Monday, November 27, 2006
You Don't Have to Live With Jowls
The natural aging process and gravity can cause loose and sagging skin to form on different areas of the face. One of the most common areas where this can take place is near the jaw line. The skin that loses its elasticity there will eventually begin to form jowls. When this happens prematurely, a person can look many years older than they are and experience a significant decrease in self-esteem.
“Many patients who come to my office looking for options to alleviate their jowls are worried about their appearance and others’ interpretation of their age,” says San Francisco-based plastic surgeon Dr. Miguel Delgado. “They feel that other people assume they are much older than they are and want to get back to looking and feeling as young as they should.”
There are many different avenues to eliminate jowls through cosmetic surgery. Depending on the degree of the problem, a facelift or mini-facelift can be used to pull the sagging skin taut again. If the jowls have formed as a result of loose skin and excess fatty tissue, a combination of slight liposuction, a pre-jowl implant and a facelift may be a more appropriate solution.
In many cases, volume replacement with fat injections is an option. Using a patient’s own skin from a facelift for lip augmentation helps with the fine lines around the mouth. Many patients are candidates for a TCA chemical peel, which gives a great finishing touch to further tighten the skin and improve sun damage.
“The overall affect of the procedures can be really dramatic,” explains Delgado. “Some of my most satisfied clients have had their jowls eliminated through facelifts. They came away from the procedures looking years younger than they did previously and with much more self-confidence.”
A facelift can successfully address the problem of jowls and other sagging skin on the lower half of the face. For other areas of the face, Delgado advocates additional, targeted cosmetic procedures including browlifts and eyelid lifts.
