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Where Do Jowls Go when SMAS Muscle is Lifted and Tightened?
Do they move outward or up next to the sides of the mouth and just hang? Would lifting that muscle cause the lower face to appear heavier?
Asked 35 months ago by
hellofromteresa in Sacramento, CA
+4
Depends on technique used
Hello Teresa,
Jowls are composed of 3 main components:
1. Muscle / Fascia (SMAS)
2. Fat
3. Skin & it's attachements to the underlying tissues
There is also the pre-jowl sulcus (this is the crease that is present at the front of the jowls).
Depending on your anatomy, desired goals, desired degree of surgical invasiveness, time available for recovery, overall health, etc., your Surgeon should be able to offer you a technique that is best for you.
As a general overview here is what happens...
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New York Facial Plastic Surgeon
+2
Jowls are not removed with a facelift, they are repositioned.
Jowls that are the product of aging are not because of fat growth in the region. Therefore, they should not be suctioned. A facelift will reposition the volume of the jowls back onto the cheeks and restore youthful volume relationships to the face.
+2
The jowls disappear!
The jowls are composed of skin, fatty tissue and muscle. Typically in a facelift, some fat is removed, and as the muscular layer and skin are pulled up, back and tightened, the jowls flatten. Some of the tissue (fat) is removed, while some is tucked flat against the underside of the chin and the rest up. This allows for better definition of the jawline but does not add bulk to the lower face. In contrast, the lower face becomes more defined and youthful.
San Francisco Facial Plastic Surgeon
+2
SMAS Facelift Elevates Jowl Fat to Cheeks and Cheekbones
The SMAS Facelift uses the deep tissues to move facial fat to its original youthful positions providing volume and highlights to the face. When properly performed by a very experienced facelift surgeon, the SMAS is used to carry jowl fat superiorly to the midface and cheekbones recreating the "heart" shaped youthful configuration that you had when you were younger, as evidenced in your old photographs. This recreates the high voluptuous contours of youth....
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+2
Jowls and Facelifts
Jowls are deposits of fat, muscle, and skin which descend below the jawline with age. Appropriate treatment of jowls depends on the anatomy of the patient. Typically, jowls are contoured and repositioned creating an improved jawline and facial appearance.
see video
Chicago Facial Plastic Surgeon
+2
Facelift, jowls
Jowls are generally made up of fat and lax skin. During a facelift, I sculpt out the fat in the jowl area so that the fullness is diminished to the proper degree. I then re-drape the connective tissue known as the SMAS to flatten and smooth the remainder of the jawline. The skin is then re-postioned in a backward direction, never upward, so that a natural, non-stretched appearance is obtained.
+2
The SMAS gets pulled into the face to where it was originally
Jowling is essentially tissue that has descended from the face to sit beyond the lower border of the jawline. When you do a SMAS facelift, this tissue is pulled up over the jaw and into the area where it used to be. Your face won't necessarily be fatter, it will have more of the youthful volume it use to have when you were young. Adding tissue into the buccal lower face area tends to make you look younger in fact.
This area can tolerate a lot of tissue without making you look fatter in the...
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Bellevue Facial Plastic Surgeon
+2
It depends on what you are calling jowls.
Normally, surgeons call jowls the fatty masses on the lower jaw and below it. These are repositioned in the cheek where they used to be.
Having said that, your fat is higher than that and may only require liposuction at the time of facelifting.
Tightening the muscle will not cause the lower face to look heavier; it should do just the opposite if done properly.
+1
Jowls and facelift
The goal of a lower facelift is to reposition the jowls (composed of skin, fat, and muscle) in a more natural, youthful position. This involves elevating the jowls in an upward direction so that they are positioned above the jawline. This creates a defined, youthful looking jawline. If the jowls are especially heave conservative lipocontouring can be performed in order to remove some of the fat.
Orange County Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1
Effect of SMAS on jowls
The jawline is smoothed in a SMAS and it therefore lifts up the jowl area such that it counteracts the sagging. This creates a more youthful appearance.
+1
Redistribution Principle
The jowls represent lax muscle and associated tissues of the face just below the corners of your mouth at the jaw line. This lax muscle is lifted and tightened by removal or suturing. This redrapes the lax muscle producing a smoother facial appearance.
Dr. ES
+1
Vertical SMAS Lift is best!
In my mind, the jowl is soft tissue that used to be part of the cheek and the hollow underneath the cheek. Many SMAS lifts pull this tissue to the side (toward the ear). I call this the Nike Swoop look. Try pulling your jowls to the side and look in the mirror. Not Good!
But, if you smile and place your fingers at the top of the cheek to hold the tissue in place. Voila! The jowls are gone, you look smooth and natural. Hence the Vertical Lift!
+1
Correcting jowling with a SMAS facelift.
The jowling in a facelift get pulled along the jawline and flattened. The SMAS and platysma are release from the jawline which enables them to slide back with the lateral pull and this corrects the jowls. Sometimes liposuction is combined with this procedure to correct the fatty jowl.
+1
Jowl movment in facelift
A facelift does not lift the muscles. It can elevate the soft tissue superficial to the muscle and deep to the skin. The jowls are jsut one component of this layer. They are either pulled back or contoured to be less noticeable during facelift surgery.
+1
SMAS elevation
The SMAS or submuscular aponeurotic system is actually two layers of a fibrous type tissue the sandwich the muscles of facial expression. Elevation this layer, such that occurs during the extended SMAS facelift that I perform moves the jowls back to the midcheek region from which they've come. With mild to moderate jowls SMAS plication may be okay. But with heavy jowls I think an extended SMAS elelvation moves the jowls much higher lotheh midcheekregoopm
+1
Lifting the jowls
Many patients consider the drooping lower cheek below the jawbone to represent jowls. This tissue often resides in the lower cheek above the level of the jaw bone in use. As we age, 2 things happen. The connective tissue that holds that tissue in place weekends and becomes more lax. Additionally, there is some loss of fat in the face. This sounds great but in fact causes a deflation in the area. The remaining tissue, combined with the excess skin, falls over the border of the jaw bone,...
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+1
Depends on technique and the starting volume in the face
A vertical repositioning of the SMAS will elevate the jowls back into the cheeks and restore hollowing that has developed. If the face is already full, the SMAS elevation is still valuable but the extra fat can be removed so as to not make the cheeks appear chubby. This is all part of the art form that is facelifting. Remember that no 2 surgeons are alike and your result will depend very much on who does your surgery.
