Facial Cosmetic Injectables or a Facelift?

Thanks to modern medicine and a growing amount of knowledge about how to live a healthy lifestyle, Americans today are living longer and feeling energetic and young until a later age. As a result, we’re on an everlasting quest to look as young on the outside as we feel on the inside. There are a wealth of facial rejuvenation procedures, medicines, and options for a reason: because different methods are best for different people. You can follow me, John LeRoy, MD, on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ to learn more about these treatments and for updates on my ever-growing menu of procedures.

So which route makes the most sense for you – cosmetic injectables or a facelift? Facial cosmetic injectables are simply compounds that are injected into desired areas of the face. Some injectables, like Botox®, relax the facial muscles to diminish wrinkles, while others like Restylane® are fillers, which add youthful volume to the face. A facelift, on the other hand, is a surgical procedure which, rather literally, lifts the facial skin and repositions the muscle and fat to repair the sagging caused by age. Below are some questions to help you determine which procedure may be the best fit for you.

What are your areas of concern?
If you would like to see more smoothness in essentially all areas of the face (like the cheeks, mouth, and jawline), a facelift may be the way to go, because it delivers more widespread results. Injectables, on the other hand, are preferable for targeting specific problem areas, like the forehead or the lines around the mouth. Injectable facial fillers are used to fill in skin creases to provide a more youthful look.

How much recovery time can you reasonably afford?
If you have a schedule that is both busy and too rigid to allow for recovery time, cosmetic injectables may be a great option to consider. They require no downtime, and in fact you may be able to complete your entire treatment during your lunch hour. On the other hand, while recovery times do vary from patient to patient, a traditional facelift is a surgical procedure requiring general anesthesia, so there will be some recovery time involved. My Band Aid Facelift is a less invasive alternative procedure. Performed in my office with gentle numbing, a Band Aid Facelift is a viable “meet in the middle” option for my patients.

Do you want to tighten your skin or add volume?
Aging takes a toll on our faces in many ways, so spend time examining your face in the mirror to determine whether it’s a loss of elasticity you’re unhappy with (in which case a facelift will likely provide the results you’re looking for) or a lack of facial volume (in which case, fillers like Juvéderm® or Restylane® should be considered). For most patients, a combination of both procedures proves to be ideal for restoring the face to its more youthful, rested self.

How permanent do you want the results to be?
It’s important to note that neither of these procedures produce permanent results, because they are not capable of completely stopping the aging process. However, a facelift does produce more dramatic results for a longer period of time than injectables do. In other words, because a facelift “turns back the clock” farther than injectables do, it takes significantly longer for your face to return to its pre-operative appearance with a facelift than it does with cosmetic facial injections.

In the end, an informed and wise decision about your facial rejuvenation can only be made after your individualized consultation. During this appointment, we’ll discuss your reasonable cosmetic expectations and decide together how we can help you look as young as you feel.