Kardashian with a slimmer face. Chrissy Teigen revealed that she got the procedure done in a 2021. 

"I did that Dr. Diamond buccal fat removal thing here," Teigen said on Instagram, pointing to the hollow space beneath her cheekbone. "And since I quit drinking, I'm really seeing the results, and I like it." 

Buccal fat removal could create a gaunt look as a person ages, plastic surgeons told Insider 

Ira L. Savetsky, a New York City-based board-certified plastic surgeon, said he has clients coming to him "all the time" inquiring about procedures like buccal fat removal that create a defined jawline.

"Social media is definitely a big factor," in this type of surgery's recent increase, Savetsky said. "And the selfie era and just the era of photos, honestly. People are looking at their profiles a lot more, so they're really starting to notice the jawline."

Surgeons typically remove buccal fat by making an incision inside of the cheek or do the procedure in combination with a facelift, Alex Montague, double-board certified plastic surgeon at the Quatela Center for Plastic Surgery in Rochester, New York.

Potential complications of the procedure include accidentally injuring the spit gland or facial nerves, but these are relatively rare, Montague said. 

The larger problem with buccal fat removal is that it could create a gaunt look as a person ages. Savetsky said people naturally lose buccal and face fat as they get older, and he typically adds fat back to address the loss of volume. 

The results of buccal fat removal on its own are also typically more subtle than clients are hoping for, Montague said. A cheek implant or fillers could create a more noticeably defined jaw.

Savetsky, who wrote a paper on buccal fat removal last year in the peer-reviewed journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, encourages doctors to use the procedure sparingly, and be realistic with their clients, as the procedure could create premature aging and face distortion in the long run.

"While it is an easy operation under local anesthesia, you're in and out, it's a quick recovery... something like this is not reversible," Savetsky told Insider.

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