Sagging Skin…
It happens to all of us. Sagging skin and jowls are a part of aging. But knowing that it happens to all of us doesn’t make it any easier to take when it happens to you. Fortunately, there are treatments that can help to slow and even reverse this aging process.
As we age, we lose fat volume in our upper cheeks and then the fat and skin of the lower cheek slide down and settle along the jawline. This leads to the appearance of jowls, which give you a “bulldog” or angry look. We also lose elasticity in our skin, which leads to “necklace” lines around the neck and the “waddle” of the turkey neck.
Too Much Fat
In some patients, volume is the biggest problem. This can be treated with minimally invasive SmartLipo Triplex or noninvasive CoolSculpting. A number of patients have asked me about Kybella, but for a “minimally invasive” injectable treatment, there is quite a bit of swelling and bruising. Given that you will have some downtime with Kybella, the volume reduction from SmartLipo will generally be more impressive than the results from Kybella alone (and with a single treatment). Also, Kybella doesn’t offer any skin tightening, just volume reduction. That means you could end up with even more saggy skin.
Too Much Skin
As we age, skin laxity becomes more of a problem. There are many treatments available that purport to tighten the skin, however results have been lackluster with treatments applied externally. External treatments, such as Ultherapy and Thermage, have “Worth It” ratings ranging from only 36-66% on RealSelf.com. Profound boasts an impressive 83%. SmartLipo can also provide skin tightening. Both of these have a bit of social downtime due to some bruising and swelling, but the skin tightening can be impressive.
What If You Have Both?
Because most people have both some volume and some skin laxity, the majority of patients will benefit from combination therapy. We have found that CoolSculpting for volume reduction combined with Profound for skin tightening can give impressive results. When there is significant excess fat, SmartLipo for volume reduction combined with Profound for skin tightening may be the right combination.
Jennifer Tighe de Soto, MD is a cosmetic surgeon who is board certified through the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine. For more advice from Dr. de Soto on anti-aging or other aesthetic treatments please visit www.omahaliposuction.com where you can read her blog and see before and after photos of actual patients. If there’s a topic you would like to see us cover in a blog, please Contact Us.
