Jaw Line and Chin Issues

PROBLEMS AROUND THE JAW LINE AND CHIN

Here are the top issues!  A more complete discussion can be found my book, The Surgery-Free Makeover: All You Need to Know for Great Skin and Younger Face.

Sagging along the jaw line

One of the most common questions that I get from patients is how to fix the sagging skin along the jaw line. The effects of sun damage, age, and gravity all work to put some excess skin along the chin and jaw line.

It is much easier to prevent and to correct mild sagging than it is to deal with a lot of sagging in your late 50s or 60s. To predict whether you will have this problem, look at the women in your family, like your mother and grandmother. Genes often times have a big effect in how your face ages, particularly along the jaw line.

The best non-surgical option for sagging skin along the jaw line is Thermage. A full-face Thermage will cost $2,000 to $3,000, and will produce gradual tightening over about 6 months.

Thermage produces noticeable but not dramatic results.  It is not like a surgical facelift. Another difference between Thermage and a surgical facelift is that a second Thermage can be done 4-6 months later. Plan on needing 2 if you are over 50 or have moderate sagging. Remember Thermage is for mild to moderate sagging. If you have a lot, a facelift is a better solution.

The Thermage treatment that is done now is far different than the one that was done over 4 years ago when Thermage first came on the market. For a lot more information on Thermage, including how it works, what a treatment is like, what results you can expect, and questions to ask, here is a link to our section on Thermage.

Link to Guide to Thermage

Sculptra can also give a very good results for sagging along the law line by replacing the volume that has been lost above the jawline (think of a deflating balloon).  Sculptra is a "volumizer," an injectable poly-lactic acid that stimulates the body's production of natural collagen.  When injected in the cheeks, Sculptra causes the body to produce more collagen, which fills the cheeks more and acts to lift the skin in the lower face and jaw line. 

Sculptra costs $600 to $2000 per treatment, and you will need 2-4 treatments 6-12 weeks apart, followed by 1 maintenance treatment every 12 to 18 months.  Sculptra is FDA approved for HIV, with broader approval pending.  Our Guide to Sculptra has much more information.

Link to Guide to Sculptra

Additional volume, especially for the upper cheeks,  can also be added to lift sagging skin with Juverderm Ultra Plus or Perlane.  These are the heavier molecular weight of the hyaluronic acid fillers Juvederm and Restylane.  They cost about $450 to $600 per syringe, and you may need two syringes to add enough volume to get some lift along the jaw line.  These fillers need to be repeated every 4 to 9 months, because they do not stimulate the production of natural collagen.

Link to Guide to Fillers: Restylane/Juvederm

Full-fledged jowls

I wish there were a non-surgical solution to full-fledged jowls, but there isn’t. You can try a full-face Thermage to provide some lifting, and you can use Sculptra to add volume to the cheeks which will produce some lifting along the jaw line.

But the best correction for full-fledged and prominent jowls is surgery. See your plastic surgeon for more information on that option.

"Notching" along the jaw line

Some of us will get two little notches along the jaw line below the outside corners of our mouths. These indentations, or notches, interrupt the smoothness of the jaw line and can give it a shape that looks a little bit like an "S."

If the cause of this notching is thinning of the fat pad in the chin area or over-activity of the muscle that holds down the corners of the mouth, your best option is filling the area with Juvederm or Restylane. A drop of Botox in this area can also help.

If the notching is caused by sagging along the outer sides of the jaw, then your best non-surgical options are Thermage combined with a longer-lasting volumizer like Sculptra.

Thermage is the radio frequency skin tightening that tightens the skin. Sculptra is the synthetic lactic acid that is injected and that stimulates the production of natural collagen to add volume, which in turn lifts the skin on the cheeks and the outer sides of the jaw.

Thermage and Sculptra together can produce a very good result for the notching along the jaw line, because they lift from higher up on the cheeks. Thermage and Sculptra together take about 6 months to produce their effect, and the Thermage plus the series of Sculptra treatments will cost, at a minimum, about $3,500 to over $8,000. You will need to repeat the Sculptra approximately once a year and the Thermage every year or two.

Links to:

Guide to Thermage

Guide to Sculptra

Guide to Fillers: Restylane/Juvederm

Cobblestone chin

Some of us get lumpy or bumpy skin on our chins as we age. I call this cobblestone chin, although it is not always known as that. I know from attending the Paris conference on aging skin that the French call it peau d’orange, or the skin of an orange.

Cobblestone chin can be fairly easy to correct with a few drops of Botox. The Botox relaxes the dimples and can cost as little as $200.

Link to Guide to Botox

Receding chin

If you feel that your chin is receding, you should definitely have your bite checked by a doctor or dentist for any bone or joint issues. Make sure that there is nothing wrong with the mechanics of your jaw itself.

The only real non-surgical alternative for receding chin is use of one of the thicker, higher-molecular-weight fillers, like Juvéderm Ultra Plus or Perlane. These hyaluronic acid fillers are used for contouring noses and can augment and contour the chin area as well. It will cost $450 to $600, and the results, quite honestly, are variable. Some injectors can work wonders around the chin, but I’ve also seen people spend a lot of money for fillers around the chin and not gotten a very good result.

Link to Guide to Fillers: Restylane/Juvéderm

See a plastic surgeon about the option of a chin implant. If you check out a chin implant, be sure to consider how your face will age around that implant.

 

From www.SkinTour.com and Dr. Brandith Irwin. Copyright 2008-2010 SkinTour LLC. All rights reserved. Journalists, bloggers, and media may reprint this without permission so long as they include this credit box with the article.