What Can I Do For My Falling Face At Such A Young Age?

Q: Dr. Eppley, It is so hard to find a really good facial surgeon. I am 58 years old and in the past year 2 years my face fell! I lost 50 pounds, went through menopause and had way too much sun. My lower face is awful to me. My mental crease is over almost my whole chin and no one locally seems to know what could be done about it. 

Any and all advice greatly appreciated. 

I feel like my lower face is worse than most 80 year old faces I see? Sigh…the struggle is real.

Thank you for your time!

A: Thank you for your inquiry and sending your pictures. You have to throw out the chronology (age) and just look at the anatomic problem. For all of the reasons you have mentioned, particularly the weight loss, your degree of lax/falling tissues does not match your age. The foundational procedure is a full lower facelift which will make a world of difference. The central chin area, however, is not going to change no matter what is done laterally to it. I believe you are specifically referring to raised mounds under your lower lip but above the labiomental crease. These are subcutaneous fat collections for which microliposuction would be the only effective approach to reducing them. They are not that rare as they probably occur in 1% to  2% of the general population.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana