Can Lipo Alone Remove a Small Jowl?

Liposuction under local anesthesia does improve small jowls in younger patients for about $1500-2000.  It is worth doing for many patients.  Sincerely,

David Hansen,MD

Jowls are the skin and fat layers that used to be located above the jawline on the cheek.  With time, we lose deep fat in the mid face which causes a lack of support and with a combination of age and sun exposure, our collagen and elastin support is compromised.  All of these factors then allow the face to fall, bringing the cheek down over the jaw. This jowl can be reduced by liposuction if there is enough of a fat component and sometimes the skin will retract well but never the same as a facelift. Non invasive devices such as Ulthera and Thermage may help lift the jowl slightly, but not to the same extent of a face lift. There are risks with all of these procedures, even the non-invasive ones, so discuss this thoroughly with your physician.

The small jowling that occurs in young patients can be addressed by liposuction.  However, jowling is not due to fat accumulation alone, the sagging skin and underlying tissue need to be lifted. 

Like any cosmetic procedure, your board certified plastic surgeon by history and physical exam will help make the right decision for you. If liposuction is your choice, be careful not remove too much fat resulting in possible indentation.

In a young patient, liposuction of the jowl and neck can give a dramatic improvement- hard to say if you could completely get rid of the jowl without examining you.

It is possible but unlikely you will obtain a great result. But you did not post a photo so very hard to advise. Seek in person evaluations from a boarded PS in your area. 

Liposuction can improve the jowl. The answer to why it does not remove it lies in what causes the jowl. The cause is descent of the cheek skin and underlying fat. It cannot go but so far, however, because of retaining ligaments between the skin and the edge of the jaw. Therefore, the “jowl deformity” is a prominence of the descended fat, a hollowing of the cheek above it from where the fat came, and the extra skin. Even if you remove the extra fat, you still have the extra skin and the loss of the cheek fat, which is hard to disguise.
 

Hi.

It all depends on your anatomy and your skin elasticity.  On the right candidate, liposuction of the jowls (usually done together with liposuction of the neck) can give dramatic results.

This is probably something that is not done often enough.   Scar less and very little recovery.  And you should always just significant improvement rather than "removal".

Liposuction alone will minimally improve small jowls. Jowls are not a fat problem. Liposuction removes fat.

Jowls are the result of sagging skin and muscle.  Liposuction will remove a very minimal amount of fat from the jowl. It does not address the sagging which is the primary issue. If too much fat is removed by liposuction, unsightly dents will result. SmartLipo laser can produce a limited amount of tightening and lifting of the jowl.

The best treatment of jowls occurs when the muscle and the tissues that connect the muscles is tightened in an upward direction and excess skin is removed. This may be accomplished by a mid face lift, a MACS lift, or a Facelift.

Good luck,

Richard L. Dolsky MD