Be careful not to lose weight too quickly as it can make you look older.
This is because drastic weight loss can cause the loss of the deep fat pads in the deeper layers of your face, resulting in hollowness, shadows, sagging of the skin and an unhealthy gaunt look. Common areas are the cheeks, temples, under the eyes resulting in deepening of the nose to mouth lines, marionettes and worsening of the jowls.
This is often seen in people taking medication to lose weight e.g. Ozempic or on crash/yo-yo diets. It’s important to focus on building muscle when gradually losing weight at the same time as this is healthier for the hormones, especially growth hormone, testosterone and oestrogen which are important to maintain youthful, firm skin.
If you notice facial volume loss due to weight loss, here are my recommended treatments to prevent, reduce and slow down the drastic change.
- Dermal fillers
There are varying densities which can be used in different parts of the face to restore volume and reduce the shadows, masking the ageing signs and changing the light reflection.This can be used for mild to moderate volume loss.
Dermal fillers DO NOT LIFT and it DOES NOT STIMULATE. It is temporary, eventually breaking down between 6-18 months depending on the density used.
Personally I would not recommend having more than 6ml of dermal filler at any one time. It absorbs water and has been shown to expand in size as years go by, creating puffiness, swelling and occasional moon looking face.
- Collagen Biostimulator
This injectable treatment uses ingredients like PLLA (as in sculptra), calcium hydroapatite (as in Radiesse) or PLC (as in Ellanse) to restore volume and rejuvenate the skin by stimulating the fibroblast.
For the same volume in dermal filler, collagen bio-stimulators are lighter so I recommend this treatment for moderate to severe volume loss. It last longer over 2 years, stimulating your own collagen production.
It is NOT SUITABLE for finer areas e.g. under the eyes, around the mouth or neck as there is higher change of getting granulomas so it’s best used for deeper injections.
- Thread lift
There are 2 types of threads – lifting threads and stimulating threads. Lifting threads have anchors which secures the tissues and repositions the volume that has moved down south. There is an initial mechanical lift followed by biochemical lift when new collagen is laid down in the direction of the lift. It’s like creating a lifting web or matrix.
Stimulating threads are smooth and placed in the skin to stimulate collagen production.Patient selection is VERY IMPORTANT as excess skin laxity or heavy tissues will have limited results or require several treatments. Thread lift can be used on the body too.There is more down time to lifting thread lift and patients are advised not to exercise for 2 weeks. Results can last between 1-2 years depending on the patient, the technique and how many threads used.
I find repositioning the volume (that has dropped due to the sagging) with thread lifts reduces the need or amount of volume correction with dermal filler or collagen biostimulator.
How about energy based treatment like radio frequency, ultherapy or Morpheus?
These treatments can help firm and tighten the skin but they DO NOT REPLACE nor RESTORE the volume.
Depending on the device, the setting and the technique used, high energy can potentially “melt” the facial fat creating more hollowness which defeats the purpose.
I would recommend having consultation with a reputable aesthetic practitioner (like myself) so we can advise and create a treatment plan to reduce the drastic changes if it concerns you.
It’s definitely easier to treat when volume loss is minimal.
I leave you with this quote by my fitness coach.
If you have any questions, let me know.
Here’s to building muscle and proactively ageing!
Dr Terry