Almost everyone eventually gets jowls, but several factors can contribute to their development. Factors include damage, poor diet, repetitive facial motions, and sudden weight loss. While jowls are harmless, some people may feel uncomfortable about how they look.
There are several options for treating sagging jowls or reducing how saggy or droopy they appear. Surgical procedures, such as neck lifts, can tighten your skin and make it look less saggy. Nonsurgical procedures, such as thermage, lasers, and peels, can change the composition of the collagen in your skin.
Saggy jowls, simply put, are caused by a loss of elasticity in the skin of the lower face. This is typically caused by a decrease in the body's own collagen production, which typically starts to develop in patients who are in their late 30's or early 40's, though it can develop earlier.
Loss of fat in our face
In our youthful face, we have areas of fat which keep our skin plump and taut. As we age, these areas of fat begin to diminish. This allows the skin to sag. The areas where fat loss is most noticed is in the temples, under the eyes, and in the cheek area.
Collagen production slows down as early as our 20s, and jowls are often one of the first things that can start to show signs of aging.
If you are overweight, sensible dieting and a regular cardiovascular workout will burn fat from all areas, including your face. For some people, the difference will be dramatic; for others, less so, but all should enjoy some improvement in facial appearance.
As we age, the skin and fat in the face begin to loosen and sag. There is a point just in front of the jowls called the mandibular ligament where the skin is fixed to the bone and sagging doesn't occur. This allows the sagging to happen just behind that point and hence the development of jowls.
Most people begin to notice a shift in the appearance of their face around their 40's and 50's, with some also noticing a change in their 30's. But with these physical changes brought on by aging also comes a change in the appearance of our face - Luckily, there is treatment available.
The most effective and long-lasting procedure for correcting jowls is a facelift. Jowls on the face develop from the descent of facial tissues, and while fillers or Botox can disguise the skin crease, they will not correct the underlying problem.
As far as the female or male aging timeline, the biggest changes typically occur when people are in their 40s and 50s. However, it's not unlikely to notice changes in your mid to late-30s, as well. Some of the first signs of aging are droopy skin, smile lines, and wrinkles. These changes can be jarring, but natural.
Try these facial exercises to help improve jowls:
Hold a smile shape with the lips wrapping your teeth. Place your index finger on the chin for resistance. Now scoop the jaw backwards. Take 2 fingers and a thumb and pinch all the way up the jaw area to release tension.
Ultraviolet rays, aka sunlight, cause collagen to break down faster. With sun exposure, those UV rays damage the skin by entering the dermis (the second and thickest layer of our skin) which causes collagen to break down faster.
Slather on a vitamin C serum in the morning. The vitamin is an antioxidant that protects the collagen in your skin against UV damage, says Chwalek. More than that, she says, it triggers collagen formation and stabilizes the collagen proteins in skin.
Eating foods rich in vitamin C and amino acids can increase the levels of hyaluronic acid and collagen in the body as both are important for skin. Foods such as oranges, red peppers, kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and strawberries are all rich in vitamin C.
Where collagen is a protein that's responsible for the skin's firmness and suppleness, peptides work to stimulate collagen production. As such, collagen peptides are a no-brainer for jowl treatment.
Step 1: Close your mouth and slowly push your jaw forward. Step 2: Lift up your low lip and push up until you feel the muscles in your chin and jawline stretch. Step 3: Stay in this position for about 10 seconds before repeating the exercise. The tongue twister targets muscles below the chin to tone the jawline.
Ultherapy (Ultrasound Therapy) for Collagen Stimulation on the Jowls. Ultherapy is an outpatient, non surgical cosmetic procedure for lifting, tightening, and firming jowls. Much like filler injections, one of the primary benefits of ultherapy is how fast and easy treatments can be.
Wrinkles, age spots and small growths called skin tags are more common.
You might be surprised to know that your face is not actually the part of your body that ages the fastest. It is, in fact, your breasts. A study, published by the journal Genome Biology has found that breast tissue is the part of the body that's most sensitive to the affects of ageing.
The most common treatment to reduce jowl fat is liposuction. ATX-101 (deoxycholic acid injection), a minimally invasive treatment approved for submental fat reduction, may also be an effective treatment for jowl fat.
Loss of muscle tone and thinning skin gives the face a flabby or drooping appearance. In some people, sagging jowls may create the look of a double chin. Your skin also dries out and the underlying layer of fat shrinks so that your face no longer has a plump, smooth surface.