Sagging Jawline & Jowls
Sagging Jawline & Jowls
The jawline has gone soft, jowls have appeared either side of the chin, and the face looks heavier in photographs than it feels. Most people notice it in a photograph taken from below, or on a video call. The clean line from chin to ear has blurred. A small pouch sits on either side of the chin, and the folds beside the mouth look deeper than they did. Those pouches are the jowls: cheek fat and connective tissue that have slipped down and gathered along the jaw. The change comes on slowly through the forties and fifties. The deeper tissue of the cheek descends, and at the same time the skin loses its snap. Once you have seen it, it is hard to stop seeing it.
Sagging Jawline & Jowls
Sagging Jawline & Jowls
The jawline has gone soft, jowls have appeared either side of the chin, and the face looks heavier in photographs than it feels. Most people notice it in a photograph taken from below, or on a video call. The clean line from chin to ear has blurred. A small pouch sits on either side of the chin, and the folds beside the mouth look deeper than they did. Those pouches are the jowls: cheek fat and connective tissue that have slipped down and gathered along the jaw. The change comes on slowly through the forties and fifties. The deeper tissue of the cheek descends, and at the same time the skin loses its snap. Once you have seen it, it is hard to stop seeing it.
WHAT CAUSES IT
Why it happens
Three different things soften a jawline, and they call for different answers. That is why the cause is assessed before anything is chosen. The same jawline can have three different reasons behind it, and the right treatment follows the reason.
01
Descended tissue
The fat and connective tissue of the cheek have slid down and forward, gathering at the jawline as jowls. This is the main cause in most faces from the late forties on.
02
Loose skin
The skin has lost its elasticity and no longer drapes tightly over the jaw, so it folds rather than follows the bone.
03
A weak chin or neck
A small chin makes the jawline look softer than it is. So does fullness under the chin. In those faces the correction sits in front of the jaw or below it, rather than along it.
WHAT ACTUALLY TREATS IT
What actually treats a sagging jawline in Barrie
Three different things soften a jawline, and each one calls for a different answer. Some of those answers are surgical and some are not, and both routes are available here. The consultation decides which cause is yours.
Face Lift
Surgery that repositions the descended fat and connective tissue of the cheek, tightens the SMAS layer beneath the skin, and removes the surplus skin.
People whose jowls come from cheek tissue that has slid down and forward, the main cause in most faces from the late forties on. It is the route once the jawline has lost its line rather than started to soften.
The deeper layer is lifted and held rather than the skin alone being pulled, and the surplus skin is then removed. A neck lift or neck liposuction is added when the neck is part of the picture.
Most patients are back at desk work in about two weeks and presentable at three. The final shape shows at three to six months as the swelling settles, and the result typically holds for ten years or more.
Mini Facelift
A shorter version of the face lift, done through a shorter incision with a shorter recovery.
People with early jowling in a face that is otherwise holding, where the descent is limited to the lower face.
It treats the same descent as a face lift, over the lower face only. That smaller field is what allows the shorter incision.
About a week off before desk work. The result typically holds for five to ten years, and the timeline for your case is confirmed at the consultation.
Morpheus8
Radiofrequency microneedling that tightens skin along the jaw and under the chin. It is delivered by the clinical team under Dr. Tumi's direction.
People whose skin is only beginning to loosen and who are not yet candidates for a lift. It buys years before surgery is the right answer.
Radiofrequency is delivered into the skin through microneedles to tighten early laxity. It works on the skin, not on tissue that has already descended.
A series of three sessions, each followed by a couple of days of redness. The tightening shows over three to six months and lasts a year or more.
Dermal Fillers
Structural filler placed in the chin and the pre-jowl sulcus to restore the line of the jaw. Dr. Tumi performs all injectables himself.
People with a mild case who want the jawline sharpened without surgery. It camouflages early jowls rather than repositioning anything.
Volume is added on either side of the chin, where the line has been lost, so the jaw reads as a continuous line again.
The result lasts about a year before it needs repeating. What filler can and cannot do for your jawline is discussed at the consultation.
Chin Augmentation
Surgery to bring forward a chin that sits back, for the jaw that reads soft because of the chin rather than because of the jawline itself.
