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Nonsurgical Skin Tightening vs. Facial Filler Injections

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Our world today is flooded with ways to look younger. It’s no surprise, considering that nearly all of us have times when we look in the mirror and feel disappointed by the wrinkles we see. But these many options can feel like a burden when you’re trying to find the right one for you. To help you navigate your choices, I’ve used my experience as a double board-certified plastic surgeon to create a series of helpful blogs. You’ll find them all (and more) on my John L. LeRoy, MD Facebook page, but this latest addition helps you understand the difference between two popular treatments: nonsurgical skin tightening and facial filler injections.

 

Nonsurgical Skin Tightening vs. Facial Filler InjectionsNonsurgical Skin Tightening

Sagging and thinning skin is just a natural part of the aging process, but fortunately, there is a solution that uses a very natural process. Collagen is the main component of skin that is responsible for keeping the skin firm. Our skin has less and less collagen as we age, but we can tell the body to produce more by initiating the healing process. Nonsurgical skin tightening (specifically my Band Aid Skin Tightening) does this with radio frequency (RF) energy. We use a handpiece that glides across your skin, and it sends targeted warmth into the deep layers of the skin while keeping your surface skin cool and comfortable. When the RF energy heats the deep layers of the skin, it triggers the healing process so your body begins to produce more collagen in the treated area. After a series of five quick sessions, your body continues to build more collagen for several months, with results continuing to improve for three to six months.

Facial Fillers

Also called dermal fillers, facial fillers are injectable materials that add volume to the face. They can be used to fill in specific wrinkles, like the nasolabial folds, laugh lines, and marionette lines. Or, fillers can be used to restore youthful volume to areas that have become hollowed with aging, like the cheeks. In a very quick and convenient procedure, I’ll use a syringe to inject the Restylane®, Juvéderm®, or other filler depending on your needs. Facial fillers allow me the precision to build the evened, youthful contours of your face. The results begin to appear immediately, although the final results won’t be apparent until all the swelling and bruising has resolved (this usually happens within a week, but up to two weeks is possible). These side effects generally don’t affect your ability to go to work or do your other daily activities.

How to Choose Between Nonsurgical Skin Tightening and Facial Fillers

Both of these procedures have some of the same advantages: they’re both nonsurgical, they both help you look younger and more rested, and they both require little or no recovery time. Here are a few tips to help you choose your facial rejuvenation treatment:

  • If your primary concern is sagging skin around the jowls, you’re probably a better candidate for nonsurgical skin tightening.
  • If you want to target specific wrinkles rather than the amount of skin you have, facial fillers are likely your best option.
  • If you’re a candidate for either procedure, but you want a more immediate result, facial fillers do show results more quickly. Nonsurgical skin tightening, on the other hand, generally offers longer-lasting results.
  • These treatments aren’t mutually exclusive – they actually complement each other very well, so a combination of the two can offer great results.
  • The only way to truly know which procedure is best for you is to have an in-person consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon.

Getting the facial rejuvenation results you want starts with two choices: finding the right procedure and finding the right provider. If you’re ready to get started toward becoming your most confident, beautiful self, schedule a facial rejuvenation consultation with me today. I would be honored to guide you along your aesthetic journey.

The Part of Facial Rejuvenation Many Patients Overlook

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Aging is a process which emotionally affects everyone differently. Some enjoy keeping their face and body looking as young as possible, while others simply let wrinkles take their natural course. Some have had aging prevention on their mind since they were in their 20s, and others just looked in the mirror one day and noticed wrinkles that seemed to appear overnight. Regardless of how focused you are on keeping your skin younger, there’s one aspect of facial rejuvenation that even the most aesthetically-minded tend to overlook: the neck.

The Part of Facial Rejuvenation Many Patients OverlookWhile every person ages in their own unique way, your neck will likely age just as quickly as your face. As the years go by, the skin throughout the neck becomes thinner and less firm, leading wrinkles and bands to form. At the same time, the underlying neck muscles may loosen, which also contributes to the appearance of an aging neck. And if you have a tendency to accumulate fat under your chin, this adds to the problem as well. Despite all this, many patients simply don’t notice that their neck is aging because they’re focused on keeping their face looking youthful, but the problem is that as much as they try to maintain a natural look throughout their facial rejuvenation procedures, if their neck looks 10 years older than their face does, it takes away from their ability to look natural.

So what can you do to keep your neck looking young? Depending on how much aging has already taken place, you may be best suited for either surgical or nonsurgical options (or a combination of both):

Plastic Surgery for a Younger Neck

The most comprehensive way to rejuvenate the neck is with a neck lift. Much like a face lift, this procedure repositions underlying tissue and platysmal bands if needed to provide a more youthful and lifted structure (by tightening the neck muscles), then removes excess skin and gives the remaining skin a firmer, smoother look.

If you have accumulated unwanted fat under your chin or throughout the jowl area over the years, this can make even a younger adult look like their neck area has aged. For these cases, I offer Band Aid Liposuction. As a minimally invasive version of traditional liposuction, this surgery is performed in-office with gentle numbing, and it offers just half the recovery time and half the cost of a typical liposuction, yet it’s a highly effective way to restore younger, slimmer contours to the neck, jowls, and chin.

Nonsurgical Neck Rejuvenation

If you’re in the earlier stages of aging and don’t yet feel the need for surgery, there are also several non-surgical procedures that can help. Band Aid Skin Tightening is just what its name implies: a non-surgical and noninvasive way to tighten the skin throughout the neck. While it can be used for the face as well, Band Aid Skin Tightening uses the Protégé system to send targeted warmth to the deeper layers of the skin, which helps to rebuild and strengthen collagen to make your skin firmer and thicker.

Another popular option is Band Aid Laser Skin Resurfacing. I use the DOT Therapyâ„¢ laser, the least invasive way available to achieve the exceptional results of laser skin resurfacing. This procedure sends tiny columns of laser light into the skin in a pattern of “dots” to clear away damaged surface skin while adding firmness and thickness to skin beneath. Beyond simply firming the skin, this treatment can also reduce surface imperfections like age spots, fine lines, and wrinkles, too.

Being your most confident and beautiful self looks different for everyone. At my plastic surgery office, we see age not as a number but as a state of mind, and much of what we do is simply helping our patients’ appearances match the youth and vitality they feel on a daily basis. To discuss how I can address your specific aesthetic concerns, schedule a consultation with me, Dr. John L. LeRoy. Or, for more cosmetic surgery tips as well as our monthly special offers, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.