Posted by Dr. Anil R. Shah
The Adventure Begins…
You go to a medspa or dermatologist and you tell them “ I want to improve my jawline”. You might hear you need 5-6 jawline fillers to help create structure. That same day you visit Dr. Anil Shah, acclaimed facial plastic surgeon and developer of his deep neck contouring technique, and he recommends deep neck contouring. So who is right and going to give a better result? So let’s try this “choose your own adventure” style. Pick Option A if you want filler and Pick Option B if you want neck contouring.
Option A – Filler
You decide to get jawline filler and their recommendation for 5 syringes is a discount on additional syringes so you are initially excited. They tell you it will last one year and that you need to repeat this treatment every 6 months. You are not sure why that makes sense but say yes anyways. You are given a quote of more than 3k and surprisingly no professional photos are taken.
You meet a young provider who you are not sure what their training is. They put filler along your jawline and when completed you see a difference. Your jawline and face is fuller but they tell you it is swelling and will go down. When taking photographs you see MAYBE a difference but after a few months, it is not quite as impressive as you had hoped. They recommend for your results to LAST you need to return every 6 months.
6 months later you are recommended to repeat this treatment with 3 syringes this time. You still have a bill of over $1500 and now your results are not quite as good as the first time.
So What Happened?
Jawline filler can play a key role in facial reshaping, especially in those patients with underdeveloped lower jaw structures. However, many non-surgeons will recommend this therapy instead of removal of neck contouring since they do not OFFER it. Seems like a bad reason to have a procedure done. While jawline filler can and does work, it is important to know its limitations. If you don’t want your lower face WIDER, you probably should not get this treatment. In addition, filler in the lower part of the face often does not last that long, oftentimes absorbing in 3-6 months. Filler here can be expensive to maintain as it requires maintenance or in this case, you are actually starting almost from ground zero every 6 months. Yikes, expensive to maintain but more important it is potentially going to create a wider jawline with less durable results. The benefit here is the patient does NOT require any stitches and downtime is likely 24 hours.
Option B – Deep Neck Contouring
You follow Dr. Anil Shah (hey you’re here reading this) on his instagram and you see constant stories and posts about deep neck contouring. You first meet him by virtual consultation and he and his staff tell you are a good candidate and what to expect, including the option to do this procedure AWAKE but relaxed.
You enter his office and have photos taken in his state of the art photography lab and meet Dr. Shah, acclaimed surgeon and neck contouring specialists. He confirms what he said on video and after a round of questions you are getting prepared for deep neck contouring.
During this time you are given medications and you are told to relax and you can pick out what you want to watch on the TV. Wait, you are going to be watching TV while having your neck fat removed. After some mild discomfort with the numbing part, Dr. Shah has already started and you didn’t even realize it.
After removing your neck fat, you feel tightness in your neck and he explains that he is contouring the deep muscles of the neck. When completed you can see that your neck is completely changed that SAME day. You have to wear a wrap around your neck and this is removed 48 hours after your procedure. You return to work and now 1 year later, your neck still looks better than ever even when you put your chin down.
So What Happened?
While surgery is a variable experience, this scenario is Dr. Shah’s norm. You had your jawline, jowls and deep neck fat contoured and your muscles reshaped. Here a fundamental anatomical change has occurred, allowing your neck to mimic that of a much more contoured neck. Importantly, you have not made your jawline wider. Deep neck contouring is considered PERMANENT, meaning you will likely not need this type of procedure ever again. Since you’ve done this procedure AWAKE, your procedure surprisingly may even cost LESS than an inexperienced injector placing syringes along your jawline.
As Your Journey Ends…
It is important to note that some patients may experience more discomfort or have more swelling, but surprisingly, since he does this procedure so frequently and having done more than 1000 neck lifts it is fairly replica-table in patients. While there are thousands of injectors, there is only one Dr. Shah who does this procedure. Dr. Shah and his staff do perform jawline filler, but only when patients will benefit and if there is not a better alternative. Choose your aesthetic experience wisely!!!
