Double Chin
Double Chin
Going Neck and Neck with Aging
Mother Nature didn't do us any favors when she invented gravity. Since the day we slipped off our prom dresses, it's been tugging, tugging, tugging on us, pulling body parts to places we would never have thought possible in our teens.
And of all our body parts, none is more gravity-sensitive than the neck. Add a few innocent pounds, a few harmless years, and--aarrgh!--here comes a double chin.
"I must say, a double chin really seems to bother some women. It makes them feel like they're aging in a hurry," says Robert Kotler, M.D., a facial cosmetic surgeon and clinical instructor in surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Every time they look in the mirror, they see it. They are conscious of it at parties or at work. And it's telling them that maybe they're not as young as they used to be."
Jaw Droppers
Three factors contribute to double chins: body fat, anatomy and time. Women store fat on their necks just as easily as on their hips or thighs, Dr. Kotler says. So if we gain a few extra pounds, there's a good chance some of it will settle under our chins.
But overweight women aren't the only ones in danger. Even thin people get double chins, usually because of the shape of the jaw and throat. "The less sharp the angle between the jawline and neckline, the greater the risk of a fleshy neck," says Dr. Kotler. But the lower your Adam's apple is in your neck, the more likely you are to get a sag in your chin.
Age also increases the odds. Women's skin starts to lose its elasticity after 35 to 40 years. Even if you're fit and firm, you may still show a slight double chin simply because of looser skin, Dr. Kotler says.
From a health perspective, none of this really matters. There's nothing dangerous about a double chin unless you're seriously overweight, Dr. Kotler says. Even then, it's a symptom of obesity, not a problem by itself. "Double chins are just an unfortunate part of the aging process," Dr. Kotler says. "In the overall scheme of things, there are more important things to worry about."
Keeping Your Chin Up
Harmless or not, most women still find double chins unattractive. To help get rid of those extra folds--or at least to hide them a little--experts offer these tips.
Lose 10. Or maybe 15--pounds, that is. "The single best way to get rid of a double chin is to lose weight," Dr. Kotler says. "Lots of people come to my office wanting cosmetic surgery. But if they just take off some excess weight, the problem usually diminishes to the point where they don't need any more help."
The standard rules apply. Get regular aerobic exercise. Eat less fat. Avoid crash diets, which usually do more harm than good. And don't rely on miracle "spot-reducing" exercises for your neck. They won't remove the fat--and in some cases have caused dislocated jaws and severely strained neck muscles.
Get cropped. Long hair draws eyes to your neck--precisely what you want to avoid. Pageboy cuts that curl under the chin are the worst. "The rule is to keep it short, at or above the jawline," says Kathleen Walas, fashion and beauty director for New York Citybased Avon Products and author of Real Beauty . . . Real Women.
Makeup the difference. To play down a double chin, play up another feature. Walas suggests using blush high on your cheekbones. Or try a brighter, tasteful shade of eye shadow. If you use foundation, apply it one shade darker under your chin and blend it carefully with the foundation on your face. "That will make the rest of your face bright and attractive and your double chin much less noticeable," Walas says.
Drop that neckline. Open, broad necklines are more flattering for women with double chins, Walas says. Turtlenecks are a definite no-no. As for jewelry, avoid chokers and try longer necklaces. Dangling earrings--anything below the jawline--can bring attention to your neck, according to Walas.
Know the skinny on surgery. Cosmetic surgery is a last resort, Dr. Kotler says. But if you have tried everything else and can't lose that extra chin--and have about $4,500 handy--you can have your neck "sculpted." The surgeon will make a small horizontal cut under your chin, then suck out the fat that has collected beneath the skin. Finally, he will make a vertical incision between the layers of the neck and jaw muscle and sew the edges together, tightening the muscle layer like a corset.
It's a relatively painless procedure that requires two Band-Aids to hide, Dr. Kotler says. Bruising is minimal, and within about ten days you won't see anything except your old single chin. "It's a common procedure," he says. "The technique has become very refined, and the results are quite good." The operation can be performed under either general anesthesia or local anesthesia with sedation.
For an extra $500 or so, the surgeon can also add a chin implant. It's a piece of solid silicone that is slipped between your jawbone and the sheath of tissue that covers the bone. The implant gives you a more prominent jaw and further accentuates the angle between the jawline and neck, Dr. Kotler says. There is no addition to overall recovery time. Surgeons use implants in about one-fourth of all double chin procedures, Dr. Kotler says.
