How can I get rid of or disguise my jowls?! Photo attached

[Turnitupto11]

I'm mid 50s and getting increasingly jowly. I need to lose a stone and a half but worried that'll make things even worse. Is there anything I can do to get rid of them, improve them or disguise them?

TIA

There's plenty of post-menopausal body builders. The only thing that's different about them is that they didn't say 'Oh well, I'm post menopausal, now, so my muscles will just peter out...', in the way that you're advocating. They worked muscles, and the muscles got stronger.

Excellently put Foundation.

Nobody in their 50s or 60s will be naturally fitter or faster than a fit 20 year old.

However I exercise fairly intensively daily, and do strength & conditioning, including weight training. At 45, I'm fitter & stronger than many younger women (and men). I see it daily in the classes I do.

It's attached to a sports grounds and sometimes the players do the classes. They might be fitter eg run faster / hit higher calories in hiit sessions but their core might be shocking. Not able to do sit ups, or hold a plank properly.

Age is not a determinant in those areas.

The idea that The decline is accelerated in women post menopause is an utter nonsense. As Foundation said, this is only if people let it happen, stop moving & don't use their muscles. In terms of muscles & shape, I look better now than in my 20s

@Turnitupto11

What sort of cost am I looking at for fillers? And how do they do it?

Oh don't do fillers. I can't see how they'd help anyway.

@AuntieJoyce

Thread lift or morpheus

What is a thread lift? And Morpheus?

Tell me more about face yoga!

There's an element of truth in what you're saying, but you're ruling out a fundamental truth of the body: muscles are stronger when you work them. If you don't think that's true, well... no idea what to tell you! There's plenty of post-menopausal body builders. The only thing that's different about them is that they didn't say 'Oh well, I'm post menopausal, now, so my muscles will just peter out...', in the way that you're advocating. They worked muscles, and the muscles got stronger. Work your muscles, and they stay in better nick. Not rocket science. I'm not saying that we'd all stay like 20 year olds, I'm saying that it massively helps

My goodness, the extrapolations you are making from what I am saying is extraordinary! Nowhere did I say you can't keep muscles stronger by working them - just that you cannot keep them as strong as when you worked out when you were younger. Nowhere did I advocate giving up on working out - I am perimenopausal and working out - weights, running, parkour! But the fact is your muscles decline as you age. They just do. You can't maintain the muscle strength you had at 30 (assuming you worked out as hard then). And you can't work your face muscles in the way you can your leg muscles. Face yoga in based on trying this but the evidence base for it working is pretty thin.

It is also a fact muscle mass and bone mass declines in peri-menopausal women. Those are two of the reasons I went on HRT early. I didn't have symptoms that made it necessary but I wanted to reduce those two effects.

I am sorry if facts offend people here, but they are the reality.

I had a thread lift for jowls about 3 years ago. It was uncomfortable for a few days but ultimately very effective but it's wearing off now. I'm considering having another one. that will get me to mid 60s and then I'll have to accept the aging process.

@littlegreencloud

I'm not offended but I don't think this is quite accurate. It is true that there is the potential for loss of muscle mass as you reach menopause but afaik it's not a given, especially if you have exercised and continue to, and you eat well and modify this in line with changes in activity levels.

littlegreencloud

Also, your earlier post included this No matter how fit and active you keep yourself, your muscles slowly decline and your ability to use your body as well and fast as you used to declines with it. The decline is accelerated in women post menopause.

You've clarified now what you meant but while yes, we will all age (and therefore muscles will deteriorate with age) the second part of your sentence isn't true as it stands. You can continue to use your body as well and as fast as you used to, depending on how you train.

I run a little faster at 45 than I did at 25 - that's partially due to me changing my exercise routine - I only ran (a lot) at 25; post-children, I combined running with HIIT, weights, core and walking, and overall, have improved my strength and stamina and running times correspondingly.

That's just me, and of course I could have also been unlucky and got an injury somewhere along the line that prevented this, but happily (touch wood!) not so far.

Personally, I now wouldn't choose to do some of the more extreme running I did in my 20s e.g. very fast races, mountain running and marathons, but plenty in my age group do. It just doesn't appeal to me any more, prefer a more rounded approach.

Sorry OP derailing the thread a bit!

@Turnitupto11 I had a thread lift on my neck and it did bugger all. I tried every cream known to man and in the end sought out the help of a dr who said I either needed surgery or could try Morpheus8 and facetite combined.

He quoted me 3.5k and given that I'd already spent 3k on 2 lots of threads I decided to go the surgery route, I would only do it under a local.

