How to Get a Facelift – With or Without Surgery
With or without surgery, here are some tips and techniques to get yourself a facelift:
Botox
Botulinum toxin is becoming increasingly popular to get a facelift. With two or three injections at 8-month intervals, the forehead stops wrinkling. Botulinum toxin acts on the muscle and is safe when the injection is made. At first, the effects of the injections last between 8 and 12 months but this may vary. The forehead can remain free of lines for several years because the ruffling is more systematic.
Areas : forehead, frown lines, crow’s feet
Price: between $300 and $900 depending on the treated areas
Caution: The authorization of marketing of this toxin only affects the upper face. But many practitioners extend its use.
Hyaluronic Acid Fillers
Hyaluronic acid is used to fill wrinkles, restore its entire volume to the face, including the oval or nasolabial folds. These injections last between 8 and 18 months. The advantage of this product? You can remove fillers if you feel that you have used too much.
Areas : oval of the face, nasolabial folds
Price: up to $2000 for a full treatment, from $500 for a zone
Caution: the effect of this filling is not permanent, it starts blurring between 8 and 18 months.
Chemical Peels
If you’re tempted by a peel to fight against the effects of age, the safest bet for your skin is probably the one with fruit acids, the glycolic acid peel. Lighter than deep peels, it restores radiance to the face and even skin tone. Superficial peel is a revolution. You can actually go out the very evening of having a peel done, as it does not disfigure the face for the first few days, like dermabrasion. This peel improves the quality of the skin, and is particularly great for fine lines of the eyelids.
Areas: full face
Price: $100
Caution: Peels, whether they are superficial, medium or deep, can be risky for the skin if the exposure time, products used and the dosage are not well controlled by the dermatologist or aesthetic physician.
Radio frequency
The radio frequency is used to fight against sagging skin on different parts of the body and can give you a certain amount of makeover in the face. This is a non-invasive technique to tighten the oval of the face. The device sends electromagnetic waves with a handy head to the cheeks and lower cheeks. With the polarity and the area “heating”, it causes a contraction of collagen fibers and a stimulation of the production of collagen-neo. With six sessions in two months, the oval is generally completely redesigned.
Zones: oval, entire body
Price : on average $350 per session for a small area, and up to $800 per session for larger areas.
Caution: As of now, for lack of hindsight it is difficult to know precisely how long the effects of this technique stay.
Mesolift
Small injections inch by inch on your face plump up the skin. The doctor can inject either vitamins or use hyaluronic acid. This technique does not fill your wrinkles but revitalizes your skin. The effect does not last very long, however and stays for about six months.
Areas: face
Price: from $100-300, with the price varying with the products used
Warnings: The Skin bleeds into multiple small dots at the end of the session. Physicians are free to select their “vitamin cocktail” to be injected so you need to pay attention to any allergic reactions. Choose an experienced professional who will keep in mind your skin while performing a mesolift.
Intense Pulsed Light (IPL)
This method is used for hair removal but can also be used to erase marks and even the skin tone. The results obtained on the skin with this technique are not spectacular since there is no ‘lifting’ effect. What you do get is a “healthy glow” and you will notice that the skin texture is improved. Dark spots disappear in approximately six sessions.
areas: Face, hands, neck
Price: from $300 to $500 per session/facial
Caution: Some beauty salons offer IPL sessions to their clients. However, it is best to prefer the office of a dermatologist or a cosmetic doctor.
Cervical Liposuction (Chin Neck Plastic Surgery)
When the oval of the face begins to relax, this technique is extremely useful in delaying the cervical aging. This operation is performed, like any cosmetic surgery by surgeons qualified in plastic surgery, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery. Cervical Lipo is the perfect solution for people with fatty deposits, the infamous “double chin” and also for the simple ‘loosening’ of the skin. Liposuction enables retraction of the skin. By removing fat, sagging skin can diminish or disappear. The final results are visible about three months after the operation.
Area: Oval
Price : from $2500-5000 for the surgery
Caution: This procedure may delay aging but does not prevent the relaxation of tissues in the course of time.
For Younger Looking Hands
Fillers and Lasers work well for making aging hands look taut and younger. Be careful though to avoid exposure to the sun just after the sessions. And avoid too much sun in general to avoid seeing the brown spots reappear. The effects of the lasers on your hands can last up to two years and will diminish veins, wrinkles, fine lines and sun damage effects.
Price: From $300 per session
Caution: For a few days after the treatment, the hands will have scabs.
Filling Bony Hands
With age, the hands lose their plumpness and bones appear. To reduce such effects of aging, some experts suggest the ‘filling’ of hands using hyaluronic acid or the fatty tissue of the patient (autologous fat) obtained by removing the fat in the abdomen or thighs which is reinjected into the hands when the skeleton is too apparent.
Price: from $1200
Caution: Sometimes, the results do not meet the expectations. New injections of autologous fat are sometimes necessary.
Natural Tips to Prevent or Delay the Need for a Facelift
When it comes to anti-aging, do not neglect prevention. Start paying attention to your skin from an early age.
Do not frown frequently or pucker the lips when eating. These muscular actions speed up the crease forming process on the face. Learn to rest the face. Increasing mimics make the wrinkles deepen and the effects of age may be noticed as early as in your 30s or even younger. Majority of anti-aging patients have wrinkles at the forehead, brows, crow’s feet, upper lips etc. All these lines may be due to excessive muscular work.
In addition to relaxing your face muscles, you should also remember to keep skin protected from sun damage and moisturize it regularly.