The Secret To a Neat Jawline
Olivia Falcon on the new treatments available for those who seek tight jowls
The new take on liposuction
Nixing the need for scalpels, needles, or stitches, Airsculpt, which has recently arrived in the UK from America at a flagship clinic on Harley Street, is a less invasive form of liposuction done under a local anaesthetic that is excellent for tackling double chins and lax jowls. The jaw and neck area are numbed using a needle-free jet injector, which pushes a topical anaesthetic through pores into the skin. Next a small 2mm incision is created with a biopsy punch tool under the chin and a local anaesthetic solution is inserted through this to numb the fat cells. Airsculpt uses a tiny canula that vibrates in a corkscrew motion 5,000 times a minute, drilling tiny holes into the fat layer and gently sucking out fat cells, leaving all skin structures in place. The speed of the drilling motion also creates heat, which stimulates collagen and elastin, which in turn tightens the skin where the fat has been removed, effectively shrink-wrapping the skin. Once the fat has been extracted, the tiny entry point, which is hidden under the chin, heals naturally, leaving a small mark the size of a freckle.
Patients must wear a chin strap compression garment for 48 hours after the procedure and then at night for a fortnight, but can expect to see instant results that just get better with time, peaking at about three months.
