Would Botox Alone Help Jowls? (photo)

Botox is great for a number of applications in the upper face, but doesn't have any relevance in treating jowls.  The "11's", horizontal forehead lines, crows feet, and sometimes vertical lip lines can be minimized with appropriate doses of Botox.  These are lines formed by repetitive muscular motion and Botox temporarily disrupts the communication between nerves and muscles. A Botox treatment has about a 3 month duration of effect. 

Botox can relax the masseter muscles which would soften the jawline, but if the jowls are prominent and there is excessive sagging of tissues along the jawline, then fillers may be more suitable. Severe cases require surgery (facelift).

Thanks for your photos.  I agree with the other comments that your issues are structural in nature and will best benefit from surgery.  The jowl region is often challenging to many facelift surgeons and may need additional support beyond the SMAS approach.  Best to approach what bothers you with the most effective methodology without squandering your money on ineffective modalities that will not address your issues.

You have already spent $$ on Ultherapy with minimal result and are not contemplating moer spending on Botox - a good facelift will address your jowling and neck laxity. CareCredit and other financing organization may be able to help you finance this procedure.

Botox does not help jowls. My best advice is to save money and have a facelift in the future. Other methods of so-called shrinking of the tissue will not give you the results you desire.

                         The lower face and neck really needs to be addressed with a lower face and neck lift.  This may not be as expensive as you think.  Find a plastic surgeon with ELITE credentials who performs hundreds of facelifts, facelift revisions, and facial procedures each year.  Then look at the plastic surgeon's website before and after photo galleries to get a sense of who can deliver the results.

Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

As always, the definitive answer rests with an in-person consultation.  Neuromodulators such as Botox relax muscles, and as such are effective for treatment of "dynamic" lines - lines caused by underlying muscle contraction.  These lines are in the upper third of the face (i.e. crow's feet, forehead lines) and not in the jowl area.  I hope this is helpful.  Regards, Andy Shah MD. 

Botox works by temporarily weakening a muscle movement.  The jowls and neck laxity that bother you cannot be improved with botox.  Ultherapy can improve mild neck and lower face laxity, but the results are often subtle.  A lower facelift is what would give you the best and most long lasting result.  Botox works best for treating lines from facial expression in the upper face and I think you would be wasting your money if you tried using Botox to correct your jowls and neck laxity.  

Hello,

You do have a significant amount of skin laxity and you have three choices to treat this.  

1.  You can do nothing.

2.  You can get a face-lift/ neck-lift

3.  You can tighten your skin.  

You tried option three using Ulthera -which is a great and effective skin tightening tool for patients with early to moderate laxity.  I hope that your provider did educate you on the option of a face-lift prior to your receiving your Ultherapy so that your expectations were realistic because a face-lift/ neck-lift is the best treatment for you.

That being said, not everyone wants a face-lift.  In that case, non-invasive options play a role as long as the patient understands the limitations of these treatments.  A little Botox injected in the DAO's, and lat sup neck can minimize the jowl- and some people are very pleased with a little improvement.  Patients with less laxity obviously will have better results. The cost to try a little Botox is minimal in comparison to a face-lift if that is something you want to try, but yes you will a much better result with a face-lift.

Also I can't see your cheekbones, but if you have lost a lot of volume along the cheekbones and your skin has no support- just balancing your face will give you a more "uplifted" reflection. 

Good Luck. 

There is only so much which can be done noninvasively.  Ulthera is the best noninvasive technique and should improve the problem somewhat.  If that didn't get you to where you want to be, seek a consult with a Plastic Surgeon.  Botox will not help at all.