I found a surgeon who did about 4 plus of these per week all under local and I'm now 4 months on and I'm bloody over the moon with the results.

You can try Morpheus8 - it's supposed to be good but quite painful. I'm attaching the pic of me taken in the morning before surgery and in the afternoon when I was on my way home in the car. It was instant and I healed very well.

I know it's not for everyone but the difference it made to me was huge. I lost 6 stone and everything was saggy on my neck and lower face so the lower facelift and neck lift combined was best for me. I'm 50 at the end of this month.

I do hope you find a treatment that will help op

You look/That looks amazing. Can you say where you got it done @Wagsandclaws?

@Wagsandclaws Wow you look amazing! I'd love the name of your surgeon

@Turnitupto11 if you google silhouette soft that is one type of thread lift

Morpheus8 is deep microneedling. I’m having morpheus8 for the first time soon. My dermatologist says to alternate the two

There's plenty of post-menopausal body builders. The only thing that's different about them is that they didn't say 'Oh well, I'm post menopausal, now, so my muscles will just peter out...', in the way that you're advocating. They worked muscles, and the muscles got stronger.

I always think of this image headed ‘both these women are 80 years old’. I know which one I’d rather be.

@littlegreencloud

I don't think that when people say you're wrong, it means they're offended.

@Wagsandclaws your 'before' picture is very similar to my profile and I'd also be interested to know where you had this done (and the cost). Mine has literally appeared since lockdown so I am probably the only person who wants masks in the office to stay, as I have never hated my face before but I do now.

I really don't have the money but I think I would do this as my self esteem is on the floor along with my jawline these days.

@Turnitupto11 I would recommend that you see a good cosmetic doctor. Your lines are quite deep but filler would help. Some doctors also add a small line of filler on the top of your cheek to lift your skin slightly. Fillers are done by needle and the doctor massages it in place like Polyfilla. It's an immediate effect unlike Botox. Mine in the SE with a consultant costs me about 230 pounds but I only get it done every 12 or 18 months.

As regards jowls I too have that problem but can't see that I will do much as I am not prepared to do any surgery.

Face yoga
Smile
Drink water
Upside down yoga poses

[quote TheFoundation]**@littlegreencloud

I don't think that when people say you're wrong, it means they're offended.[/quote]
Except I am not wrong. Anyone who has looked into menopause at all knows its a time when of loss of muscle strength. Here are some articles:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19949277/
www.healio.com/news/endocrinology/20200213/longterm-ht-mitigates-muscle-loss-for-postmenopausal-women
www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2021.682012/full
www.nhs.uk/conditions/menopause/symptoms/

Yes, you can fight against this through strength training and I would personally recommend, and I do in real life, that middle aged women start strength training and start working on their flexibility.

But the point is you ARE fighting against loss of muscle in a way younger women don't need to. You are essentially engaged in a rear guard action. Its important women know this. It irresponsible, as well as factually inaccurate, to tell women that it is 'utter nonsense' that muscle mass decline occurs in menopause. One of the problems that women face is a lack of information about menopause which leads women to suffer unnecessarily with the symptoms and consequences of menopause. Women need to be informed to be able to make choices, which, for this particular consequence of menopause, can be strength training and HRT.

@littlegreencloud It is true that there is the potential for loss of muscle mass as you reach menopause but afaik it's not a given It is given that women will lose muscle mass as a consequence of menopause unless they start to take action to attenuate this, such as strength training and HRT. Its important we are honest with women about this.

Clearly when I was saying you will not be as fit and fast as you were when you are younger as I was assuming the same activity levels. Yes you can improve your fitness if you start training/ train better.

Get a jade stone and roller. It massages the muscles and tendons and tighten them. There are lots of videos on line, for the direction and route to rub if that makes sense.

@littlegreencloud

You're really committed to arguing against a point that nobody is making

I'm 55 and have just had filler in my marionette lines to smooth them out and stop the mouth downturn. Cheek filler will also lift your lower face

@StarCourt

I'm 55 and have just had filler in my marionette lines to smooth them out and stop the mouth downturn. Cheek filler will also lift your lower face

It has to be very carefully done by a good doctor as fat pads start to drift South as you age and the problem can be made worse. I love when I get mine done as it makes a huge difference.

Has anyone got example pics before and after of their fillers? I always worry it will look fake - like a footballer's wife...

@lionheart678 I have some but I do have make up on in the before photo. The after photo is no make up and 3 hrs after having the filler done