Face Lift News

Facelifts and rhinoplasty surgeries are both cosmetic procedures designed to permanently improve facial beauty. However, facelifts and rhinoplasty surgery vary widely when it comes to the conditions they treat, the results they achieve, recovery times and other considerations.

Facelift Surgery

What it treats: As we age, the skin on our faces begin to wrinkle and sag, which can make us look tired and rundown. Furthermore, loss of fat in the cheeks and other facial areas contributes to a sunken, hollowed appearance that lacks contour and volume. Facelift surgery is designed to correct these issues and other signs of aging.

How it works: Small incisions are made inside the hairline at the temple and around the ears to keep scarring inconspicuous.  The doctor then removes the excess skin and tightens the muscles and connective tissues before closing the incisions with small sutures.

Considerations: Although a facelift is almost always an outpatient procedure, recovery time for facelifts is significant. Expect about two weeks of swelling, discoloration and numbness. Facelift patients can typically return to work in 10 to 14 days. Overall improvements and healing is gradual, with final results visible within six months.

Rhinoplasty

What it treats: Rhinoplasty (commonly referred to as a “nose job”) alters the size and shape of the nose by removing bumps or changing the angle of the nose to create greater harmony with the rest of the face. Rhinoplasty can also treat breathing difficulties or damage caused by injury.

How it works: The skin is carefully separated from the underlying bone and cartilage of the nose. The doctor then reshapes the skeletal structure of the nose before re-draping the original skin over the surface. Sutures can be hidden within the nose to avoid visible scarring. Dr. Wald will decide which technique is most appropriate for your surgery – the “open” or “closed” method.

Considerations: Recovery from rhinoplasty takes about one to two weeks, although some minor swelling may remain for several months. Results continue to improve for a full year.

Facelifts and rhinoplasties may be combined with other cosmetic procedures, such as a brow lift, chin augmentation, liposuction or eyelid surgery to achieve a full rejuvenation of the face. For more information on which procedures are best for you, contact Dr. Robert Wald, an experienced Orange County facelift specialist, for a free consultation.

First impressions are everything, which is why most people try to maintain a youthful facial appearance. However, as time passes, the facial skin often begins to sag and signs of aging surface due to various factors. In order to regain a more refreshed appearance, many individuals opt to undergo a cosmetic plastic surgery procedure. Facelift surgery, a common facial rejuvenation procedure, has greatly advanced in its techniques, most recently with the “stem-cell facelift.”

The facelift procedure is usually performed through incisions made along the hairline and behind the ears, which allows the surgeon to lift the skin and underlying muscles/tissue to a more youthful position. This also reduces the appearance of sagging in the jowl and neck areas; patients would have a downtime of up to a few weeks. Now, with the emergence of the “stem-cell facelift,” no incisions are made as this technique is intended to add volume with injected stem cells. Taken from fat cells that are suctioned from other areas of the body, the adult stem cells are used to help regenerate the facial skin. Similar to fat transfer, this method is said to provide patients with a fuller facial contour but with longer-lasting results. In addition, patients can benefit from a shorter recovery time as compared to traditional facelift surgery.

In Miami, Ary Krau, M.D., F.A.C.S. performs facial rejuvenation surgery and can help you regain a more youthful appearance. Further information regarding facelift surgery is available on his website.

The demand to maintain a youthful appearance grows more each day, especially amongst Hollywood stars. Nowadays, women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are going under the knife more frequently in order to upkeep a wrinkle-free facial appearance. Face lift surgery is one of the most common procedures, and some celebrities make regular visits to their surgeon for touch-ups.

Possibly the most talked about cosmetic surgery recipient is Joan Rivers – countless facelifts and nasal surgeries to help her look younger. However, all these surgeries have only made her a topic of discussion on what not to do. On the other hand, Jamie Lee Curtis has been very vocal on not wanting to undergo any further enhancements. While she has had some minimal work done, she now believes in aging gracefully. Yet, how might this affect her career? Some could say that it could open up roles better suited for her age, while other may argue that she could lose out. Each has her own opinion on facial rejuvenation.

In today’s photo-frantic culture, celebrities and their appearances often are under intense scrutiny from the masses. Spotting cosmetic work has become a favorite pastime of gossip blogs and celebrity tabloids. Ironically, many of the supposed telltale signs of plastic surgery highlighted by the peanut gallery are the exact opposite. That is, many onlookers mistake the natural signs of aging as evidence of bad cosmetic work. Take the case of Catherine Zeta-Jones, 40, who was recently fingered by the blogosphere for her presumably disingenuous appearance at the Tony Awards. But according to the professional opinion of a number of local plastic surgeons, Zeta-Jones has had very little work done, if any at all.

