In part 1 of our series, we discussed what causes jowls. In part 2, we discussed how to prevent jowls. In this part of the series, we’ll discuss early-stage interventions to reverse jowling and prevent their growth via age-related deterioration of the skin and subdermal tissues.
Sometime during a person’s late thirties or early forties, the circumstances responsible for the formation of jowls begin. As collagen and elastin begin to deteriorate, the fatty deposits beneath the skin begin to burn away.
Who would’ve thought burning fat would be such a bad thing?
This results in a slightly drooping face that, ultimately, will end with jowls. The good news is that preventative strategies and early intervention can do a lot to allay the worst outcomes. When it comes to jowls, an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure.
Tightening the skin and preventing the loss of collagen and elastin is one method. While healthy lifestyle habits certainly help, skin-tightening techniques—like skin peels and microneedling—can promote the creation of collagen/elastin while firming up the skin to remove any droop.
The next step is to restore volume to the face by replacing the fat lost with age. Advanced cases, like those in late adulthood or who have undergone radical weight loss, could benefit from dermal fillers. Fillers will replace the fat, which in turn will restore the face’s fullness and tighten skin in the process.
Successful interventions will include one or both of these therapies.
Skin Tightening Treatments
In the early stages of middle-age, skin tightening treatments can help prevent jowls by firming up facial skin as it begins to droop. They can not only tighten facial skin, but they also help revitalize it: they can help scarring from acne and sun damage. All while wiping away wrinkles!
Chemical Facial Peels
Facial peels use a mild acid to scrub away the upper layers of skin. The process encourages the lower layers of skin to heal. This kicks collagen and elastin production into overdrive. And, as we’ve learned, collagen and elastin are central to keeping youthful skin.
There’s a variety of skin peels, each featuring different active ingredients. They also rejuvenate different layers of skin. Chemical peels that reach the dermis, where collagen and elastin are produced, encourage replenishment of both of the vital proteins.
One of the best peel options to help encourage younger, firmer skin uses Trichloroacetic (TCA) acid. TCA peels penetrate down to the dermis. They encourage the regeneration of collagen and elastin while also replenishing the parts of the dermis that help create them.
Chemical peels are divided by how deep they penetrate the skin. Shallower treatments are great for evening out skin tone and healing acne scars. Deep tissue chemical peels, like the TCA peel, help restore collagen and elastin in the dermis.
This results in firmer, tighter and more youthful skin. Of course, there are ancillary benefits: TCA peels can remove blemishes from acne scars and even skin tone, amongst a host of other benefits.
Facial Microneedling
Microneedling goes by a few different names—some associated with major brands, like Dermapen—but they’re all the same process. It’s called collagen induction therapy and, as the name implies, it helps rejuvenate the skin by encouraging the retention and production of collagen and elastin.
Microneedling pens use small needles, roughly .05-2.5mm in length, to pierce the skin. But don’t worry! Most of the time, the procedure uses a topical anaesthetic to numb the area. The skin is also coated in a retinol-rich gel at the beginning of the process, which the needles introduce into the subdermal layers of skin.
The process has two direct effects. It encourages platelet-rich blood into the dermis and surface of the skin. After the process, the skin begins to repair itself in part by encouraging the creation and distribution of collagen and elastin. After microneedling, the skin repairs itself with a new collagen layer beneath the surface of the skin.
The result is firmer, more youthful skin that produces more collagen. In addition to tightening facial skin, collagen induction therapy encourages the body to produce more, and higher quality, collagen and elastin.
Treatments to Restore Facial Volume
Beneath our skin—both the epidermis and dermis—is a layer of subcutaneous fat. Commonly referred to as “baby fat,” this layer of fat wears away as we age. During middle age, it begins to wear away more quickly. Alongside the loss of collagen and elastin, it leaves the skin looser on the face.
Dermal fillers get rid of jowls by replacing volume loss in the face. This restores the face’s fullness and gets rid of deep furrows—jowls included.
Dermal fillers go beneath the dermis just above the subcutaneous fat layer. They target key areas of the face experiencing volume loss. By restoring volume, they tighten skin. They not only are able to tighten the jawline, but reverse deepening marionette lines and make crow’s feet disappear.
Dermal fillers may constitute a treatment plan for jowls, but they’re reasonable complicated. We’ll be discussing them in part 5 of the series!
Dreading the Droop?
Book a consultation with Dr. Farmah and his team of aestheticians. They’ll create a custom treatment plan for you to defy the droop!
