Jowls are one of the most frustrating and yet most common signs of aging. They are the bags of skin and fat that develop along the jaw that lead to an undefined jawline appearance. Unfortunately, with time and age, some formation of jowls is likely to occur in all of us.
That's because when you gain weight, your facial skin stretches a bit to accommodate the extra pounds, just like the skin on the rest of your body. However, once you lose weight, saggy jowls may seem to appear out of nowhere, since your skin has less ability to retain its shape and bounce back after weight loss.
The muscle underneath the jowls is called the platysma. The platysma basically acts as a turtle neck starting at the jowls/jaw line and extends down to the collar bone (Picture C). As we age, the platysma and the muscle under the jowls (depressor anguli oris) stretches the skin down and out.
An effective treatment for jowls does not include weight loss. No, losing weight cannot get rid of saggy jowls for some people. Even extreme weight loss does not work for a majority of patients, especially those with aging skin. It's because weight loss makes jowls more prominent in the first place.
Jowls develop as the skin becomes less elastic with age because of elastin and collagen loss. Jowl development is also affected by various other factors including certain lifestyle choices and facial movement habits, genetic predisposition, exposure to sunlight, and chronic stress.
For women nearing the age of 40, a distressing phenomenon begins to appear in the mirror. We start to notice the dreaded jowls, sagging cheeks and undereye “bags”. Reaching for the face cream won't help what is in front of you. Looking behind the skin's surface will explain why.
Using the backs of your fingers, pull the skin on your cheeks back until it becomes tight. Smile naturally, but try not to move the muscles around your eyes. You should feel the muscles on your jaw and around your mouth contracting. Repeat this exercise 50 times.
Exercising the lower face and chin and jaw muscles may help prevent jowls or loose, sagging skin around the jawline as you age. However, people who are overweight may not find quick results with just facial exercises.
It can improve your mood, remind you how cute you are, and, it turns out, improve your jawline. Smiling puts the muscles in your face to work and extends your cheekbones.
The biggest changes typically occur when people are in their 40s and 50s, but they can begin as early as the mid-30s and continue into old age. Even when your muscles are in top working order, they contribute to facial aging with repetitive motions that etch lines in your skin.
Round faces tend to age very well compared to other face shapes due to the fact they store a lot of fat in the cheek area. This can keep you looking younger for longer than those who lose fat quicker. This means that a gaunt and dull complexion takes longer to develop.
Facial Expressions: Frequent common facial expressions like puckering of the lips or yawning can result in stretching of the skin along the jaw and chin.
Extreme weight loss creates sagging jowls earlier or more drastically than typical. As you lose weight, you also lose fat from your face. Hence, the skin will be looser and you're more likely to see the jowls sag.
Jowl fat consists of the superior and inferior fat pads, with the mandibular septum acting like a sling beneath both jowl fat pads and fusing with the platysma muscle. Changes over time to subcutaneous fat compartments around the mandibular septum can lead to jowling and facial aging.
The jowl is actually a fat pad and will enlarge with weight gain; it also becomes more prominent with aging partly because facial volume in adjacent areas of the cheek can diminish relative to the jowl.
How vitamin D deficiency leads to accelerated skin aging isn't fully understood. However, some experts suspect it has something to do with vitamin D's protective and antioxidant properties on the skin.
Although Botox can lift jowls, its effectiveness really does depend on the extent of the sagging. If you have large drooping jowls then Botox is unlikely to give you the results that you desire. In such cases, you really would be better off considering a surgical procedure.
Can Botox help lift sagging jowls? We are all aware of the wrinkle-reducing effects of Botox, but its benefits go much further than that. When administered strategically in the jaw and neck, it can affect the lower face by reducing the appearance of minor sagging skin and jowls.
Neglecting Neck Skin Can Cause Sagging Neck and Jowls
Poor diet, stress, and smoking are additional factors that can take a toll on your skin. To offset the natural and environmental factors, you can use high-quality neck firming and facial contouring creams to give your skin the boost it needs to remain youthful.
What are Face Jowls? Face jowls are the bags of skin along the jawline that sag or droop lower than the jaw. As the lower cheek muscles lose strength and volume, the skin gravitates down which gives the jawline an undefined, loose appearance.