Any suggestions for loose facial skin after Weight Loss? (photos)

Thank you for your question and for sharing your photos.  Ultimately, a surgical face lift provides the best contouring for someone with moderate or severe laxity. This procedure could include tightening your underlying musculature to give you a better contour and also removing the excess skin laxity. Together this allows for a much better face and neck contour. In some instances, some liposuction is also beneficial to reduce the submental fullness.  However, given your history, age and photos, you may want to explore non-surgical options first.There are effective non-surgical options for you. I would recommend Ulthera if you are looking for something with no downtime, or Profound if you could tolerate some downtime. Ulthera is an ultrasound based energy that heats the underlying tissue and stimulates collagen in response. Profound is a radio frequency microneedling device that allows for the creation of Elastin, collagen and hyaluronic acid and hence restores some of the lost elasticity in the face. It has more visible downtime with the possibility of some swelling and bruising that diminishes in about a weeks time.Dermal fillers may also give you more cheek (mid face) definition and soften the jowls to a lesser degree than surgery, but create a nice contrast. I tend to recommend Sculptra for my patients who have lost a lot of weight as this provides a long lasting approach to address pan-facial volume loss.I would visit with a board certified plastic surgeon who has the portfolio of non-surgical options in your area who can help explain the treatment options for you and the limitations of each option, both surgical and non-surgical.

Patients
who experience skin laxity after weightloss, especially in very young patients
where hormonal change is not at play, are usually experiencing a loss of fat in
their faces, as well as their bodies, which causes skin to appear looser. It’s
very hard to tell from this photo, since I cannot gauge the overall contour of
your face, but I imagine you have lost some fat in the upper cheek
(“cheekbone”).

I
have treated many patients for fat loss in the face due to overall weightloss.
My go-to procedure for correcting this loss of fat in the cheeks is to use fat
transfer to replace the lost fat. Fat transfer re-inflates the cheeks, and
lifts the skin back to its previous location, recreating your natural, youthful
contours. Fat transfer is extremely long lasting, and because it is your own
fat, usually harvested from the love handles or stomach, it feels and looks
very natural.

In
the rare case that you have lost so much fat that there is not sufficient fat
to transfer, you could achieve the same look with dermal fillers.

There is no weight to significantly tighten skin. A true surplus would demand surgical excision. From the photograph it looks as though a modification of a facelift might indeed be indicated.

First, it is important to establish your base weight.  If you are going to gain or lose more weight, then get to a stable point before.considering your options.  I have not had good luck with long term improvement with non surgical skin tightening procedures.  From what I have seen the results are short lived and disappointing.  Volume with facial fillers is an option.  I would leave surgery as a last resort.  Good luck.

Thank you for a great question and for sharing your photos and experience.  The good news is you are young, and your skin likely still has good elasticity.  Based on what I can tell from the photograph, you may be a candidate for noninvasive skin tightening procedures such as Pelleve or Ulthera that can stimulate skin tightening without surgery.  I hope this is helpful.I recommend consulting with a board certified facial plastic surgeon to further discuss your concerns and options."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."

Facelifts are usually utilized when one has sagging facial skin or redundant skin resulting in jowls or sagging neck skin. There are a number of other sub techniques within a facelift procedure that are also performed. If one has loose skin but no sagging the change following facelift is not as noticeable. Other possible corrections for loose skin include certain laser treatments although not all laser treatments.

Hi and thanks for your question.  At 20 years of age, you are very young for a facelift.  A non invasive treatment such as Ultherapy would likely be a good option for you.  Good luck.  

Thank you for the opportunity to answer your question. I would like to see more detailed photos, because it is extremely difficult to judge. If your weight loss was extreme, and you were very overweight for many years, your skin (even at a young age) might have lost elasticity. Yet I would expect you to mention other areas of your body that also have excess skin if you had a substantial weight loss, especially the abdomen. Lasers very likely might help, but without better photos or an in-office consultation, it is difficult to judge.  I would also like to add that there might exist the possibility of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome due to the elasticity of your skin, and it would be advisable to meet with your doctor about this.  I wish you the best.

It is difficult to tell on the submitted photo, but you may be a candidate for a filler procedure to add volume where it was lost; at your age i would doubt you need an excisional procedure but it is certainly possible. I hope this helps.

Congrats on the weight loss!  Skin laxity is a sequela of facial fat.  At your age you will do better than if you were above 30.  I have seen a nice tightening effect with a combination of fractional lasers combined with Radiofrequency treatments such as Pelleve.  After about 6 treatments, done one month apart, your collagen will regenerate and you will see tighter skin within 6-12 months after this type of treatment.