Make those jaws drop

Ageing is a complex process — changes happen in every aspect of the body as age progresses. As you age, the mandible (jawbone) gets smaller, and you begin to lose fat around the mouth and chin. These changes can cause thinning and wrinkling marionette lines, around the lips, and jowls (sagging), all of which obscure the chin.

The jawline, eye area, and lips show visible signs of ageing the most. Poor lifestyle choices, different dieting, smoking, excessive alcohol intake and stress accelerate the ageing process. Over time, elasticity is reduced, cheek volume is lost, and facial bones recede, leading to fat descent and jowliness.

Every year, doctors and aestheticians come up with different ways to beat ageing and retain the youth of men and women. There are surgical and non-surgical procedures that have come and gone in the history of beauty trends. One of the more popular treatments back in the limelight is jaw contouring utilising Juvederm.

Juvederm is a family of injectable hyaluronic acid dermal fillers used to provide nine months to one year of correction for moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds. Injectable fillers with hyaluronic acid can be placed both around the structures of the mouth and along the chin, to add volume and create a more youthful appearance.

Jaw contouring is a process to achieve slimmer, more defined jawline, as a sharper defined jawline is a sign of youth and good looks. It allows the frame of the face to achieve a more symmetrical appearance. Both women and men can benefit from cosmetic injectable treatments to create a contoured jawline that frames the face. Practitioners understand the nuances needed to distinguish the results for male and female patients. Contouring a man’s jaw using fillers involves creating angles and straight lines to enhance the patient’s bone structure whereas an attractive woman’s face is defined by gentle curves.

The treatment can be customised according to the profile of the patient if they want to elongate the chin or contour the face into an oval structure, that is possible with HA fillers. A well-defined jaw angle creates symmetry from the chin to frame the face. This filler treatment can shape, define, and enhance the lower facial contours. It also has the added benefit of decreasing the appearance of loose skin and the appearance of a double-chin when combined with chin augmentation.

Combining dermal fillers with cool-sculpting double chin treatment (cryolipolysis) or kybella injections and masseter reduction using botulinum toxin injections, the complete facial profile can be modified into a younger, dynamic and contoured one without surgery.

By doing these treatments, one can modify the square-shaped face into oval and the faces without borders, mostly in the cases where the jawline, superposed by cervical tissues, can be corrected. Sagging along the jawline also referred to as jowling of old age, is camouflaged using fillers to add volume to the area between the jaw and chin. This smoothens the divot that makes the jowl so pronounced. It is a prominent treatment in the beauty industry, especially because the recovery period is that of a few days only.

If you are eager to try out this procedure, you must produce prior medical history to the doctor to ensure treatment without any side-effects.

(The author is Medical Director, Maya Medi Spa)