The jowls are the first significant issue that we face because they are a major contributor to visible aging. You can look both younger and slimmer by tightening this area. If your neck is redundant or loose with or without placation (simple tight fold) of the platysma muscle a neck lift can be performed. This helps the patient achieve a crisp and cohesive contour from the lower face to the chest.
Dr. Sikorski will make small incisions and mobilize the skin and soft tissues of the lower face and jawline (and in most cases, the neck), advancing them upward and laterally to eliminate sagging (jowls) and provide the appearance of improved skin tone. The excess skin is removed.
Who is A Candidate for A Jowl Lift?
The best candidate for a jowl lift is a man or woman who has experiences soft tissue atrophy and a slight recession of the mandible. Most patients are in their forties to seventies, but jowl lifts can be done successfully on Orange County patients in their eighties as well. The best candidates are men and women physically healthy, psychologically stable and are realistic in their expectations.
Liposuction as Component of Jowl Lift
Actual removal of jowl fat can be done with liposuction, and this will reduce their size. This can be done alone or in conjunction with some form of a facelift. Liposuction aimed at reducing the fat causing saggy jowls usually involves a very small incision below the chin. This is a very common area for liposuction and an easy solution to excess fat under the chin and in the jowl.
Liposuction is performed by inserting a special instrument (a cannula) beneath the skin through a tiny incision placed below the chin. Suction connected to the cannula removes the unwanted fat cells. After the fat is removed, the overlying skin shrinks to create a smooth appearance. The more elastic the skin, the better the result. Dr. Sikorski uses a fine cannula to reduce the potential for any “pebbling” that is sometimes seen with larger instrument usage. OC patients who are concerned with sagging jowls may have laxity of the neck area as well, in which case a weekend neck lift or modified neck lift can be useful to create a clean line and contour.
When performed alone, liposuction of the jowls must be done very carefully and conservatively. Incorrectly or overdone or with an unsuitable cannula size and you will have irregularities that are apparent in the overlying skin. When jowl liposuction is performed as part of a facelift, the lifting and tightening of the skin usually eliminates this concern.
Jowl Lift vs Barbed Suture “Closed” Lifts
In these thread procedures, barbed sutures are passed deep into the cheek and facial tissue above the jowl area and cinched up from above. No excess skin is removed; rather it is “bunched” and theoretically will flatten on its own. For very minor degrees of jowling, this has some short term if fragile results; but neither are usually effective with typical amounts of jowling. From our past experience, the long-term results with these procedures tend to be disappointing.
Costs of Cosmetic Surgery
At Natural Image OC in the Orange County area, we maintain a top-level integrated, AAAHC accredited outpatient surgery center. This helps reduce the costs of cosmetic surgery because we are not tied to the additional costs of a satellite surgical center, nor do any “overtime” costs that can accrue from extra surgery time or anesthesiologist fees. In the end, this can save up to 25% over what many surgeries might cost elsewhere.
Related Cosmetic Surgery and Non-surgical Procedures
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- Liposuction for removal of excess fat or “double chin”
- Buccal Fat Pad Removal
- Neck lift to tighten and contour the neck area
- Chin Augmentation with Implant
- Radiesse for deeper folds and nonsurgical cheek and chin augmentation
- BOTOX®
- Brow lift (Forehead Lift)
- Thermage
- Skin Tightening for mild skin laxity
- Mixto Fractional CO2
- Laser Resurfacing
- Erbium Laser Resurfacing for full surface skin rejuvenation
- Dermal Fillers to relax the parts of the platysma that are responsible for the “band” appearance.
- Sculptra for volume restoration
- JUVÉDERM® Injectable Gel for lip enhancement
- Restylane for wrinkles and lines
- Silikon microdroplets permanent fix for wrinkles and lip plumping
Your consultation visit
You’ll enjoy a relaxing visit to our office where you can ask questions, meet our staff, take a tour of our office and surgical suite and view additional photo results of our patients.
Your consultation assessment is with Dr. Sikorski, not an impersonal or commissioned sales person. Fees and procedure preparations are discussed with our patient coordinator, who will detail the surgical experience with you.
We look forward to meeting with you and helping you find the simplest solution to achieve the goals you desire. Contact us for a jowl lift consultation with Dr. Sikorski in the Orange County area at (949) 448-0487.
