Severely Sagging Skin at 24. Eyebrow Lift/face Lift Needed? (photo) (photo)

Hi Selena,

I see from your photos that you are unhappy with the distribution of volume (fat) in your face and how it is changing.  As others have said, this can be a sign of medical issues (like thyroid problems or metabolic disorders) or even stress.  The good news is that at your age, things can change for the better too.  You certainly do have elasticity in your tissues, which is what people lose with age.  Your main concern is the location and amount of fat you have.  If your BMI is on the low side, sometimes a little healthy weight gain will help.  If you have a more normal BMI, then follow up with your doctor.

On the cosmetic note, Injectable fillers are probably going to fall short unless the volume you need is in the 1-2cc range.  On the other hand, you may benefit from a little more volume than that - which is probably more like 6-10cc per side.  This can be done with facial fat transfer which is minimally invasive and can be used around the eyes, in the nasolabial folds and the upper lateral cheeks in higher volumes.

Before considering any of that, though, you should first get a complete medical work-up with your primary physician to ensure that you do not have some other process causing your issues.

I wish you all the best!

These are challenging cases, and it sounds like you may or may not in fact be an appropriate candidate for a surgical procedure, especially given how young you are.

Thank you for your question and the photos. It is difficult to say the cause which could be medical, weight loss, or premature aging. Prior to having any significant plastic surgery done, see your primary care doctor to make sure that you do not have a medical condition causing this such as thyroid problems or a sleep disorder. Also, at age 24 minimally invasive procedures would likely serve you better than major surgery. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Hello,


  Thank you for including photographs with your questions.  It makes meaningful discussion about potential therapies a little more attainable.

  You are still very young and have very healthy skin.  The lower 1/3 of your face looks age-appropriate around the jowls and you have retained youthful contours in your neck.  I agree with you that your midface has signs of aging. 

  Feeling like your appearance suggests an age greater than your actual date of birth is a common complaint.  For someone as young as you the first thing I would do is look at photographs of your parents when they were in their 20s.  Prematuring aging is largely dependent on sun exposure (which you are avoiding) and DNA. 

  The good news is that there are a number of available therapies to help improve the contours of your midface.  I would suggest a good place to start would be to restore volume in your cheeks and midface.  Nonsurgical fillers such as Sculptra, Radiess & Juvederm can be performed in the office.  A longer lasting solution would be fat grafting, which frequently requires a visit to the operating room.  I frequently recommend starting with facial fillers, but given your young age and loss of volume, fat grafting as an initial therapy is certainly a reasonable option.


Hope this helps.

I agree that you should first get a check-up to make sure there are no general medical reasons for the loss of fat in your face.  Fat injections should help restore a more youthful appearance for you