Jowls: What They Are, Causes, and How to Improve Them

Jowls are the loose, sagging skin that develops along the jawline, just below the chin. They appear when the skin loses elasticity and the underlying fat and muscle shift downward. While they are a natural part of aging, you can take steps to reduce their appearance and slow their progression.

What Are Jowls?

Jowls are the folds of skin and tissue that droop below the jawline, often creating a “jowl” or “jowl line” on either side of the chin. They are a common concern for many people as they age, and they can make the face look tired or older than you feel.

What Causes Jowls?

Several factors contribute to the formation of jowls:

• Loss of skin elasticity: As we age, our skin produces less collagen and elastin, the proteins that keep it firm and springy. This causes the skin to sag.
• Fat redistribution: Fat that once gave the cheeks volume can migrate downward, adding weight to the lower face.
• Bone resorption: The jawbone itself can lose density over time, providing less support for the overlying tissue.
• Genetics: Some people are simply more prone to jowls due to their genetic makeup.
• Lifestyle factors: Sun exposure, smoking, and repeated facial expressions can accelerate the breakdown of collagen.

What Doesn’t Work for Jowls

Before we get into what might help, be honest about what won’t. No topical cream, serum, or face mask can truly tighten sagging skin. The molecules are too large to penetrate deeply enough to rebuild collagen. Similarly, no exercise can change the underlying bone structure or stop the natural aging process. What you can do is improve muscle tone, which provides better support for the skin, and improve lymphatic drainage, which can reduce puffiness and make the area look firmer.

How Face Yoga and Gua Sha Can Help

Face yoga and gua sha are two techniques that can help improve the appearance of jowls by working the muscles and promoting lymphatic drainage. The key is consistency and correct technique.

Face Yoga for Jowls

Face yoga involves specific exercises that target the muscles of the face and neck. For jowls, the focus is on strengthening the muscles around the jaw and chin to provide a natural “lift.” One exercise you can try is the jaw release: tilt your head back, look at the ceiling, and push your lower jaw forward until you feel a stretch under the chin. Hold for a few seconds and repeat. Another is the chin lift: with your head upright, push your chin forward and up, feeling the muscles in the front of your neck engage.

Gua Sha for Jowls

Gua sha is an ancient Chinese technique that uses a smooth stone to gently scrape the skin. It’s excellent for stimulating lymphatic drainage, which can reduce fluid retention and puffiness. When done correctly, it can help define the jawline and soften the appearance of jowls.

The correct direction is crucial. Lymph fluid drains toward the lymph nodes, which are located in front of and behind the ears, under the jaw, and at the collarbone. So the general rule is to stroke outward from the center of the face toward the ear, not downward. For the jaw and jowl area specifically, you’ll stroke horizontally outward, from the chin toward the ear. On the neck, always stroke downward toward the collarbone — never upward. This is the exit route for the fluid you’ve moved.

Pressure should be light. Think of a glide, not a massage. You should never press hard enough to bruise. Hold the stone almost flat against the skin, not on its edge. Always use oil or cream so the stone glides smoothly, never dragging on bare skin.

A Simple Routine You Can Do at Home

Here’s a simple routine you can do daily, taking about five minutes:

1. Apply a few drops of facial oil to your face and neck.
2. Warm up the skin with gentle sweeping strokes from the center of your face outward.
3. Work the jawline: Using the gua sha stone, start at the chin and stroke outward along the jawbone toward the ear. Repeat 5-10 times on each side.
4. Address the jowl area: Place the stone under the chin and sweep upward and outward toward the ear. This helps lift the tissue.
5. Drain the neck: Starting at the base of the neck near the collarbone, stroke upward? No, downward. Always downward. Start at the jaw and glide down to the collarbone. Repeat 5-10 times.
6. Finish with a few face yoga exercises to engage the muscles.

The Role of Diet and Weight

While diet and weight aren’t the primary causes of jowls, they can influence their appearance. Carrying excess weight can add fullness to the face, which may make jowls more prominent. Conversely, rapid weight loss can make jowls more noticeable because the skin loses volume. A balanced diet rich in antioxidants and healthy fats can support skin health, but it won’t eliminate jowls.

Clinical Options for Jowls

If you’re looking for more dramatic results, there are clinical procedures that can address jowls. These include injectable fillers to add volume, radiofrequency treatments to tighten skin, and surgical options like a facelift or neck lift. These are outside the scope of what I do, but it’s worth knowing they exist. Always consult a qualified professional to discuss risks and costs.

How Long Does It Take to See Results?

Consistency is key. With face yoga and gua sha, you may notice a difference in skin texture and puffiness within a few weeks, but changes in firmness and definition take longer — often a few months. The important thing is to stick with it and take progress photos so you can see the subtle changes that are easy to miss day to day.

The Bottom Line

Jowls are a natural part of aging, but you’re not powerless. By combining face yoga to strengthen the muscles and gua sha to improve lymphatic drainage, you can support your jawline and reduce the appearance of jowls. Just remember: be consistent, use the correct technique, and manage your expectations. It’s not a miracle cure, but it’s a healthy, natural approach that can make a real difference.

Double Chin: Why It Forms and How It Differs from Jowls

A double chin is the layer of fullness under the chin, between the jaw and the neck. Jowls sit along the jawbone; a double chin sits in the hollow beneath it. The two often appear together, but they are separate concerns with different mechanics.

