{"id":164574,"date":"2026-03-16T00:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T00:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/164574\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T00:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T00:56:14","slug":"the-reason-for-sagging-jowls-and-what-to-do-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/164574\/","title":{"rendered":"The reason for sagging jowls and what to do about it"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many people, sagging jowls <\/a>\u2014 loose skin that develops along the lower cheeks and jawline\u00a0\u2014 are one of the first unexpected signs of aging.<\/p>\n

Dr. Shereene Idriss, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of Idriss Dermatology in New York City, spoke to Fox News Digital about the best practices for managing the downward \u201cdrag.\u201d<\/p>\n

To understand why jowls form and how to treat them<\/a>, Idriss suggests visualizing the face as a piece of furniture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to explain facial aging using a couch analogy: The bones are the frame, the fat and muscle are the cushions, and the skin is the fabric,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When a person notices the early stages of \u201cjowling,\u201d it is rarely just a skin (\u201cfabric\u201d) issue. Instead, it is typically a combination of loss of structural support and fat shifting downward with gravity, according to Idriss.<\/p>\n

As the frame of the \u201ccouch\u201d changes and the cushions compress, the fabric has no choice but to \u201cnaturally begin to drape differently,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Even so, it\u2019s never too late for non-invasive treatments, according to the doctor.<\/p>\n

The key to success is a multi-layered strategy rather than a \u201cmiracle\u201d fix, she said.<\/p>\n

\"APeople develop sagging jowls due to a combination of losing collagen and skin moving downward due to gravity, according to experts. ChayTee \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

While the market is saturated with jawline sculpting gadgets, Idriss urges patients to manage their expectations when experimenting with these.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Facial rollers and massage<\/a> may move lymphatic fluid to temporarily reduce puffiness, but they cannot eliminate true jowling, she said.<\/p>\n

\"ADoctors recommend younger people to take care of their skin by using sunscreen and retinoids as wells as managing inflammation to avoid sagging jowls. michaelheim \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Idriss advises against getting buccal fat removal, a popular cosmetic surgical procedure that involves removing the natural fat pads in the cheeks to create a more contoured, hollowed look.<\/p>\n

For many people, removing that fat can actually \u201caccelerate [the formation of] jowls and age you faster,\u201d she warned, noting that the goal should be to preserve the \u201ccushions\u201d of the face, not discard them.<\/p>\n

Surgical options like facelifts have limitations because, according to Idriss, \u201ca facelift repositions tissue and tightens skin, but it doesn\u2019t rebuild the deeper structural changes that happen with aging.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some patients may feel their reflection changes almost overnight, Idriss noted, pointing out that there are specific \u201caging peaks,\u201d including a scientifically documented shift in the mid-40s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat moment often feels like it happened overnight, but it\u2019s really the accumulation of years of collagen loss and tissue movement,\u201d the doctor said.<\/p>\n

For individuals in their 20s or 30s, the focus should be on \u201cmaintaining the couch before the cushions start sinking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This involves protecting collagen by consistently applying sunscreen, using retinoids (vitamin A-derived compounds that can help improve skin cell turnover and stimulate collagen production), and managing inflammation, according to Idriss.<\/p>\n

However, she noted, jowls are not a result of skincare failure. \u201cIt is quite literally your bone structure,\u201d Idriss said.<\/p>\n

The objective, according to the expert, is to address the root cause of the \u201cdrape\u201d rather than chasing a fleeting trend. \u201cLess is usually more \u2014 overtreating can create unnatural results.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many people, sagging jowls \u2014 loose skin that develops along the lower cheeks and jawline\u00a0\u2014 are one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5425,12495,972,232,75,84,83,9,24,63,25942],"class_list":["post-164574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-aging","tag-cosmetic-surgery","tag-doctors","tag-lifestyle","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-skin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}