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facial rejuvenation

Correcting Common Myths About Mini Facelifts

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mini facelift mythsMost people have heard the term “mini facelift,” but if you asked ten average people to explain what it is, you would probably get ten different answers. As a double board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in facial rejuvenation, I have found that certain mini facelift myths and misconceptions are especially common. To help you have a better understanding of mini facelifts and what they offer, I’m taking a closer look at these frequent myths.

Myth: Mini Facelifts Aren’t Long-Lasting

Some people believe that mini facelifts are short-lived procedures that don’t produce anything close to the results of a traditional facelift. In reality, most mini facelifts are more similar to a traditional facelift than to nonsurgical facial rejuvenation. A mini facelift is a minimally invasive surgery, but it is still highly effective. It’s designed to allow patients to address their cosmetic aging more gradually. My patients generally find that after my signature Band Aid Mini Facelift, it takes between 8 and 12 years before their new aging has progressed enough to warrant a new Band Aid Mini Facelift.

Myth: A Mini Facelift and a Nonsurgical Facelift Are the Same

The term “nonsurgical facelift” has become frequently used in recent years, but it’s important to note that this is different from a mini facelift. A mini facelift is a surgical procedure.

The term “nonsurgical facelift” is a very informal and non-specific term, so it can be very different depending on the provider who administers it. Some practices may use the term to refer to a combination of laser procedures, skin treatments, and wrinkle reduction injections. Others use the term to simply refer to facial filler injections. If you see a practice offering a nonsurgical facelift, be sure to get the specific details because this term alone doesn’t provide enough information.

Myth: All Mini Facelifts Are the Same

The mini facelift is not a standardized procedure – in other words, not all surgeons perform a mini facelift in the same way. The term “mini facelift” just refers to a minimally invasive facelift surgery, but each surgeon may focus the procedure in varying areas or use differing techniques to make it minimally invasive.

In my case, I offer my Band Aid Mini Facelift, a procedure I developed nearly 25 years ago and have performed for more than 6,000 patients over the years <Dr. LeRoy, is this still accurate or do you have a higher estimate we can change it to?>. This type of mini facelift is performed in my office using gentle numbing rather than general anesthesia and it offers about half the recovery time of a traditional facelift, yet it produces significant and natural-looking results.

Myths: Mini Facelifts Are Only for Younger Adults

Mini facelifts address less severe facial aging than a traditional facelift, but this doesn’t mean that a mini facelift is only suitable for younger patients. I do perform my Band Aid Mini Facelift on younger patients in their 40s, but I also perform the procedure for patients in their 70s who are happy with the modest and natural-looking results of the surgery or who have managed their aging well. Ultimately, your choice of procedure depends on whether you are a good candidate as well as your specific needs and goals, not your age alone.

The Band Aid Mini Facelift is an ideal option for many who want results that look authentic yet rejuvenating and those who want to turn back the clock with less recovery time than a traditional facelift requires. Learning about the surgery and your other facial rejuvenation options is the first step toward a younger-looking, more confident you. To discuss your options, call my Atlanta plastic surgery office and schedule your consultation. Be sure to also follow me on Facebook and Twitter for more cosmetic surgery tips and insights.

Tips to Maintain Your Band Aid Mini Facelift Results

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smiling-female-faceAs a double board-certified plastic surgeon, I’ve been performing my signature Band Aid Mini Facelift for nearly 25 years now. Even after all that time, I never get tired of seeing how excited my patients are when they begin to see their results. For many of them, it refreshes their self-confidence in an incredibly meaningful way.

It’s important to remember, though, that no cosmetic surgery can prevent future aging, so you will eventually see new wrinkles and skin laxity. While your Band Aid Mini Facelift can repair a lot of the past damage that aging has done, there are steps you can take to minimize future aging and help your mini facelift results last longer. Incorporate these helpful tips after your surgery.

Make Lifestyle Changes for Your Skin’s Health

Youthful skin is healthy skin. There are many lifestyle habits that affect your overall health, and that includes your skin health.

First, drink plenty of water to keep your body and your skin hydrated. Second, exercise on a regular basis to promote healthy blood flow, which brings essential oxygen to your skin. Third, avoid nicotine because it constricts your blood vessels and reduces your natural supply of skin-firming collagen. Fourth, only drink alcohol in moderation because alcohol dries your skin, which can amplify signs of aging.

