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I Had a Facelift 4 Years Ago and Don’t Want Another One What Can I Do to Help Sagging?
Photo from here
Sharla DeCelle in Las Vegas, NV asks:
I had a facelift approximately 4 years ago and have started to get the deep fowls around my mouth. I’m 60 years old and want to look vibrant for my age but do not want a another facelift. Are there other alternatives that will help the wrinkles and jowls?
Several options for nonsurgical facial rejuvenation:
If your areas of concern are the “deep frowns” around your mouth; so often the nasolabial folds and marionette lines around the mouth contribute to the sagging and contribute to the aged appearance. Without doing “surgery”, injections into these areas, particularly with fat transfer or other materials can provide good resolution/good improvement, without undergoing a repeat facelift. Specifically for wrinkles on the other hand; wrinkles are nicely treated with expert fractionated laser treatment. If you are concerned about the sagging jowl; in some instances laser lipolysis can provide some tightening in this area although this has to be done with great expertise and care.
Nonetheless there are options to help rejuvenate the face that don’t entail or require facelift surgery. But there is not a single procedure that will provide resolution for the areas you are concerned about, but a combination of these treatments can remedy the problem.
How Long Do the Effects of a Lifestyle Lift Last?
FILIGREE1 in FLORIDA, USA asks:
A regular facelift or separate procedures cost so much more, but I’ve been told that the effects last 5-10 years if you don’t smoke, or experience weight changes. How long can I expect the effects of a Lifestyle Lift to last under similar conditions?
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The important component of a Lifestyle Lift is tightening of the deeper structures of the face, the SMAS/fascia and muscle structures. This tightening provides a real improvement in the overall appearance, particularly in the neck and jowl area. It is impossible to attribute an exact time period to which you turn back the clock, however as a general rule Lifestyle Lift and/or facelift provide around eight to ten years loss of appearance of aging. It is true that standard facelift procedures do cost more, but Lifestyle Lift provides an efficiency that translates into saved dollars for the individual who desires real aesthetic improvement. Essentially when undergoing a Lifestyle Lift or a facelift by an experienced surgeon, one will expect to achieve a good improvement in appearance and aesthetic youthfulness and decrease in the overall appearance of aging changes. This is a turning back of the clock. We can’t stop the clock, we can’t stop aging, but we can back it up several notches with a lift procedure. As time goes on, ongoing aging will occur.
Who Should Consider a Lifestyle Lift?
Photo Courtesy of Lifestylelift.com
A good candidate is someone who is motivated
Overall I think a good candidate for Lifestyle Lift is an individual who is motivated; motivated simply to make a positive difference in their appearance. Through the ravages of time, simply as we get older things change; we don’t look as good and refreshed and youthful as we did in our 20s and early 30s. Lifestyle Lift specifically addresses the major concerns, which is the lower part of the face, the jowls, the laugh lines, the marionette lines, the sagging, the fullness, the aging appearance issues. The best patient for a Lifestyle Lift is the individual who is motivated to look better. There tends to be an assortment of ages, all the way from late 30s to early 80s and each individual has unique anatomy and specific concerns. Nonetheless, addressing the major areas of aging in the lower part of the face provides significant improvement in one’s overall sense of youthfulness and looking better.
How Can I Correct This Naseolabial Fold Problem on One Side of my Face?
msmmi in sf in Pleasanton, CA asks:
2 months ago I had 4 qaud eye lift, brow lift, full facelift and lipo of the neck. I had some nasolabial folds before surgery, and the doctor assured me these procedures would correct the problem. However, the fold on one side is still there, and never seemed to get better. I feel the malar fat pad may not have been lifted as much as it should have been. I am not into fillers that don’t last, after spending all this money for a more lasting fix. what should be done?
Photo Courtesy of RealSelf.com
It is now two months after the procedure and there has been a number of procedures performed, including your eyelift and brow lift and facelift, liposuction and neck lift. These are a lot of procedures and even though it has been two months there is still some reasonable amount of healing that needs to occur. Most people desire resolution of all their swelling and healing problems by a week or a month, but essentially three and six months or more is required.
Therefore assessing the nasolabial folds is somewhat premature at this phase, but a number of things can be discussed at this time. Facelift procedures can soften the nasolabial folds, but rarely get rid of the significant concerns of the nasolabial folds. Fillers are the best answer. There are a number of fillers; the temporary ones are beneficial. If you are interested in a “lasting fix” then more permanent type fillers are helpful, including Artifill and Sculptra, as well as fat grafting. Fat grafting tends to be the best answer in many instances due to its reliability and the fact that it comes from your own body to begin with.
