Chin Liposuction: Contouring Your Jawline

September 01, 2023

Contouring your jawline can be the key to getting that “snatched” look that everyone craves. The chin and neck area often increase in laxity and gain fat as time progresses, so some patients look to different treatments that target these areas. There are other reasons, besides aging, for why patients may experience sagging and excess skin around their chin.

Diet, lifestyle, and hereditary factors come into play. Whatever the cause, since the face is our most prominent feature and our jaws frame our faces, you may decide to research some of your options.

You’ve got some strong non surgical options in CoolScultpting and Deoxycholic Acid (or Belkyra). But you came to The Plastic Surgery Clinic, so the range of our options is much wider. That’s another great reason to choose a clinic like ours. We won’t just offer the easiest or cheapest tool we have on hand. We’ll tailor a treatment plan for you that gives you the best result.

The gold standard for contouring the jaw area is typically surgical liposuction. But we should add that, while we’re surgeons and and we love surgery, if there is a non-surgical option that gives you the same (or almost the same) results, we’ll offer that first. The less risks, the better, in our opinion.

Liposuction is great at combatting fat, and over the years it’s been tailored and innovated to address fatty tissue in just about any part of the body. The way it works is quite simple. A cannula (which is a hollow needle) is inserted into the target area and then fat is suctioned out.

The size of the cannula depends on the area being treated. In the case of the chin and neck, the needle is about 2-3 millimeters and the incisions are small and strategically placed in the natural creases of the chin and neck. That’s the other great thing about lipo. It leaves minimal scarring despite its maximal effectiveness.

Despite Liposuction’s efficacy, oftentimes the issue of a double chin is not strictly a matter of fat removal. Our bodies lose muscle tone and skin tightness over time, and this phenomenon can be especially apparent in our faces. In order to best contour the jawline, skin tightening and lifting procedures are used in conjunction with liposuction to get the results you desire.

FaceTite is a procedure that uses radiofrequency energy in order to tighten and firm up sagging skin and stimulate the production of collagen. The device heats up beneath the surface and that heat shrinks the surrounding skin. Because it’s also creating tiny injuries, the skin works to heal itself by distributing precious collagen which helps with the appearance of rejuvenation.

Like Liposuction, FaceTite also eliminates unwanted fat cells, so you get double the effect when you put these two together. FaceTite is a part of a new generation of radiofrequency technology that can penetrate the skin at a deeper level than traditional methods.

Although they’re a powerful duo, sometimes FaceTite and liposuction don’t cut it. If the skin has gained a substantial degree of laxity and there’s a lot of drooping skin surrounding the jaw and neck, a facelift is required for desired results. When performing facelifts our goal is to ensure that patients look rested and relaxed, not too tight or pulled.

Much like the above mentioned procedures, a facelift works by removing excess fat and tightening underlying muscles. The added benefit of this procedure is the re-draping of the skin around your face and neck.

Now that I’ve highlighted your options, let’s explore the pros and cons.

Depending on the combination of procedures your surgeon suggests for your personal expectations, recovery time can be extensive. If you’re having strictly liposuction, recovery is around 1-2 weeks for the swelling and bruising to subside. The same applies with submental liposuction (that is the area under the chin) and FaceTite.

With the addition of a facelift, recovery time doubles. This is because facelifts are often performed under general anaesthesia, whereas chin liposuction can actually be done under a local anaesthetic.

With liposuction, there’s always a possibility that the fat cells will return. This is largely dependent on your diet and lifestyle habits post surgery. Substantial weight-gain post-op will impact results, especially if you have a natural tendency to carry fat around the chin and neck region.

It’s important to consider your game plan after surgery to ensure that you maintain your results for as long as possible. Facelifts, although longer in recovery time, are more durable. Since the skin around the face is reduced there’s less chance of fat returning to the area down the line.

Facelifts also carry the risks of general anaesthesia. There are certain risk factors that come into play which are discussed at length with your surgeon during consultation, and your anaesthesiologist on the day of surgery. Of course, precautions are put in place to limit these risks. Chin liposuction and FaceTite may also be done under local anaesthesia which eliminates the risks altogether.

As with any surgical treatment, there are costs involved with jaw contouring procedures, but the benefits are plenty. It’s up to you and your surgeon to decide what course of action is best for you to get the contoured look you want. Often times our surgeons will recommend a series of non-surgical options like jaw filler, Sculptra, and thread lifting, alongside a more invasive option like Facetite before suggesting surgery.

The reason for this is because our non-surgical options are fantastic and offer a whole host of benefits unto themselves. Booking that consultation is really key to understanding what your options are.