Help! Dieting has made my cheeks look hollow

THE leading cosmetic doctor answers your questions on dealing with ageing . . .

QI’M 64 and have lost 5 st recently. I’m desperate to fill out my cheeks, but I suffer from trigeminal neuralgia, which causes facial pain, and have to take drugs to manage it. Can you help me?

ASignificant weight loss is a surefire way of looking older than your years. When we’re younger, weight loss does not particularly impact our face unless it is rapid or severe. as we age, though, it visibly affects the pads of fat that sit deep under the skin on the face.

these pads act like the support scaffolding of the face and once they deplete, the overlying skin droops and sags, creating a sad, tired look. the cheeks appear sunken and hollow and you are more predisposed to jowls.

Sadly, even if you gain weight this lost fat will not be replaced.

the good news is that restoring lost volume with injectable hyaluronic acid fillers has a pretty immediate — but natural-looking — effect. it should take only a couple of treatments and ought to be topped up around every nine to 12 months.

Your condition and medication would be taken into account by a cosmetic doctor, but it does not preclude you from treatment. Sometimes i recommend Sculptra, an injectable volumis-ing treatment, which stimulates natural collagen production to restore lost volume, and fill in wrinkles and depressions.

the results last longer (about 18 months to two years) and are gradual.