Facelift or fillers at 37? (Photo)

Jowls are the loss of definition of the jawline because of descent of
skin and some fat. However, in your case, I think the descent in this area is relatively
minimal. To determine if there is a significant amount of laxity of your skin
that would justify a facelift, you can pull your skin
back a little. If you see a dramatic improvement, then you might want to
consider this as an option. I’ve been doing facelifts for over 20 years and in
my practice, the youngest patient I have ever done a facelift on was 37-year-
old, and you have some similarity with her: both of you have a relatively thin
face, and acknowledged that no matter how much filler that she was going to
place on her face or to her mesolabial fold or the marionette line, she wasn’t
getting the correction she wanted.



Rare as it is, a facelift in a 37-year-old is done very differently than someone who’s in
their 50s or older. We’re not doing the same type of surgery because there
isn't as much descent. The type of incision that you would have is usually limited.
In my practice, I hide the facelift incision in the inside of the ear and try
to follow the natural contours of the ears so it’s well camouflaged such that a
woman can pull their hair back and not feel self-conscious, but you still have
to be prepared for a physical scar. Fortunately, we use in our practice not
only the surgical technique but also a material called extracellular matrix and
platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to optimize the wound healing process and to make
the incisions as invisible as possible.



I suggest that you meet with doctors to get opinions of what would be
of any value. Get an understanding of how much descent and the desire to
augment relative lack of volume. If your choice is to give yourself some
fullness, then fillers such as Scupltra, hyaluronic acids, Radiesse and PRP can
all be done various ways to get the results that you want. There are different
areas of the face which these fillers can be appropriately applied. I hope that
was helpful, I wish you the best of luck, and thank you for your question.



From my practice, your age would be the youngest that I’ve ever done a
facelift for but it is something that is possible. In terms of what effect it
would have on you, that requires a professional opinion based on a physical
examination. I suggest that you do a limited amount of a pull. If you like the
result, then take the next step and travel as far as you need to meet with a
doctor that you are comfortable with. Move forward with the plan based on your
understanding of the risks and benefits of doing lifting versus volume or
combination of the two. I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck,
and thank you for your question.



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Your pictures show that you have lost a
considerable amount of volume, perhaps through weight loss, or as sometimes
occurs naturally as we all age. At age 37, you can reverse these lines by using
carefully placed fillers. Fillers will help smile lines and can conceal early
signs of jowling. You may wish to consider Juvederm, a filler that is regularly
used for cheek volumisation which has a positive effect on the smile lines and
jowls. I've seen my best filler results with young patients who have not yet
developed deep set lines and wrinkles. You should be able to postpone a
facelift for several more years with properly injected fillers.

37 yo- is somewhat early for a facelift. However, I have had more long lasting results when the facelift is done early. The foundation for facial anti aging treatments is the tightening of the tissues. Once this is achieved - the non surgical treatments have a more beneficial result. So, in short i would do the far and neck now-- and pursue the non surgical treatments after 6-9 months.