Loose skin after jaw surgery - what are my options? (Photo)

The best recommendation to improve your chin, jawline and neck appearance following jaw surgery depend on your needs, desires, and most importantly an examination to determine the best procedure for you. Your plastic surgeon will evaluate you for five main features that will determine your best options for neck line improvement:Amount of excess fat typically found beneath the chin, and in the upper neck. This requires liposuction with small cannulas or direct removal especially if the fat is beneath the platysma muscle.Presence of Significant (Platysmal) Banding – this requires bringing the muscles together in the upper/mid neck to a more youthful position and occasionally their release. This procedure is called a platysmaplasty or platysma plication. Mild banding can be treated non- surgically with Botox or Dysport but this requires injections 3-4 times a year for maintenance.Amount of excess/redundant skin (cutis laxa) and condition of your skin. In advanced stages this is called a Turkey Waddle or Gobble deformity. For example, younger age, darker skin colors and no large weight loss history most likely means there will be better elasticity and therefore better post-surgical contraction. In milder cases if not too much fat is present there will be enough skin shrinkage with just lipo alone. Mild to minimal skin tightening using non-surgical means like the Sciton Laser SkinTyte procedure, Ultherapy or Thermage could also be considered. My personal preference for non-surgical skin tightening of the neck is the Sciton Laser BBL SkinTyte® procedure as there is no down time, more comfortable procdure, is effective and is a more targeted treatment. For redundant upper and mid excess neck skin: I prefer the LiteLift® (lower facelift ) procedure or MACS for skin re-draping for mild to moderate excess skin management as there are minimal scars and the skin is lifted vertically allowing for minimal hidden scars resulting in a natural appearance “non pulled” appearance. However: for moderate to severe skin redundancy , a neck lift or traditional lower facelift (e.g.Lite Lift®, MACS and others) is needed with or without lipo for best results. For advanced Turkey Waddle correction wither a traditional facelift or posterior neck lift often with a platysmaplasty is required with more extensive scars that extend at the hairline behind your ears. The advantage of a facelift procedure rather than a posterior neck lift is that your lower jawline (e.g. jowls and marionette lines) are also improved at the same time.Chin deficiency. If you have a weak chin then you will not have adequate chin support to your neckline skin which affects your entire neck line. Sometimes especially in younger individuals this is all that is required and this can be done in the office under local anesthesia. There are a number of different sizes and shapes and your plastic surgeon will pick the optimal one for you.Presence of prominent Digastric Muscles or Submandibular gland fullness from laxity or enlargement. Although not a major concern for most patients, if present then partial resection is usually the best solution.   #jawlineimprovement

Based on the photos, I would recommend either Smartlipo of the neck which will remove any excess fat and tighten the skin, or a mini facelift to remove and tighten the skin. Good luck!

Thank you for a great question and for sharing your photos and experience.  Rhinoplasty can help balance a profile if you have specific concerns regarding your nose...however, you have a strong chin, so you do not want to overly reduce your nose either.  It is difficult to give you any specific advice on your nasal contour from the pictures.  It sounds like skin laxity is more of a concern for you.  At your age, there are noninvasive and minimally invasive options for skin tightening as it is unlikely you need a facelift at this stage.I recommend consulting with a board certified facial plastic surgeon to further discuss your concerns and options.  I hope this is helpful."This answer has been solicited without seeing this patient and cannot be held as true medical advice, but only opinion. Seek in-person treatment with a trained medical professional for appropriate care."

A facelift can help address excess skin in the mandibular border region and give you a tighter more defined neck appearance.  You are young for this procedure but an inpatient consultation can help address the pros and cons of this procedure on someone your and and see if it is right for you. 

Your options are non-surgical or surgical in nature. Non-surgical neck contouring could combine neck fat reduction and skin toning (ie with Ultherapy). The changes will be modest in nature. A necklift is the surgical alternative. The results will be more dramatic and long-lasting and requires a recovery. At 28 you are quite young for surgery; in exceptional circumstances, the desired outcome requires this approach.

You are definitely too young to get a facelift in my opinion.  As far as rhinoplasty is concerned, your photos don't make it obvious one way or another whether a rhinoplasty would be worthwhile in your situation,

If indeed there is
loose skin. The skin needs to be adjusted to the new volume of your face now the
mandible has being set down. Look for a
good train surgeon with experience to have your surgery

From the photographs I don't really see anything significant relative to redundant soft tissues. The orthognathic surgical result is quite good. As far as a rhinoplasty I would consult with the surgeon who is experienced in his operation and use video imaging to give both you and the surgeon and idea of what to expect.

Patients after jaw surgery ( specially set back jaw surgery) may evidence fullness under the chin and laxity of skin in that area ( double chin). These patients could improve this physical finding with liposuction of the chin ( sumental area). Another alternative is to use the new non-surgical treatment to disolve submental fat with injections callef Kybella. this last treatment requires a serial number of treatments to achieve satisfactory restult. Then, after either liposuction or kybella, the chin ( submental) skin should redrape to the new reshaped neck.

In your particular case skin tightening surgery is not a good option.  There are a number of skin tightening devices that could help. Seek out a physician that has experience with these deices and ask for realistic expectations.