Facial Bone Loss and Ageing: Why Your Face Changes Over Time

Introduction: Your Skeleton Is the Architect

When most people think about facial ageing, they picture wrinkles, sagging skin, and lost volume. And whilst those changes are real, they are largely downstream consequences of something far more fundamental: facial bone loss and the slow, silent remodelling of the bones beneath.

Bone is the ultimate framework of the face. Every layer above it — the fat, the muscle, the connective tissue, and the skin — depends on the skeleton for its position, projection, and support. When facial bone structure reduces over time, everything above it shifts, descends, and loses its shape.

Want to understand how the layers sit on top of one another? Watch my Instagram videos first:

From around the age of 25, the balance tips. The bone-regenerating cells in the facial skeleton begin to decline in number and activity, causing a slow process of facial bone loss. This is not visible in your twenties. By your thirties and forties, the consequences begin to reveal themselves in the mirror.

The orbital rims widen, creating hollowing around the eyes, the appearance of deeper tear troughs, and eyes that seem rounder and more set back. The cheekbones recede — this causes a flattening of facial curves and deepening of the nasolabial folds. The jaw changes shape too: the mandibular angle increases making the jawline appear less sharp, and facial bone loss contributes directly to jowl formation.

What this means, structurally, is that the overlying layers progressively lose their support structure. Skin that once draped over a firm, projected bony scaffold now sits atop a diminished frame. The result: skin laxity, deep folds, hollowing, and the characteristic heaviness of an aged lower face.

Understanding this is the key to understanding which treatments actually work — and which merely paper over the cracks.

What Is Facial Bone Loss and How Does It Affect Ageing?

Facial bone loss refers to the gradual reduction in bone density and structural volume within the facial skeleton over time. This process alters the shape, projection, and proportions of the face, and is one of the most important — yet least understood — drivers of facial ageing.

As the facial bone recedes, the soft tissue layers above lose their foundational support. This leads to visible changes such as sagging, hollowing, and deepening folds, even when the skin itself is relatively healthy.

Layer 5: The Facial Skeleton Explained

You may have heard polynucleotides for lips referred to as “salmon DNA injections,” but this term can be misleading. In reality, the polynucleotides used in NEWEST® are highly purified DNA fragments, carefully stripped of proteins and lipids, leaving only the regenerative components.

The science behind NEWEST® polynucleotides for lips is clean, safe, and evidence-based. Rather than simply adding filler, the treatment is designed to improve tissue health, stimulate regeneration, and support long-term skin quality.

Cheeks and Jawline Are The Structural Priority

Cheek filler placed toward the sides of the face restores the projection that facial bone loss has reduced over time, lifting the overlying soft tissue, softening the nasolabial fold, and reducing the appearance of tear troughs. This lift effect means that a small cheek enhancement can improve multiple areas across the face simultaneously without touching them, giving a very natural effect.

Jawline filler used strategically to elongate the jaw backwards rather than widen the jaw reduces jowling and in fact slims the face — and can lift the neck tissue too.

Critically: these effects cannot be replicated by any topical treatment, device, or superficial skin procedure. Structural filler at this depth is addressing the cause, not the symptom.

At-Home Treatment for Layer 5 Bone Support

Unfortunately there are no at-home treatments that can reverse or rebuild facial bone loss. But don’t underestimate your lifestyle on this one — using your facial muscles helps maintain bone density, keeping a good diet high in Vitamins C & D to nourish your bones, and looking after your teeth will all work towards maintaining healthy facial bone structure.