Do you look in the mirror and see your mother or father looking back at you?
We all inherit our facial features and we all at some point begin to age and our face reminds us of one or both of our aging parents. That's OK, but not when we are in our late thirties or early forties. We all want to stay young looking but most of us do not want to go through a face lift.
The exciting new liquid face lift using FDA approved soft tissue fillers has enabled us to actually plump specific areas of the face that have lost fat and sagged. These new filler techniques actually allow us to lift the cheek and drooping areas around the mouth.
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Why Our Faces Begin to Look Older
We talk to so many people every day about some type of facial rejuvenation. Most men and women feel that their faces look aged because they are sagging and worry that they need to be nipped and tucked to look younger. These patients look in the mirror see a need for a facelift and a facelift only. In fact, there are many things that contribute to an aging face: lines, wrinkles, discoloration and sagging skin. The one factor that most people don't consider is loss of fullness.
Liquid Face Lift - The Remarkable, Non-Surgical, Minimal Down Time Facelift
A youthful face is plump with full rounded cheeks. The cruelness of aging is that people lose fat in their faces and gain it elsewhere. Sadly fat in a face contributes to filling out the skin and keeping a face looking smooth and supple while fat tends to do the opposite in other areas of the body.
We can't blame all aging on a loss of fat. At 25, we stop producing collagen. Collagen plays a major role in the strength of skin and its decreased production leads to sagging. In addition, loss of muscle occurs with age and affects the facial contour.
Why Have a Facelift?
If loss of fullness is a significant reason for our aging, why do people need and get facelifts? Why not just add fullness to achieve a youthful look again?
The complex answer is that some people need volume, some need surgery and some need both. A properly done face lift in the appropriately selected patient can produce an excellent result.
The Liquid Face Lift
Rarely are people excited to have surgery, so many people that come to see us ask about other options or things to do in the present time to possibly delay the eventual need for a surgical procedure. The internet and media have discussed and promoted the liquid face lift and many patients ask about it.
This lift is a lifting, plumping, filling, smoothing and re-contouring of the face with a combination of various injectable dermal fillers and neurotoxins.
The injectable dermal fillers that we use in our office for facial re-contouring are hydroxyl apatite (Radiesse(TM) and hyaluronic acid (Juvederm(TM), Restalyn(TM) and now Perlane(TM)). Most people know these products when used to treat nasal labial folds (the lines connecting your nose to your face) or to plump the lips.
These soft tissue fillers can also be used to increase fullness in other areas of the face and this is what the liquid face lift achieves.
The mid cheek area can be plumped or augmented with fillers and this new volume significantly enhances a youthful face. In fact, cheeks with more volume typically have less dramatic nasal labial fold lines. A third area treated in this lift is the pre-jowl sulcus. These are the vertical lines that are on either side of the mouth. They connect the edges of the mouth to the jaw. These are also known as Marionette lines.
To achieve these results, often a few different fillers are used in each procedure. Each filler listed above has its own specific characteristics. They are made in different ways and are intended to be used for different situations. The use of fillers for facial augmentation is very patient specific and surgeon specific.
Botox(TM) Also Helps Enhance the Liquid Face Lift
The use of botulinum toxin (Botox(TM)) in addition to injectable dermal fillers can make for better, longer-lasting results. Botox(TM) blocks the nerve impulses that cause muscle contractions. These repeated muscle contractions can contribute to the breakdown of the soft tissue filler. With less muscle contraction after Botox TM the filler used for your liquid face lift should last longer.
No, Botox(TM) does not make you look like a figure in the wax museum! You look like yourself after Botox(TM), just you without frown lines, worry lines, crows feet bunny lines, and lip lines. Botox(TM) has been safely used in young children with spastic muscle problems since 1978 and is widely used around the world.
How Long Does It Take to Have A Liquid Face Lift?
Facial recontouring as described above can be accomplished in an office visit. A combination of nerve blocks and local anesthetics makes for the treatment to be very easily tolerated. What must happen first though is a thorough consultation with a plastic surgeon. In our office, we perform a lengthy review of your past medical history, allergies, previous facial treatments and ultimately your facial concerns and goals. The whole visit including treatment may take 45 minutes to an hour.
How Will I Look Right After?
You will see the early results immediately-we hand you a mirror and let you see. The results will improve over the next 3-6 weeks as the filler absorbs fluids and the body starts making new collagen in response to the filler.
Usually there is minimal or no bruising. The area may be slightly swollen and pink from the injection, but ice packs take care of this. With makeup you should be fine right after treatment or certainly the next day.
Who Is the Best Candidate for the Liquid Face Lift?
Ideal candidates are realistic men and women who are beginning to notice gaunt, sunken features and suffering from loss of tissue volume causing wrinkles, lines, and folds. These patients should have good skin texture and elasticity, be in good physical and psychological health and non smoking. Most patients are in their mid to late thirties up to patients in their fifties and sixties. Age does not matter, what matters is whether you have lost facial volume and want to plump your face to a more youthful appearance.
Liquid Face Lift - The Remarkable, Non-Surgical, Minimal Down Time Facelift
See pictures of the Liquid Face Lift. Dr. Seckel is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in the Boston area.
Read Save Your Face to learn more about prevention and non-surgical treatment of facial aging.