Turn Sun Protection into a Daily Routine

Sun protection is typically the most important step you can take to minimize skin aging (before or after your Band Aid Mini Facelift). Too much sun exposure will break down the collagen in your skin that makes the skin firm and smooth. Sun exposure also creates age spots, which actually have nothing to do with age – they’re overly-pigmented spots that come directly from sun damage.

To minimize your sun exposure, make sunscreen a part of your morning routine. If you want the aesthetics of a tan, choose sunless tanning options like a professional spray tan or airbrush tan or at-home self-tanning products. Remember to also wear sunglasses when you’re out in the sun, as this will help to protect the delicate and aging-prone skin around your eyes.

Optimize Your Skin Care Routine at Home

Along with lifestyle habits, your home skincare routine plays a vital role in your skin’s health and its aging. There are plenty of products available to reduce signs of aging, including serums, retinol products, night creams, and more. Don’t neglect the essentials of cleansing and moisturizing, though, because these help to keep your skin healthy.

Incorporate Non-Surgical Anti-Aging Treatments

All the other tips above will help you slow the aging process, but they can’t stop it entirely. New signs of aging will inevitably arise, and if you want to maintain a youthful look over the years, you can use non-surgical treatments to address these cosmetic concerns before you reach the point of needing a new mini facelift.

The most popular treatments to reduce signs of aging are cosmetic injectables, like Botox® or Dysport® and facial fillers like Restylane® and Juvederm®. These injections smooth away specific wrinkles temporary. Another popular choice is Band Aid Laser Skin Resurfacing, which reduces age spots, fine lines and wrinkles, and mild skin laxity by rebuilding collagen.

Getting the Longest-Lasting Results from Your Band Aid Mini Facelift

One of the most important facts for any Band Aid Mini Facelift patient to know is that giving you a youthful look is a team effort. It works best when you and I work together to not only create the best possible surgical results but also develop a plan to sustain your results for longer. To learn more or to create your anti-aging team, schedule a mini facelift consultation at my Atlanta office. Remember to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for more plastic surgery tips.

4 Facts You Didn’t Know About Eyelid Surgery

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lady-checks-face-in-mirrorWhen people think of plastic surgery that helps a person look younger, they think of facelifts. As beneficial as facelifts and mini facelifts like my Band Aid Mini Facelift can be, those surgeries are designed to address specific signs of aging like sagging skin throughout the mid-face and lower face. There are a variety of other surgeries designed to address other signs of aging, and one particularly common facial rejuvenation procedure is eyelid surgery.

Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, is a procedure that you’ll rarely hear about in movies and TV shows, but it’s one of the most effective surgeries to address facial aging. As a double board-certified plastic surgeon, one of my passions is educating prospective patients about their cosmetic options. In that interest, I’m spreading the word about eyelid surgery with four top facts most people don’t know about the procedure.

There Are Multiple Types of Eyelid Surgery

There are two key types of eyelid surgery: upper eyelid surgery, or upper blepharoplasty, and lower eyelid surgery, or lower blepharoplasty. Upper eyelid surgery removes excess sagging skin from your upper eyelids – sagging skin that gives the eyes a “hooded” or more closed appearance. Lower eyelid surgery, on the other hand, addresses sagging skin and “bags under the eyes” by treating the lower eyelids. Depending on the way your aging has progressed, a lower blepharoplasty can involve removing sagging skin from the lower eyelid, removing pads of fat that are protruding, or both.

Keep in mind that while there are two key types of eyelid surgery, there are a variety of techniques surgeons use for each of these surgeries. It’s also important to note that you can have both an upper eyelid surgery and a lower eyelid surgery because they address different cosmetic concerns. In fact, many patients can have these two procedures within the same surgery.

More People Have Had Eyelid Surgery Than You Realize

While many people haven’t heard of eyelid surgery, sometimes called an eyelid lift, it is an extremely popular procedure. In fact, according to The Aesthetic Society, blepharoplasty was the second most popular plastic surgery in the US in 2020, with over 325,000 procedures performed nationwide.

