Why Our Faces Begin to Look Older
I 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.
What makes a face youthful clear skin plump face 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.
The exciting new liquid face lift using FDA approved soft tissue fillers enables 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.
Most people are not excited to have surgery, so the question I hear is what other options or things can be done 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 are asking 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 are used in myour office for facial re-contouring are hydroxyl apatite (Radiesse™ and a hyaluronic acid (Juvederm® Ultra Plus™). Most people are familiar with these products for use of treatment of 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. This renewed volume significantly enhances a youthful face, and also provides for less dramatic nasal labial fold lines. An additional 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. The fillers listed above each have specific characteristics because they are made in different ways and are intended to be used for different situations.
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