how to slow facial aging

There’s a strong trend in plastic surgery toward less invasive procedures. Not only are patients attracted to the limited downtime, but they love the natural-looking results as well. In many cases, patients begin with the mildest procedures in their younger years, gradually adding more extensive procedures as aging accelerates. But some patients have asked, “Can I keep aging at bay enough to avoid ever needing a facelift?”

The answer isn’t a simple yes or no. Every patient ages at their own pace and in their own way. Every patient also has their own threshold of how far they’re willing to let their aging go before they feel the need for cosmetic surgery. There are many factors that affect how a person ages, including genetics, sun exposure, skin care, lifestyle habits, smoking, stress, and more. Depending on how quickly you’re aging, nonsurgical or minimally invasive procedures could be able to keep up with your aging well enough that you don’t feel the need for a facelift. In other words, the short answer to your question is, “It’s possible for some patients.”

If your goal is to remain looking youthful for as long as possible without a face lift, there are many options. On top of lifestyle choices like wearing sunscreen every day, eating right, exercising regularly, avoiding smoking and excessive drinking, and managing stress, you can make a great improvement with minimally invasive treatments. Here are a few options:

• Botox® or Dysport® injections for crow’s feet, forehead lines, and frown lines between the eyebrows
• Facial filler injections for wrinkles around the mouth and nose or hollows under the eyes and in the cheeks
• My Band Aid Skin Tightening using radiofrequency energy (RF) to noninvasively build more skin-firming collagen
• My Band Aid Laser Skin Resurfacing for reducing fine lines, wrinkles, skin laxity, age spots, acne scars, and more with minimal recovery time

Many patients think that they don’t want any plastic surgery, but the most popular choice among my patients is my Band Aid Mini Facelift. This is a unique procedure I developed that uses gentle numbing (no general anesthesia) and offers natural-looking results with an in-office procedure. The surgery requires half the recovery time of a traditional facelift, and it’s the way that over 6,000 of my patients in the past 20 years have taken as much as 10 years off their faces without the need for an extensive facelift. For patients who want a touch-up to resolve new aging a few years later, my Band Aid Micro Mini Facelift is an even easier procedure.

Every facial rejuvenation patient wants the same thing: the best result with the least amount of inconvenience and expense. As a double board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in minimally invasive facelifts, that’s the balance I aim for. If you want to learn more about how to get a younger look without an invasive facelift, schedule a consultation with me, Dr. John L. LeRoy. For more cosmetic surgery tips and information about my other Band Aid procedures, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.