People whose jaw looks softer than it is because the chin is small, with no significant descent of the cheek and no loose skin along the jaw.
It builds out the point of the chin rather than lifting what sits behind it, so the fix is in front of the jaw rather than along it.
Whether the chin is the cause is decided at the consultation, and it is often not the answer people arrive expecting. The timeline and the fee for your case are confirmed there.
What to expect
After a face lift, most patients are back at desk work in about two weeks and presentable at three. The final shape appears at three to six months, once the swelling has settled, and the result typically holds for ten years or more. A mini facelift is about a week to desk work and holds for five to ten years. Morpheus8 shows its tightening over three to six months after a series of three sessions and lasts a year or more. The timeline for your case is confirmed at the consultation. See before and after results
Cost
Fees are quoted at the consultation, once Dr. Tumi has seen which route fits your face. A mini facelift, a full face lift, a neck lift and a series of Morpheus8 are different treatments at different prices, so one figure for all of them would be meaningless. You receive the figure in writing. Not covered by OHIP. Financing available through Beautifi, Medicard and Credit Medical.
Financing
Not covered by OHIP. Financing available through Beautifi, Medicard and Credit Medical.
Who provides your care
Surgeon-led care you can verify
You are assessed by Dr. Kamal Tumi, M.D., F.R.C.S.(C), a board-certified plastic surgeon with more than 28 years in practice and over 3,500 surgeries performed, and a consultant plastic surgeon at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre since 2004. The surgeon who assesses you is the surgeon who operates. Injectable treatment is performed by Dr. Tumi himself. Non-surgical treatment is delivered by our trained clinical team under his direction, including Priscilla Carvalho, medical aesthetician, phlebotomist and skin therapist. Smoking materially affects healing for most procedures, which is why you will be asked about it. His CPSO registration is public and searchable.
“I will not do a surgery on you if you do not need it.”
An assessment and a conversation.
You do not need to arrive knowing which procedure you want. Describing what bothers you is enough. You are not committing to surgery by booking a consultation.
FAQ
About Barrie Plastic Surgery
Yes. He holds an M.D. and is certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada as a specialist in plastic surgery. That certification separates a plastic surgeon from a physician who offers cosmetic treatment. He has been a consultant plastic surgeon at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre since 2004.
In everyday use they are used interchangeably, and both terms describe most of what we do. Strictly, plastic surgery is the recognized surgical specialty, which includes reconstructive work. Cosmetic surgery describes procedures done to change appearance. Dr. Tumi is qualified in the specialty.
It depends on the procedure. Some, including upper eyelid surgery, are done in our own office under local anesthetic. Larger procedures are booked in an operating room, and which setting applies to you is confirmed at your consultation.
Yes. Male patients are a normal part of the practice. Eyelid surgery and gynecomastia are the usual reasons, and skin procedures are common too. ---
Unit 24, 222 Mapleview Drive West in Barrie, just off Highway 400 at the Mapleview exit. Consultations, injectables and the office procedures happen here. Operations that need a general anesthetic are done at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, where Dr. Tumi has been a consultant plastic surgeon since 2004.
Dr. Tumi performs facial, breast and body surgery. Skin procedures are part of the practice too: mole removal, skin cancer removal, scar revision. On the non-surgical side he injects the neuromodulators and fillers himself. Laser, CoolSculpting, Morpheus8 and skin treatments are delivered by the clinical team under his direction.
Yes, for anything surgical, and for most non-surgical treatment too. The consultation is an examination and a conversation. Dr. Tumi looks at what is actually causing what you see, tells you what can and cannot be changed, and gives you a written quote afterwards. You are not asked to decide on the day.
Dr. Tumi performs every surgery and every injection himself. The surgeon who assesses you is the surgeon who operates. Laser, CoolSculpting, Morpheus8 and skin treatments are delivered by the clinic's trained clinical staff, under his direction.
Yes. Cosmetic procedures are not covered by OHIP, and we work with three financing providers: Beautifi, Medicard and Credit Medical. Every quote is given in writing at the consultation, so you know the full figure before you decide anything.
Dr. Tumi examines the area himself. He explains what he finds in plain language, including what he would not recommend, and offers the smaller option where one exists. You leave with a written quote and time to think. If nothing surgical is the honest answer, you will be told so.