How to Get Rid of Jowls: The Truth About Surgical and Non-Surgical Treatments

If you're starting to notice jowls around your jawline, you may be wondering: can you get rid of them without surgery?

The short answer is: sometimes you can improve them significantly without surgery, but non-surgical treatments have limitations.

This is something I think patients deserve to hear honestly.

There are many treatments marketed as a "non-surgical facelift" or "jowl lift", and while some non-surgical treatments can create a noticeable improvement in early jowling, they cannot remove excess skin or completely reverse the structural changes that occur as the face ages.

Sometimes, the treatment that will give you the result you actually want is surgery.

And that's okay.

My approach at Solura Skin Clinic is not to try to make every patient fit a non-surgical treatment. It's to look at the whole face, understand what is causing the jowling, listen to what the patient actually wants to achieve, and be honest about what a treatment can, and cannot, do.

What are jowls?

Jowls are the soft, heavier areas that develop along the lower face and jawline as we age. They can make the once-defined border between the face and neck appear less sharp.

Jowling is a normal part of facial ageing, but it doesn't happen for just one reason.

Several changes take place simultaneously.

Why do we develop jowls?

Jowls are usually caused by a combination of:

• Loss of skin elasticity — collagen and elastin decline with age, meaning the skin becomes less able to resist gravity and maintain its youthful firmness.

• Loss and redistribution of facial fat — facial fat doesn't simply disappear as we age. Some compartments lose volume while others descend or become more prominent.

• Changes to the underlying facial structure — gradual changes to the facial bones and supporting structures reduce some of the framework that previously supported the soft tissues.

• Skin laxity — over time, the tissues of the lower face become less tight and more mobile.

• Weight loss — particularly rapid or significant weight loss can make facial volume loss and skin laxity more noticeable.

• Weight-loss medication — rapid changes in facial volume associated with weight loss can sometimes make previously subtle laxity and jowling much more obvious.

  
  

This is why treating a jowl isn't simply a case of "putting something back where the skin has dropped."

The cause needs to be understood first.

Can you get rid of jowls without surgery?

This is probably the question I am asked most often.

The honest answer is you can improve jowling without surgery, but you cannot truly remove a significant jowl with non-surgical treatment.

Non-surgical treatments can be excellent for the right patient, particularly when jowling is early and there isn't significant descent of the facial fat or excess skin.

But there is a ceiling to what injectables can achieve.

If there is substantial skin laxity, significant tissue descent or excess skin, no injectable can physically remove that skin.

This is where I think patients need to be particularly careful about claims of a "non-surgical facelift".

A non-surgical treatment can improve the appearance of the lower face.

It cannot turn a surgical result into a non-surgical one.

When can dermal filler help jowls?

Dermal filler can have a role in improving early jowling, particularly when the underlying issue includes loss of structural support or facial volume.

The important word here is early.

If there is minimal jowling and relatively little descent of the facial fat, carefully placed filler can sometimes restore support and improve the appearance of the jawline.

But this is where treatment needs to be very carefully planned.

More filler isn't necessarily better

One of the biggest misconceptions I see is that if the jawline has become less defined, the answer must be to add more filler directly along the jawline.

It isn't always.

Adding too much filler to the lower face can actually make the face look heavier and more bottom-heavy. In some patients, excessive treatment of the jawline can also make the features appear more masculine.

This is why I often believe less is more.

The aim isn't to create an artificially sharp, heavily filled jawline.

The aim is to understand why the jawline has changed and use the smallest appropriate intervention to create a natural improvement.

Sometimes that means treating an area away from the jowl itself to restore structural balance rather than simply filling the jowl.

What about Sculptra and other biostimulators?

Biostimulators are another option for patients with early signs of ageing and skin laxity.

One example is Sculptra, which contains poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA). Rather than behaving like a traditional hyaluronic acid filler, Sculptra works primarily by stimulating a biological response that encourages collagen production over time.

There is also emerging evidence that PLLA may influence adipose tissue as well as the dermal tissues, which is particularly interesting in the context of age-related facial changes and volume loss.

For patients with skin laxity, reduced elasticity and some degree of facial fat atrophy, this can make Sculptra an excellent treatment option.

But again, expectations are important.

Sculptra can improve the quality and support of the tissues.

It can help the skin look firmer and more youthful.

It can improve the overall quality of the lower face.

Sculptra cannot pick a significant jowl up off the floor.

If there is substantial tissue descent and excess skin, a collagen stimulator simply cannot replicate what surgery does.

And I think patients deserve to know that before spending money on treatment.

What about a surgical facelift?

For patients with more advanced jowling, significant skin laxity or substantial tissue descent, surgery may be the most appropriate option.

