When you look up the meaning of jowls, what you get doesn’t sound so appealing. “The lower part of a person’s or animal’s cheek, especially when it is fleshy or droopy.” Or worse, “the loose, fleshy part of the neck of certain animals, such as the wattle of birds.”
You’d be totally happy to go through life without jowls, or without a turkey wattle. But you’re not exactly jazzed about the idea of having a neck lift or other surgery to trim away any jowls you do have. What can you do?
Well, these days there are a few non-surgical options that specifically target the under chin and neck area. Take a look at what they do and see if they’re the right option for you and your jowls.
Coolsculpting with the CoolMini
It’s not just sagging, fleshy skin that makes your chin and neck area look older. Having a bit of extra fat or fatty deposits beneath the skin definitely adds years to your appearance. In times past, your option for getting rid of that fat was liposuction.
These days, you have another option. The CoolMini applicator from Coolsculpting is shaped and sized for the under-chin area. It’s specifically designed for treating a double chin, without the need for surgery.
The CoolMini is the same as Coolsculpting in any other area of the body. During treatment, the applicator chills the area to below freezing temperatures. The freezing cold destroys fat cells, so that your body eventually flushes them out. Once the fat cells are gone, they won’t return.
Your CoolMini Results
The typical CoolMini Coolsculpting treatment removes about 20 percent of fat from the chin area. Although you might get the results you’re after with a single treatment, many people see better results after two treatments.
After Coolsculpting the chin area, it can take a few months before you see final results. Your body needs time to process and flush away the damaged fat cells. Although the destroyed fat is gone for good, it’s important to understand that the remaining fat can get bigger if you don’t pay attention to what you eat.
As far as jowls go, the CoolMini won’t really help them. In fact, if you have some sagging or jowliness in that area, removing the fat from the chin can make your existing jowls worse or more visible.
That shouldn’t stop you from considering treatment with the CoolMini to get rid of or reduce a double chin. It just means that you might want to combine the fat removal treatment with other non-surgical, face rejuvenating procedures.
Other Ways to Deal with Jowls: Ulthera
If you’ve got a bit of droop in the chin and neck area, either before or after Coolsculpting, there are a couple of ways to handle it, without surgery.
One option is non-surgical skin tightening using ultrasound energy. Ulthera is the first non-surgical skin tightening treatment using ultrasound to be approved by the FDA. The concept behind Ulthera or Ultherapy is simple.
During treatment, the ultrasound waves penetrate the skin, reaching down to the dermal layer. There, the ultrasound energy kick starts the production of collagen. Collagen is a protein that provides the skin with structure and support. Your body naturally produces it, but production drops off with age. Reinvigorating collagen production helps tighten and firm the skin, reducing jowls and giving you a smoother, more youthful appearance.
The results from Ulthera are long lasting, although they do take some time to fully appear. You might start to notice a shrinkage in your jowls a few days after treatment, but final results can take up to a few months to appear. Some people decide to get touch-up treatments every year or so to keep their jowls at bay.
Improving Jowls with Injectables
Another way to reduce the appearance of jowls without surgery is to have your surgeon inject the area with fillers. Injectable fillers are commonly administered to help minimize the look of certain wrinkles or creases or to plump up areas that have lost a fair amount of volume, such as the cheeks.
Since fillers can help smooth and elevate the skin, they can also help to lessen jowls. Fillers that add volume like Juvederm Voluma, or fillers that are meant for deeper creases like Restylane Lyft, often help the most.
It’s important to understand that an injectable filler treatment won’t actually tighten the skin or correct skin laxity. But it can create the illusion of smaller jowls, which can be all you need to feel more confident about your appearance.
Get Help from an Expert
If all you can see when you look in the mirror are basset hound jowls or a floppy turkey’s wattle, it’s time to talk about your options with a board certified plastic surgeon. You can reduce the look of jowls and a double chin without surgery. To learn more, call 281-810-9083 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Paul Vitenas at Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique in Houston, Texas, today.