Facial aging isn't just about lines and wrinkles—the true causes go much deeper than the surface. Read on to find out why skin responds the way it does to aging, and what you can do to reduce the appearance of each sign.
One of the key factors behind an aging face is a loss of volume. As the contour of your face changes, shadows appear where there previously were none, and highlights begin to fade. But exactly where is volume being lost, and why does it change the structure of our face so much throughout the years?
You should think of your face as a triangle, and depending on your age, the triangle is either right side up or inverted. In your youth, your facial volume is high, resulting in elevated cheek bones, brows, and taught skin along the jaw line. One of the first elements that naturally lifts your skin is the placement of fat pads under your skin.
Fat pads are naturally plump and elevated in your youth, but as you age, fat loss occurs in the pads and they begin to sag and drop. This drop contributes to the inverted triangle and results in a downward shift of certain features like your jowls. While genetics are a large part of this, other factors like your diet, level of exercise, and sun exposure can hasten the process. To add to this, fat pads expand in the chin, leading to the dreaded double chin that can exacerbate the drooping along the jaw line.
"Filler is a delicate art of balancing injections at the right depth of the dermis, in the right place, to treat each specific issue. Whether it's volume loss, hollows, wrinkles, or skin folds, each has a specific technique. To enhance my patient's appearance, I would choose their filler based on their specific needs and inject at different levels to either lift or smooth—each area will need to be addressed differently." -Dr. Supriya Tomar
Muscle also lies beneath your facial fat pads, and they are constantly in motion throughout your life when you are smiling, eating, speaking, frowning, and laughing. Unfortunately, this repetitive movement can lead to deep wrinkles, crow's feet, and creases in our glabella. As these muscles weaken with age, they lose their tone and result in sagging and loss of contour.
The bones of your face also provide the contouring foundation for your facial muscle and fat pads, but they lose volume as you age and your bones shrink. Over the course of your lifetime you lose a few millimeters of facial bone and this can lead to shadows forming, eyes looking sunken, and the structure of your face shifting in unexpected ways. Cheekbones that were previously high may appear to be drooping slightly, jaw bones look less sculpted, and our brow bone angle decreases.
ERASE LINES AND WRINKLES, ADD VOLUME, AND LIFT SUNKEN EYES AND CHEEKBONES
Volume loss, fine lines, and wrinkles can easily be remedied through the use of fillers as we age, but fillers also have the ability to provide a lift to your features when placed in the right areas. Fillers can smooth nasolabial folds, sunken eyes, reshape jowls, smooth the forehead, and lift cheekbones. And if you're concerned about your hands, filler and Fraxel will help rid you of age spots and plump up hands to their youthful appearance.
"If a patient is worrying about loss of volume in their cheekbones, I would inject filler deep to their cheekbone to lift the contours and fill hollows around their eyes. For folds, you want the injections in the deeper dermis, and for significant lines, the perfect placement lies in the superficial dermis," says Dr. Tomar.
Laser treatments such as Fraxel, CO2, and Forever Young BBL are able to dramatically reduce the appearance of deep wrinkles and hyperpigmentation. In fact, clinical studies have shown that BBL has the ability to stop the clock on the visible signs of aging in patients that were studied over an 11 year period of one initial treatment followed by yearly maintenance treatments.
PREVENT WRINKLES IN ADVANCE
Nothing works prevention miracles quite like botox and it's ability to freeze those pesky, wrinkle-etching muscles in your forehead, glabella, and other troublesome areas. Contrary to popular belief, botox sees it's best results in younger patients, warding off lines before they ever have a chance to form. While patients of all ages can benefit, the key to this injectable is prevention.
LIFT AND TIGHTEN
If you're in that awkward middle ground between not needing a face/neck lift but still needing some kind of lift, you'll be an ideal candidate for Ultherapy and Profound. Patients of any age can benefit, regardless of the results they are seeking. However, if you are trying to avoid any surgical lifts but still unhappy with sagging skin, you are in the perfect position to benefit from one of these breakthrough treatments.
ELIMINATE DOUBLE CHIN
This is where Kybella comes to the rescue. With it's clinically proven capabilities of destroying fat cells in the chin, Kybella will dramatically reduce excess fat in that area through a series of injections. When injected into subcutaneous fat, Kybella™ causes the destruction of fat cells. Once destroyed, those cells cannot store or accumulate additional fat. After the aesthetic response is achieved, re-treatment with Kybella™ is not expected as the fat is removed permanently.