Eyelid Surgery Can Be Minimally Invasive

The idea of surgery and general anesthesia is intimidating to many people, and general anesthesia does lengthen the recovery time for surgery. Fortunately, most people who are candidates for eyelid surgery are also candidates for my minimally invasive version called Band Aid Eyelid Surgery. During this procedure, I use gentle numbing and minimally invasive techniques to perform the surgery in my medical office. While Band Aid Eyelid Surgery results are highly effective, they allow you to recover in about half the time compared to traditional blepharoplasty.

You Can Have Eyelid Surgery with Little or No Visible Scarring

One question every patient asks about cosmetic surgery is how much scarring they’ll have and how visible it will be. This is one of the unique advantages of eyelid surgery and Band Aid Eyelid Surgery: the procedure leaves little or no visible scarring.

During upper eyelid surgery, I make the incision discreetly within the natural folds of your upper eyelid. For lower eyelid surgery, in many cases, I can use incisions inside the lower eyelid so that they aren’t visible at all. If your surgery does require a visible incision, it will be hidden within your lower lash line.

If you have become frustrated with sagging skin above your eyes or bags under your eyes, Band Aid Eyelid Surgery is the ideal way to address these issues and achieve a more youthful, rested look with minimal recovery time. To find out if this procedure is an option for you, schedule an eyelid surgery consultation with me, Dr. John LeRoy, at my Atlanta office. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for more plastic surgery facts, tips, and insights.

Nonsurgical Wrinkle Treatments or a Mini Facelift: Which One is Best for You?

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Nonsurgical wrinkle treatmentsEveryone has their own ideas of beauty, and plastic surgery is all about helping patients tweak their appearance so it better aligns with their idea of beauty. For most people, part of their beauty standard is to look as youthful and energized as they feel. It’s no surprise, then, that so many patients come to my office to find out the best way to rejuvenate their appearance.

If you want to look younger, there are many potential ways to reach that goal. Two popular paths are to use nonsurgical wrinkle treatments or to have a mini facelift like my Band Aid Mini Facelift. How do you know which one of these is the right choice for you? As a double board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in facial rejuvenation, I’m relaying my insights about these two options and tips about how to determine which one is best for you.

Benefits of Nonsurgical Wrinkle Treatments

There are actually several types of nonsurgical treatments designed to reduce wrinkles and help you look younger. The three I offer are neuromodulator injections like Botox® and Dysport®, facial filler injections like Restylane® and Juvederm®, and laser treatments like my Band Aid Laser Skin Resurfacing.

Each of these procedures has its own unique purposes. Botox® and Dysport® specifically target wrinkles in the upper face caused by repeated facial expressions, like crow’s feet, frown lines, and forehead creases. Facial fillers are better for wrinkles that come from a loss in skin volume as you age, like smile lines (also called nasolabial folds), vertical lines above the upper lip, and others. Finally, Band Aid Laser Skin Resurfacing addresses fine lines and wrinkles while also reducing sun damage such as age spots, improving skin texture, rebuilding collagen, and offering mild skin tightening.

Benefits of a Band Aid Mini Facelift

A mini facelift like my Band Aid Mini Facelift is a less invasive version of the traditional facelift. Using advanced techniques, I’m able to remove excess sagging skin and reposition facial tissue in a more youthful yet natural-looking way, all using gentle numbing in my medical office. You’re awake and comfortable for the entire procedure, avoiding the added recovery time that comes from general anesthesia.

A Band Aid Mini Facelift offers the precise and artful facial rejuvenation that can only come from a surgery by a skilled board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in facial rejuvenation. At the same time, it keeps your post-surgical downtime to a minimum, so most patients can go back to work in half the time it would take to recover from a traditional facelift.

How Do You Know if You’re a Fit for Nonsurgical Wrinkle Treatments or a Mini Facelift?

If you aren’t sure whether nonsurgical wrinkle treatments or a Band Aid Mini Facelift is the best way to rejuvenate your look, the short answer is to schedule a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. I’ll be able to discuss your goals, examine your facial aging, and recommend the best option to make your vision a reality. However, there are a few tips that can help you anticipate which path may be best for you:

  • If your primary concern is sagging skin, a mini facelift is probably the best fit. Non-surgical treatments are designed for wrinkles and age spots instead. Note that both of these treatments can be used at shorter intervals to maintain a youthful look, rather than having larger procedures decades apart.
  • A mini facelift focuses more on your facial structure, such as the shape and positioning of your skin and the underlying fat. Nonsurgical treatments focus more on surface-level signs of aging, like age spots and wrinkles.
  • If you are in the earlier stages of aging, you are more likely to be a better fit for non-surgical treatments because you have likely not aged enough to have significant sagging skin.