A facelift is fundamentally different from an injectable treatment.

Surgery can address excess skin and reposition deeper tissues in a way that non-surgical treatments cannot.

There are different surgical approaches to facial ageing, including different types of facelift and neck lift procedures, but I am not a facial plastic surgeon and I don't believe it is appropriate for me to tell a patient which operation they need.

What I can do is recognise when the limitations of non-surgical treatment have been reached.

If I believe a surgical consultation would give you a better chance of achieving the result you want, I will tell you.

That is part of responsible aesthetic practice.

How do I know if I need surgery for my jowls?

This is where looking at the whole face is so important.

I don't assess a jowl in isolation.

I look at the distribution of facial volume, skin quality, laxity, facial proportions, the jawline and neck, and how much tissue has actually descended.

But there is another factor that is just as important:

What do you actually want the result to look like?

If you are happy with a subtle improvement and understand that your jowls will still be there, a non-surgical approach may be appropriate.

But if you want a dramatic lifting effect, we need to have an honest conversation about whether injectables can realistically deliver it.

There is a very simple way I sometimes think about this.

If a patient physically lifts the skin of their lower face with their hands and says:

"I want it to look like this."

That tells me something very important.

They are showing me the result they want.

And if achieving that result requires physically removing or repositioning excess tissue, surgery may be the more appropriate pathway.

No amount of filler can reproduce that exactly.

So, what is the best treatment for jowls?

There isn't one universal "best treatment for jowls".

It depends on why you have developed jowls, how advanced they are and what result you want.

For early jowling

Non-surgical treatment may be very effective.

Depending on the individual, this might include carefully placed dermal filler or a collagen-stimulating treatment such as Sculptra.

The goal is to support the tissues and improve the overall appearance of the lower face without adding unnecessary volume.

For skin laxity and early ageing

Treatments that focus on skin quality and collagen stimulation can be particularly useful.

This is one reason I believe prevention is easier than trying to correct advanced ageing later.

For significant jowling and tissue descent

This is where non-surgical treatments have clear limitations.

If there is significant excess skin and substantial descent of the lower face, surgical treatment may ultimately provide the best result.

That doesn't mean non-surgical treatments have failed.

It means the problem has progressed beyond what an injectable treatment can realistically correct.

Prevention is easier than correction

One of the most important conversations we can have about jowls is actually about prevention.

We cannot stop ageing.

But we can influence how quickly some of the visible changes occur.

Sun protection is one of the simplest and most important things you can do.

UV exposure contributes to collagen degradation and photoageing, so using a broad-spectrum SPF consistently is an important part of protecting the skin's long-term structure.

I also believe there is a role for investing in treatments that support skin quality before significant laxity develops.

Treatments such as microneedling and collagen-stimulating treatments can form part of a longer-term skin ageing strategy.

The idea isn't to try to "freeze" your face.

It's about looking after the quality and resilience of your skin so that you're not trying to correct years of accumulated damage later.

Prevention is generally easier than correction.

The uncomfortable truth about non-surgical jowl treatments

There is a lot of marketing in aesthetics.

You will see treatments described as "non-surgical facelifts", "jowl lifts" and ways to "erase" or "eliminate" jowls without surgery.

Some of these treatments can produce genuinely good results.

But good results don't mean unlimited results.

As an aesthetic practitioner, I think we have a responsibility to tell patients where those limitations are.

Sometimes an injector can technically perform a treatment, but that doesn't mean the treatment is the right answer.

Sometimes adding more filler will make the face heavier rather than better.

Sometimes a collagen stimulator will improve the skin but won't lift significant tissue descent.

And sometimes the most appropriate advice is:

"I don't think an injectable treatment will give you the result you're looking for. I think you should speak to a facial plastic surgeon."

I don't see that as a failure of non-surgical aesthetics.

I see it as good patient care.

My approach to treating jowls at Solura Skin Clinic

My approach is always to assess the whole face rather than simply treating the area that bothers you most.

For early jowling, a carefully planned non-surgical approach can produce a subtle, natural improvement.

For the right patient, dermal filler or a biostimulator such as Sculptra may help restore support, improve skin quality and soften the appearance of early jowling.

But I will never promise to "remove" a jowl with filler.

And if I believe you have reached the point where surgery would give you a better result, I will tell you.

Because the goal shouldn't be to sell you a treatment.

The goal should be to give you the best and most appropriate treatment for your face, your anatomy and your expectations.

Thinking about treating your jowls?

If you're noticing early jowling or changes to your lower face, a consultation can help establish what is actually contributing to the change and whether a non-surgical treatment is likely to give you the result you're looking for.

And if I don't think it will, I'll tell you.

Sometimes the most useful treatment recommendation is knowing when not to inject.

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