The jawline is one of those areas that most of us take for granted – like the neck and hands. It’s just not a problem area until one day, probably around your late 30s, when it is. When your face starts losing its youthful volume, it’s such a slow and steady process that you tend not to notice until someone else remarks on it, or you look in the mirror and have what many of my patients describe as ‘a horror moment’ of realising that everything seems to have changed. Like many other aspects of ageing, this one creeps up on you gradually as the fat pads that have been filling out your face start shrinking – usually in your early forties.
How the ageing process hurts your face
Even if you don’t have a particularly plump face to begin with, we all have around 20 fat pads in the cheeks, under the eyes, around the temples and down to the chin. The fat pads under the eyes are usually the first to start shrinking, making the eye sockets look a little sunken, then the cheeks look less full, which is the point at which you start noticing the change. To add insult to injury, some of these fat pads, particularly those around the jaw, may start to drift downwards, leading to a jowly jawline.
Thankfully gone are the days when surgery was our only option to repair the damage caused by the ageing process. Now, we have a myriad of advanced, non-surgical treatments and modalities at our fingertips to lift sagging jowls and restructure an ageing face subtly yet effectively.
Profound RF
The profound RF is as serious as it gets when it comes to tackling loss of firmness, softening of the jawline, jowls or loss of volume without opting for surgery. It is a radiofrequency-based microneedling device that is proven to stimulate collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid by bolstering these natural building blocks to tighten, lift and restore lost spring to the lower face, jowls and neck. The treatment penetrates the skin at a precise depth with tiny needles before releasing bursts of radiofrequency energy. This causes microdamage that stimulates collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid in order to lift and plump over time. The procedure takes approximately sixty minutes and causes tiny micro-wounds to the skin (local anaesthetic is used to help minimise discomfort). Whilst the technology is very similar to that of the better known Morpheus8, Profound has the ability to deliver the energy for four times longer for optimal results in just a single treatment.
Sofwave
Sofwave is the new kid on the block in the world of aesthetics. Whilst well established in the USA, it has only recently started to emerge in the UK, and I am delighted to be one of the first practitioners to offer the treatment. Sofwave is an FDA-cleared device that uses unique Synchronous Ultrasound Parallel Beam Technology to lift, sculpt and tighten skin on the face and neck, working from the inside out for long-lasting results with minimal downtime. So why is Sofwave a game-changer in my eyes? It is FDA cleared for lifting the eyebrow, tightening the jawline, submental and neck and reducing fine lines and wrinkles. Not only has it been clinically proven to significantly improve ageing skin after just a single treatment, but it also exhibits unique yet highly effective technologies that precisely pass through the skin’s surface, heating the mid-dermal tissue at just the right depth and temperature to rejuvenate collagen fibres without damaging the epidermis or the underlying structures beneath.
Dermal fillers
A light sprinkling of dermal fillers can help to elevate and minimise the appearance of drooping jowls. Dermal fillers are commonly used to rebuild volume and definition in areas of the face, such as the cheeks. When placed strategically, they can add fullness to the cheeks, which restores the lost fat pads, lifting the facial contours and softening nasolabial lines and jowls. They can also be used to sculpt and reshape the jaw, bringing balance and symmetry to frame the face.
When addressing any problem area on the face or body, achieving the very best results all comes down to enhancing a patient’s innate beauty by taking a strategic and often combination approach to treatments, skincare and occasionally even hormone therapy, to help you look and feel the very best version of you.