No matter where you are in your aging process or what your cosmetic goals may be, I’m here to help. Schedule a facial rejuvenation consultation with me, Dr. John L. LeRoy, to discuss the best way to get the results you want. Be sure to also follow me on Facebook and Twitter for more cosmetic tips.

 

Best Procedures to Combine with a Band Aid Mini Facelift

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Whether we like it or not, the way we feel about our appearance affects every part of our lives. Confidence (or a lack of it) will impact the way we approach conversations with loved ones, job interviews, meeting new people, and much more. If your confidence has taken a hit because of aging, you don’t need to let it take over.

Band Aid Mini Facelift, eyelid surgery, facial rejuvenation, Band Aid Eyelid Surgery, Band Aid Laser Skin ResurfacingAs most of my patients and supporters already know, I am best-known for the Band Aid Mini Facelift I developed: a natural-looking, easier version of a facelift which I perform in-office using gentle numbing instead of general anesthesia. As powerful as this procedure can be for the mid-face and lower face, many of my patients have aging in other areas as well. Fortunately, I can often combine a patient’s Band Aid Mini Facelift with other procedures to provide more comprehensive results. I can do this with a variety of procedures, but today I’ll discuss a few that are more popular than the rest.

Band Aid Eyelid Surgery

There are actually two types of eyelid surgeries which treat different signs of aging. Upper eyelid surgery removes excess sagging skin above the upper eyelids, alleviating the look of “hooded” eyelids. Lower eyelid surgery, on the other hand, focuses more on “bags under the eyes.” Each of these procedures can be performed alongside a Band Aid Mini Facelift, and some patients even need both types of Band Aid eyelid surgeries.

Band Aid Brow Lift

One of the largest misunderstandings about facelifts is that they treat the full face. In truth, both traditional facelifts and Band Aid Mini Facelifts only address the lower two-thirds of the face: the portion below your eyes. For people who also need their brow repositioned or have aging skin above their eyebrows, a Band Aid Brow Lift can be a helpful addition. This procedure is similar to a Band Aid Mini Facelift, and it can also be performed with gentle numbing, but it focuses on the forehead area instead.

Cosmetic Facial Injections

Another misconception about facelifts is that they remove all fine lines and wrinkles. In reality, these surgeries focus on removing and lifting sagging skin as well as repositioning the underlying facial tissue that begins to droop or sag through the years. Trying to remove a patient’s fine lines and smaller wrinkles with a facelift can result in the unnatural “windswept” look that my patients want to avoid, and it can lead to complications as well.

Instead, I frequently use a combination of the Band Aid Mini Facelift and cosmetic injections to get the results patients want while helping them look natural and effortless. The Band Aid Mini Facelift takes care of sagging skin, while injections like Botox® or Dysport® and facial fillers will target the specific fine lines that remain or volume that needs to be replenished.

Band Aid Laser Skin Resurfacing

Sagging skin and wrinkles may be the first signs of aging that come to mind, but if you want to look naturally younger, you may have some age spots to treat as well. The best way to reduce or remove them is with Band Aid Laser Skin Resurfacing. This innovative procedure uses a minimally invasive laser to treat damaged surface skin. The youthful skin beneath will come through with fewer age spots, as well as fewer fine lines and wrinkles. It also has the added benefit of rebuilding collagen to make your skin firmer and smoother. Band Aid Laser Skin Resurfacing can even reduce the already minimal scarring that comes from a Band Aid Mini Facelift.

While it is true that aging is a part of life, you don’t need to sit by and watch it wreak havoc. It is always possible to find a more youthful version of yourself, and for many patients across metro Atlanta and throughout the Southeast, they find this through a combination of my Band Aid Mini Facelift and the other treatments above. To discover the best route to a younger, more confident you, schedule a consultation with Dr. John LeRoy today. Remember to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for more tips to take down aging.

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