Youthful Jawline in 15 minutes
Erasing Jowls with Fillers
Jowls may be “in” for canines, but not humans. As we age, the jawline loses its straight, youthful lines as fat from the face descends. The skin loosens. Volume loss kicks in.
Jowls, the droopy area under the jaw, bestows an aged appearance. They often drives men in women in their late thirties to sixties to my office seeking a fix. While facelift surgery corrects this area very well, sometimes jowls can be corrected with strategic injections of Juvederm®, Restylane®, or Radiesse® both in front and behind the hanging jowl to camouflage this area – in essence, to smooth it out.
Juvederm® and Restylane® in this area can probably last as long as 8 months. Radiesse® lasts longer, perhaps up to a year and a half. The procedure can be done easily in the office under 30 minutes, and there is no downtime. It is often referred to as a “liquid facelift” because the illusion from these specifically placed injections when done well mimics the results of surgery. The results are immediate and significant, and it costs thousands of dollars less than traditional facelift surgery.
The Procedure
The photo in this blog of this woman had less than one syringe of Juvederm Ultra Plus® in each side. The injections are generally not painful, particularly with this product since it has lidocaine (numbing medication) already within the mixture. Bruising is rare.
The photo taken is just minutes after injection. In more advanced cases, more product is required. In cases of advanced aging and volume loss from aging, products can be injected in other “units” of the face such as under the eyes, cheek, and cheekbones to generate a lifted, more youthful appearance.
However, there are limitations with injectables, and not everyone with large hanging jowls can be corrected with just Restylane®, Juvederm®, Radiesse®, and fat grafting, and may ultimately need to go under the knife for a facelift.
Dr. Tim Neavin is a board-certified plastic surgeon located in Beverly Hills, California.