So the best answer to your question is to wait a little bit of time, at least three months if not six months, and assess things and consider fillers after that period of time. Fat grafting would be my first option, Sculptra would be a second answer.
Too Young for Facelift and Cheek Implants?
Photo Courtesy of Dr. 90210
Sammzie in Berkeley, CA asks:
“ I’m 20 years old and I’m unsatisfied with the way my mid-lower face appears. I think I’d benefit from getting a mid-face lift with cheek implants. Am I too young to be getting these procedures done? “
Facelift surgery can be performed as early as early 30s, all the way into 80s and late 80s. Each individual is quite unique and each individual has different concerns and potential benefits. This is exactly where experience is extremely key to achieve the best result based on the individual patients concerns. For instance, a young individual with a good deal of adipose deposition or fatty changes to the face can benefit from liposculpture and sometimes some “tightening” (a form of facelift). But on the other hand, it is important not to jump in to have a facelift too soon as it is only in the instance of potentially achieving a real improvement is a facelift or mini facelift warranted. Essentially if an individual is properly motivated even at a young age and if there are moderate changes that could benefit from facelift then facelifting could be entertained. It is not an issue of age so much as it is for motivation, expectation and overall potential benefit determined by an expert facial plastic surgeon. The most common time period whereby individuals desire and benefit from a facelift is in the 50 to 65 year age range, but there are a number of patients who really do benefit in their early 40s. – David Santos MD, FACS
Is It Safe to Have a Facelift After Sculptra?
Eimel in Gold Coast asks:
“I had a Sculptra injection and am supposed to have 1 more in 6 weeks, the doctor’s idea was to make my skin stronger so he can do a threadlift. After doing some research I think this is not for me and I’d like to go back to my original idea of having a traditional facelift – but I am now worried that if I get a facelift when my skin is a bit tighter from the Sculptra treatment it will sag again in 1-2 years once the Sculptra wears off. Can this be a problem after just 1 Sculptra injection?”
It is safe to have a facelift after Sculptra.
Sculptra is a quite successful filling agent that provides fullness to the face and lasts for a prolonged period of time. Some feel two years and some researchers and physicians feel that it lasts even longer. It is actually difficult to absolutely state the time that an individual Sculptra might dissipate, if at all. It does not simply go away completely at two years.
The best time to choose to do a facelift should not be influenced by when fillers such as Sculptra might wear off. When there are significant sagging components to the face, particularly jowls and neck area, the best remedy is for a facelift. Indeed many individuals undergo a facelift and also have concomitant filling, whether fat grafting, Sculptra or other fillers such as Restylane. This provides additional rejuvenation. If you have a facelift now, there will be changes over time that are for the most part unpredictable.
The best answer is to have a facelift now and as time goes along consider supplemental rejuvenation treatments as needed and as recommended by your physician, such as additional Sculptra or additional other fillers. On the other hand, if you wait for the Sculptra end point, when all the Sculptra is dissipated, the time period of this waiting period could be two years, could be several years and is unpredictable.
The New Face of Suzanne Somers
WHAT HAS HAPPENED
We see another transformation from one of the loveable people in whom we have watched so much over the years. Suzanne Somers is a beautiful woman and has been the likeable star of Three’s Company, and the leader of ThighMaster. She wants to keep her youth and beauty, she wants to look better.
When making this decision it is imperative to make sure that the plastic surgeon is board certified and has performed a good deal of the particular rejuvenation procedure. We do not know exactly what was done, but, these pictures suggest fillers of some nature. Fat grafting is the present day most popular rejuvenation filler although temporary fillers such as juvederm(R) or Restylane (R) are common as well. Her new look is very unnatural, grainy, doughy, sponge like. The best guess, as to what was placed, would be that of fat grafting.
With fat grafting the fat is harvested from the abdomen or thighs, and injected expertly into the face. Great care must be taken to place the fat in deeper tissues and to apply the right amount in the right places. Also expert techniques are required again, which further qualifies the importance of having a surgeon who has doe this a lot provide the service.
Generally, a good deal more of fat is placed in areas than ultimately desired, so that increased overdone bulkiness of areas treated is common and normal. Some studies suggest 30% of fat ultimately takes to provide the desired effect. We do not know how long it has been since Ms. Somers procedure and so there is real hope that the plumpness will recede over time. In fact if this was soon after the procedure she could actually have a good result, but this may be overly optimistic. Time will tell.
Nonetheless, if there was too much fat placed then it certainly will certainly ultimately look unnatural down the road.
We care about Suzanne and hope her the best.
FacialBeauty.com
David Santos MD
