Medical Minute: Can jowls be improved without surgery?


Today we’re going to talk about non-surgical methods of improving the jawline and eliminating jowls.

As we age, our face changes in ways we often wish it wouldn’t. Loss of facial volume can cause parts of our face to sag and droop. Though some people think that what they’re seeing is a matter of gravity, it’s usually more a matter of loss of volume. Just as when a tulip is fresh and healthy it stands upright and erect, as it ages it starts to sag. There isn’t more gravity acting on the tulip — rather it has lost its water volume.

Our faces behave in the same way. Our faces sag as we lose the natural volume of our youth. Take a look at this picture of a patient who underwent festoon treatment and whole face volume replacement. Notice how much more youthful she looked once the volume of youth had been restored.

Jowl Treatment with Fillers

Additionally, as women age, their jawline starts to change. It demineralizes and this causes it to move counterclockwise. The skin around the lower jawline falls into the void left by the shifting jawline and teeth. This is the primary reason why we develop jowls as we age. Another reason involves loss of volume in the upper face and cheek region. The jawline includes a ligament called the mandibular cutaneous ligament that binds the skin to the bone. It delineates the jowl region behind it and the perioral region in front of it.

One way to improve jowls without surgery is to use soft tissue fillers like Restylane, Juvederm, Voluma and Radiesse to fill in any volume that’s been lost along the jawline in this region. This creates a straightening of the jawline and restores the volume of youth.

When treating patients for jawline and jowl issues, I frequently combine these tissue fillers on the jawline with volume restoration to the cheeks, lips and melolabial folds. Take a look at these photos showing a jawline that’s been straightened without surgery. This is usually performed with cannulas to reduce bruising after the procedure.

Jawline straightened without surgery

If you have questions about improving your jowls without surgery, please contact my office.