It’s hard to say definitively what this means to us as a society. Shed in a light favorable to plastic surgeons, this perhaps suggests that we now come to expect celebrities to undergo massive cosmetic work by the time they reach their late thirties—but at the same time, we’ve become less adept at detecting it. In fact, the faces of those who have had aesthetic surgery look more natural to us than those who haven’t, as illustrated by the example above. With her eyelids beginning to sag, her lips and face losing some of its fullness, Zeta-Jones’s aging face may have seemed less conspicuous if she had eyelid surgery and a lip enhancement performed. Facial fillers and chemical peels might also help the actress meet the expectations of readers in areas where plastic surgery is popular, such as in Newport Beach. Facelift surgeries would probably be unnecessary for Zeta-Jones, according to the same plastic surgeons who opined that she hadn’t had substantial cosmetic work.

The notion that laymen are becoming more astute at noticing plastic surgery is misguided at best. If anything, the opposite is true – the signs of natural aging are more glaring than ever, even if we don’t recognize them for what they are. Our conception of aging gracefully has fundamentally changed – but not in the way that many of us assume.

Customers who walk into a restaurant and order a hamburger off the menu for $1 usually know what to expect – it’s certainly not a cooked-to-order burger you’d pay $12.95 for at a sit-down restaurant. As consumers, we are familiar with how nationwide chains make their money: volume and uniformity. But for some reason, patients have trouble making the same connection when it comes to facelifts.

The prevalence of nationally branded and marketed facelift procedures comes in cyclical waves, often in lockstep with economic recessions and down markets. But while the names and trademarks might change, the strategy for profiting rarely does. They take a one-size-fits-all approach to facelifts that focuses on getting patients in and out the door as fast as possible. Oftentimes, the shortcuts are marketed as benefits. They advertise it as a “lunchtime lift” that takes only an hour, doesn’t require general anesthesia and requires minimal incisions. In a pamphlet, these promises sound alluring; but in practice, they seem to reinforce that sad but true old adage: “You get what you pay for.”

The problem is that uniformity is inherently incompatible with facelift surgeries. The face is undeniably the most unique, nuanced feature of the human physique and surgically creating beauty requires experience, subtlety and expertise. Just like very few women can wear a bridal gown off the rack, even fewer patients get a perfect fit from an “off the shelf” facelift. That’s why qualified plastic surgeons approach facelift surgeries on a case-by-case, highly personalized basis. That is, they tailor the operation to the patient, rather than the other way round.

For example, Dr. Robert Wald, an Orange County facelift specialist and board-certified plastic surgeon, is known for his creative artistry and his passion for subtle enhancement. He spends a great deal of time during pre-operation consultations to ensure that he understands the fundamental goals of each of his patients in Orange County. Rhinoplasty, forehead lifts, otoplasties, and other facial surgeries are among his top specialties.

This approach is what you should expect from a qualified plastic surgeon. The goal is to create the prettiest face possible—not to profit quickly and move on. Make sure that your doctor takes all the necessary steps towards getting the job done right.

Individuals who want to achieve a more youthful facial appearance often undergo cosmetic plastic surgery, specifically facelift surgery. However, in order to obtain optimal results, many plastic surgeons are now recommending a combination of non-surgical treatments with their facelift surgery. Because the surgery only repositions the facial skin to a more youthful appearance, the skin and finer signs of aging are not corrected. Performing both types of rejuvenation can help provide an overall enhancement and prolong results of the surgical procedure.

Some of the commonly paired treatments include Botox ® injections, fillers, and laser resurfacing. Although facelift surgery can provide patients with drastic and long-term rejuvenation, these non-invasive procedures can “fine tune” the smaller details that reveal aging of the skin. Lines, wrinkles, sun spots, and uneven complexions can be remedied with Botox, Juvederm ™, Restylane ®, or Fraxel ® laser treatments. When performed by a qualified and experienced surgeon, the combination of these procedures can provide patients with natural-looking results. Oftentimes, a secondary facelift procedure may not be necessary as time passes due to undergoing these non-surgical treatments.

Beverly Hills facelift surgeon Jason B. Diamond, M.D., F.A.C.S. can create a personalized surgical plan to create the most advantageous results. Along with injectables and laser treatments, Dr. Diamond offers FotoFacial RF ™ and skin tightening. Additional information regarding surgical and non-surgical facial rejuvenation is available on his website.

How much should you pay for a facelift? According to some pundits, it depends on how famous you are. Take recent rumors over Madonna’s plastic surgery bill, which allegedly exceeds $200,000. Compared to the Queen of Pop, D-list celebrity Heidi Montag’s $30,000 makeover is a pittance. But if the rule extends to relatively common folk (i.e. those of us who have never graced the cover of a magazine), the cost of a cosmetic surgery is presumably much lower.

