Overview on How To Prevent Jowls

Jowls are considered as the loose skin beneath a person’s jawline. No one can prevent from jowls as it can affect everyone. It happens to a person’s skin when his or her body is no longer produces proteins in their body and as a result, their skin becomes less elastic over time.

This minor physical change on their face can bring a lot of difference in the people. People are more prone to develop Jowls as they grow older. It may not harm your body but can bring a significant change in a person. People no need to worry about the Jowls, as there are a lot of innovative approaches that will benefit the patient who is feeling insecure about sagging jowls.

What are the causes of Jowls?

Many causes can develop the condition of jowls other than aging. The main causes of jowls include

  • Genes
  • Lacking connective tissue proteins in the body
  • Heavy Exposure to the sun
  • Loss of weight
  • Smoking
  • Facial Expressions
  • Technology

The above causes of jowls in detail:

Genes

Your genes can play a massive role in the development of jowls under your chin or jawline. If any member in your family has developed this condition in the past, chances of you will develop the jowls are pretty high. It is important to see your physician when you notice unusual changes on your skin.

Lacking connective tissue proteins in the body

The connective tissue proteins include collagen and elastin. Both these proteins can keep your skin firmness and can help your skin to maintain the elasticity. Your skin starts to sag in the absence of these proteins and loses their skin firmness and tightness.

Heavy Exposure to the sun

Too much exposure of sun to your body can damage the connective tissue proteins. It is advised to stay indoors while you are experiencing any problems with your skin.

Loss of weight

Losing weight is a big achievement for many people but do you know that losing too much weight can contribute to sagging skin. People become thin when they are losing a few extra pounds and as a result, you will experience loose skin.

Smoking

Blood circulation is important for connective tissue proteins to work. But people who have a habit of smoking are unable to achieve this as their blood vessels may become narrow and it results in poor circulation of the blood. Smoking also affects your skin negatively and you should blame nicotine for it. You should quit smoking if you want to slow the progression of your aging process.

Facial Expressions

Some facial expressions can contribute to the cause of jowls if you do it continuously. Don’t maintain the facial expressions that are negatively affecting your neck or face skin.

Technology

Technology introduces many things and makes things easier to do. People have to look down when they want to use electronic devices continuously and the overuse of this technology can cause you loose skin and leads to the formation of jowls.

What are the risk factors of jowls?

Its always a good idea to prevent jowls rather than getting them and then finding ways to treat them. Exposing the body to UV rays, excessive use of alcohol, unable to quit cigarettes, always staying dehydrated, severe or chronic illness, sudden changes in weight, medical history of jowls, skin allergies, maintaining bad skin hygiene, not doing physical activities, physical trauma, damage to the face that involves jaw muscles and skin, and maintaining a diet low in antioxidants, healthful fats, and essential nutrients are considered as the risk factors of Jowls.

What are the treatment options available for jowls?

There are ways to prevent jowls, But in case you already have them, here are surgical options and non-surgical options to treat jowls. Surgical options include

  • A neck lift or facelift
  • Liposuction

Let’s discuss the above surgical options in detail

A neck lift or facelift

It is also known as lower rhytidectomy. This surgery involves removing your fat and tighten your muscles by giving you general anesthesia. The main objective of lower rhytidectomy is to give back your old skin tone. It is done by placing an incision behind the ear and extending it into your hairline.

face lift

In a few scenarios, your physician may perform a full facelift. It includes taking out the full fat, tightening the muscles, and rearranging your skin underneath your face so that both parts appear the same.

The cost of this surgery is around five-thousand dollars. Bruises, sepsis, damage to nerves or muscles, improper healing, internal bleeding, and complications due to anesthesia are the risks associated with lower rhytidectomy.

Liposuction

This surgery also involves taking out excessive fat under your jawline with the help of microcannula. To prevent future sagging, your surgeon will change the structure of the skin and chin area.

Liposuction

Your surgeon gives a normal anesthesia shot before starting the surgery and your physician suggests staying in the hospital for a couple of days to recover from the surgery. The cost of this surgery is around three-thousand and two hundred dollars.

Sepsis, bruises, swelling or improper healing, nerve damage, muscle damage, internal bleeding, and complications from anesthesia are the risks associated with this surgery.

The following are the non-surgical options to treat jowls. It includes

  • Dermal fillers
  • Ultherapy
  • Radiotherapy
  • Turtlenecks and scarves
  • Thermage jawline tightening
  • Thread Lifts

Let’s discuss the above non-surgical options in detail:

Dermal Fillers

Hyaluronic acid used in the preparation of Dermal fillers. Your neck and chin will be injected with the hyaluronic acid to fill in jowls and make hanging skin disappear. These fillers can increase the tightness and firmness of your skin by producing connective tissue proteins.

Ultherapy

The main objective of this therapy is to stimulate the connective tissue proteins in the skin and it is an easy technique as people don’t need to come again to the hospital once they have done with Ultherapy. There are no risks associated with this therapy. It doesn’t interfere with the daily activities of the people after the procedure.

People who have undergone this therapy observed after a few months of treatment that increases their skin tightness and firmness. Research shows that seventy percent of the people noticing improvements around the neck and chin area several months after ultrasound therapy treatment.

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy can raise the levels of connective tissue proteins in the body. This therapy involves using intense and radiating heat to raise the levels of connective tissue proteins for about two millimeters under the skin’s surface.

You need to visit your physicians and get this therapy done for better results. In medical terms, the radiotherapy for jowls is known as Pelleve.

Turtlenecks and scarves

People need these to cover the affected area and it can also keep you warm. Turtlenecks can hide the jowls and it is recommended to avoid sheer fabrics.

Thermage jawline tightening

The main objective of this procedure is to tighten the skin around the neck with the help of a tool known as the Thermatip. Your physician may repeat this procedure one more time to make sure that the connective tissue proteins in your skin stay tight. The time taken to complete this procedure is one day and people observe results after a few weeks. The cost of this procedure is around three thousand dollars.

Thread Lifts

Your physician made the surgical threads with the help of polylactic acid. These threads can provide a facelift for the jowls. These specialized surgical threads raise the levels of connective tissue proteins in the skin and help you to maintain the firmness and tightness of the skin.

How do you prevent Jowls?

Preventing jowls is a very easy thing to do especially if you have had it before. All you need to do is maintain a healthy lifestyle and it includes a well-balanced diet, exercise, and maintaining a healthy body weight can reduce the chances of experiencing jowls. Bad habits like smoking and drinking excessive alcohol can develop the condition of jowls, so it is better to avoid those habits in order to prevent jowls.

Conclusion

If jowls are a big problem for you, then talk with a certified dermatologist about some of the available treatment options and on how to prevent jowls. Jowls can have a serious effect on body appearance and often people feel low about themselves.

References

  1. https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2013.976
  2. https://scholars.uthscsa.edu/en/publications/concertina-effect-and-facial-aging-nonlinear-aspects-of-youthfuln
  3. https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/s-0032-1305786
  4. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/14764172.2014.910079/
  5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095881115300287
  6. https://www.dovepress.com/noninvasive-skin-tightening-focus-on-new-ultrasound-techniques-peer-reviewed-article-CCID

 

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Last Update: June 10, 2020