How to Get Rid of Jowls | What Actually Works

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Getting rid of formed jowls usually requires an in-office procedure; at-home care can improve the appearance of early sagging but won’t reverse established tissue descent.

Jowls form when the skin and soft tissues along the jawline lose collagen and elasticity, often combined with fat redistribution or muscle changes. The best approach depends on how far along the process is — mild cases benefit from consistent daily habits, while deeper jowls need something stronger. This article covers both, in the order that makes sense.

At-Home Measures: What They Can and Can’t Do

For mild or early jowls — the slight softness that gives the jawline a less defined look — daily habits can tighten things up enough to matter. They will not remove excess skin or reverse structural sagging, but they can slow progression and improve skin quality.

Sun protection is the single most effective preventive step. Medical News Today emphasizes that daily sunscreen and broader sun-protective habits help preserve collagen and keep early laxity from worsening. Layer that with a retinoid (retinol, tretinoin, or tazarotene) and exfoliating acids like glycolic or lactic acid — these ingredients support collagen production at the cellular level and improve skin texture over months of consistent use. For readers ready to shop, our roundup of the best creams for jowls covers the top retinoid and peptide options tested for this specific area.

Lifestyle factors also matter: staying hydrated, not smoking, eating a balanced diet, and sleeping on your back instead of your side or stomach can all reduce the daily mechanical stress on the jawline.

Facial Exercises and Massage: Worth Trying, Low Risk

Facial exercises have limited clinical evidence, but they are low-risk and may improve muscle tone and appearance. Medical News Today recommends exercises held for 5 to 20 seconds, repeated 8 to 12 times, several times daily. Common routines include yawning wide, puckering lips outward, blowing up the cheeks, tilting the head up while chewing, and pulling the lower lip over the upper lip. A chin-up exercise — pushing the lower jaw forward, lifting the lower lip, holding for 10–15 seconds — is often done in three sets of 15.

The key is consistency and form. Start with 15 repetitions once daily, hold the final rep for 20 seconds, and use a mirror to keep other facial muscles relaxed. Facial massage or gua sha can temporarily improve contour by reducing fluid retention, but neither provides a structural fix — think of it as a five-minute morning reset, not a solution for tissue descent.

Office-Based Treatments: Matching the Procedure to the Problem

When jowls are clearly visible and at-home care hasn’t changed them, procedural options divide into three categories, each matched to the underlying cause:

Injectables for contouring and muscle pull. Dermal fillers can camouflage jowls and add definition to the jawline and chin, but GoodRx notes they do not remove sagging tissue — they are a contouring option, not a cure. Botulinum toxin (Botox) placed along the platysma muscle in the lower face can reduce the downward pulling motion that accentuates jowls, improving the jawline appearance without adding volume.

Energy-based devices for mild-to-moderate skin laxity. Fractionated CO2 laser, radiofrequency microneedling, Ultherapy, Sofwave, and Morpheus8 all deliver heat or energy to deeper skin layers to stimulate collagen production and tighten tissue. Results are gradual and vary by device and clinician skill. These are not surgical alternatives, but they can produce meaningful improvement for people with moderate sagging who want to avoid or delay surgery.

Fat reduction when volume is the main issue. Kybella (deoxycholic acid) and liposuction can reduce submental and jawline fat, but they are appropriate only when excess fat — not skin laxity — is the primary problem. Applying fat-dissolving treatments to a face with loose skin can worsen hollowing and contour irregularity, so careful patient selection is essential.

What Actually Gets Rid of Formed Jowls

For significant or long-established jowling, facelift or neck-lift surgery is the most effective and longest-lasting option. Westlake Dermatology describes it as the most comprehensive correction for tissue descent — it physically repositions the deeper layers that at-home care and energy devices cannot reach. Recovery takes weeks, cost is substantial, and the procedure is not right for everyone, but for the person with true sagging who wants a definitive change, surgery delivers what nothing else can.

FAQs

Can face exercises alone fix jowls?

Facial exercises can improve muscle tone and the appearance of mild laxity, but they cannot reposition descended tissue or remove excess skin. They are best viewed as a low-risk adjunct to better treatments, not a standalone solution for visible jowling.

Does Kybella work for jowls?

Kybella is designed to dissolve fat, and it works well when the main issue is submental or jawline fat. But if the jowl is caused by skin laxity rather than fat, Kybella can worsen the appearance by removing volume underneath already-loose skin, creating hollowness rather than lift.

What is the cheapest way to reduce jowls?

The lowest-cost approach is consistent daily use of sunscreen, a retinoid, and good skincare habits — these slow progression and improve texture for about the price of a drugstore routine. Beyond that, one round of Botox along the platysma is often the least expensive in-office starting point.

References & Sources

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