So how does this all factor into that old adage that says “You get what you pay for?” Does that apply to plastic surgery? In many ways, it does. For example, many professional cosmetic surgeons have spoken out against a new trend towards nationally branded, low-cost “mini-lifts.” These cost a fraction of the price of a full face lift but have received mixed testimonials from patients.

But on the other end of the spectrum, there are limits to the notion of premium pricing for face lift surgery. At a certain point, patients go beyond paying top dollar for top service and enter into the realm of overpayment. According to a quote in a recent article in a plastic surgeon from Orange County, facelifts that cost up to $75,000 don’t look much different than procedures that cost a lot less.

The same article highlights ways that celebrities pay more for their cosmetic surgery than the average person would. For example, most normal plastic surgery patients wouldn’t pay the plastic surgeon to fly out to their home in order to avoid paparazzi. Furthermore, patients can also save money by having multiple procedures done at the same time. For instance, if a patient were to receive a rhinoplasty and a facelift on the same day, they would only pay the facility fee and the anesthesia fee once. In this way, much of the added costs involved with a celebrity facelift have more to do with additional services and special treatment, having less to do with the actual results.

Bottom-line: Patients typically get what they pay for in terms of plastic surgery. But many of the costs that go hand-in-hand with the trappings of fame don’t apply to the rest of us, meaning you don’t have to pay as much as Madonna did to get great results!

People who see aging as an ugly inconvenience usually turn to options like plastic surgery to nip and tuck their troubles away. Little do they know the answer for reversing the aging process might be found as close as in their own stomachs. Yes, Adult Stem Cell research has brought prospective plastic surgery patients a new option for fighting the signs of aging! No longer is surgery required for anti-aging treatment because Adult Stem Cells are now being used as an alternative to a facelift- with no surgery required!

The stem cells being used are taken from the patient’s own body fat- so they are whats known as autologous adult stem cells. And, because its the patient’s own stem cells there are no rejection issues.

In conjunction with the Beijing Tian Tan Puhua Hospital, which offers stem cell therapies to terminal Parkinson’s and spinal cord injury patients, the RNL Puhua Plastic and Cosmetic Medical Center, also in Bejing, offers stem cell therapy for the face that may reverse the aging process using the patient’s own stomach fat cells. The Puhua Center now offers several non-invasive beauty treatment alongside traditional plastic surgery mainstays like liposuction, breast enhancement and eyelid lifts.

The process for harvesting and using the stem cells works like this:

• Patients have fat cells removed from their stomach using a needle and local anesthetic.
• Stem Cells are extracted from the fat cells and multiplied.
• Two weeks later, the patient returns to hospital.
• Doctors inject the stem cells into the face in a series of shots that plumps out skin, erases wrinkles and gives the patient a youthful appearance.

Unfortunately, the United States always seems to be the last ones on the bus for these adult stem cell treatments. Currently, China is taking the lead in the Stem Cell Facelift race. For a paltry ¥28,000 (about $282, USD), patients can have this procedure done, but only oveseas. Included in the price is a stem-cell “top-off” six months later. Patients can also have their stem cells stored at the clinic for ¥1,500 (approximately $15, USD) per year. Stem cells typically have a shelf life of about 15 years. The clinic is currently the only place in the world offering the therapy, according to Ingela Palomäki, a former Beijing Tian Tan Puhua Hospital marketing representative and current director of Fortune Cookie, a stem cell product import/export firm.

The procedure is booming in China. South Koreans are flocking to the facility, after an aging celebrity Kyung-gyu Lee had the procedure done, with exceptionally positive results at the clinic’s inauguration less than half a year ago.

“Koreans are flocking here by the busloads for the treatment,” Palomäki says. “It’s buying time.”

With the plastic surgery industry in the United States in the billions of dollars annually, it seems all of the medical world are looking closely at the near future of this industry. Right now, this face lift alternative to surgery costs about $4,000 (including surgeons’ and recovery fees) + the cost of a trip to China. While the U.S. and other countries weigh the benefits of stem cell therapies, many patients from abroad are already coming to Beijing for therapies they hope might make them forever young.

If you’re interested in getting a face lift in the Dallas / Fort Worth area you need to know that your doctor is the best. After all, this is your face we’re talking about here! Everyone will see the results, and you want those results to be the best.

There are many board certifications out there but the one that really counts is the American Board of Plastic Surgery. This is the most respected board certification.

Research Dr. Schwartz’s board certifications and before and after facelift photos.

Wherever you live, finding a plastic surgeon is easy.

I found this video on YouTube about face lifts. There is no graphic content.

He has both male and female patients, and describes what you should do if you’re interested in the procedure and near Toronto.

In this video, the doctor describes how the procedure works. There is no graphic content in this video either.

Finding a plastic surgeon is easy, and I hope you have a good experience.