A double chin is mostly subcutaneous fat held in the submental area, plus loose skin and, in some people, a small pouch of fat beneath the muscle. It is not caused by weak muscles. The platysma, a broad sheet of muscle running from the jaw to the collarbone, can be toned, but toning it will not remove a fat pad. What it can do is improve the way the area holds itself, which makes the chin look sharper even when the fat remains.

For the double chin, the same outward-and-downward drainage rule applies. Work the area under the chin with short, light strokes from the centre of the chin outward toward the ears, then finish by gliding down the neck to the collarbone. This clears fluid and puffiness, which is often the part that makes a double chin look worse than it is.

The Jawline Muscle: What It Is and How to Work It

The jawline is not a single muscle. It is shaped by the masseter (the chewing muscle at the back of the jaw), the buccinator (in the cheek), the platysma (under the chin and down the neck), and the digastric (a small muscle under the chin that helps open the mouth). Face yoga for the jawline targets these, not the bone.

A useful exercise is the jaw release: tilt the head back, look at the ceiling, and push the lower jaw forward until you feel a stretch under the chin. Hold for five seconds, relax, repeat five times. This engages the platysma and the muscles under the chin.

Another is the resisted open: place a hand under the chin and open the mouth slowly against light resistance, then close slowly. This works the muscles that pull the jaw down and forward, which supports the front of the neck.

The masseter is the one muscle you do not want to overwork. Clenching or chewing gum excessively can make it bulkier, which widens the lower face. Face yoga for the jaw should stretch and tone, never build bulk.

How to Get a Sharper Jawline: The Full Routine

A visible jawline depends on three things: muscle tone, low puffiness, and low fat in the area. Face yoga and gua sha address the first two. They will not spot-reduce fat, but they will make the line you already have more defined.

A daily routine for the jawline, about five minutes:

1. Apply oil or cream so the hands or stone glide.
2. Use the palms to sweep from the centre of the face outward, along the cheeks and jaw, five times each side.
3. With a gua sha stone or your fingers, stroke from the chin along the jawbone to the ear, five times each side. Keep the stroke horizontal, not downward.
4. Under the chin, stroke from the centre outward toward the ears, five times.
5. Finish on the neck: glide from the jaw down to the collarbone, five times. Never stroke upward here.
6. Do two face yoga exercises: the jaw release and the resisted open, five reps each.

Do this once a day. More is not better; the skin needs time to recover. Consistency over weeks is what changes the line.

Kybella for Double Chin: What It Is and What It Does

Kybella is an injectable treatment for submental fullness, the medical term for a double chin. It contains deoxycholic acid, a substance that breaks down fat cells when injected into the area. The body then clears the destroyed cells over several weeks.

Kybella is not a face yoga or gua sha alternative. It is a medical procedure, and it only addresses fat. It does nothing for loose skin, muscle tone, or lymphatic drainage. In fact, if the skin is lax, removing fat can make sagging more visible. A doctor can assess whether the double chin is mostly fat, mostly skin, or a mix, and whether Kybella is appropriate.

Typical treatment involves multiple sessions, often two to four, spaced about a month apart. Swelling and bruising are common in the days after. Results are not immediate; it takes weeks for the fat to break down and the area to settle.

If you are considering Kybella, the practical takeaway is this: it treats fat only. Face yoga and gua sha treat the muscle and fluid around it. The two are not competing approaches; they address different layers. Many people do both, using the non-invasive work to support the area before and after treatment.

The Role of Posture in the Jawline

Posture is an overlooked factor in how the jawline looks. When the head sits forward, the skin and fat under the chin compress, making a double chin and jowls look worse. When the head is upright and the neck is long, the same tissue is stretched, and the jawline appears sharper.

A simple posture check: stand against a wall with the heels, buttocks, and shoulder blades touching it. The back of the head should also touch the wall without straining. If it does not, the head is forward. This is common from desk work and phone use.

To correct it, tuck the chin gently — think of making a double chin on purpose — and lengthen the back of the neck. Hold for five seconds, relax, repeat five times. This strengthens the deep neck flexors, which pull the head back into alignment.

Good posture does not change the fat or skin, but it changes the angle at which they are viewed. The same face looks different with the head forward versus upright. Face yoga for the jaw works better when the neck is long and the head is balanced, because the muscles are in a better position to engage.

The Jawline and the Neck: Why They Must Be Treated Together

The jawline does not end at the jaw. It continues down the neck, and the two are connected by the platysma muscle. If you tone the jaw but ignore the neck, the area under the chin can still look heavy. The neck is also the exit route for the lymph fluid you move off the face, so it must be drained for the jawline to look defined.

In a daily routine, the neck should come last. After working the cheeks and jaw outward toward the ears, glide down the neck to the collarbone. This is the one place where the direction is always downward, and it is non-negotiable. Stroking upward on the neck pushes fluid back into the face, which undoes the work.

The neck skin is thinner than the face and more prone to creasing. Use light pressure and plenty of oil or cream. Never drag. The goal is to move fluid, not to stretch the skin.

Treating the jaw and neck together also helps with the appearance of a double chin, because the two are visually one line. A defined jaw with a soft, crepey neck still looks undefined. The routine should cover both, in the same session, in the same order: face outward, then neck downward.