A facelift tis the ultimate cosmetic treatment for the face for it’s amazing and long-lasting benefits. But do you know the things a facelift can’t do? Keep reading to learn more.
What is a facelift?
A facelift is a surgical procedure to rejuvenate your skin. Basically, what happens is that a portion of your skin is cut, then pulled up, and sewed back together (of course there’s much more to it, but that’s more for surgeons). A facelift will remove wrinkles and improve other features such as your jawline definition. Facelifts have become so popular that now there are different types such as upper facelift, lower facelift, full facelift, brow lift, lip lift, and even neck lift. The results from a facelift can last ten years or longer. But there are a number of things a facelift won’t do. So you’ll need a little bit more.
Sun protection
The most important reason people need facelifts is from sun damage. Over time, the sun damages your skin. This degrades collagen, leading to fine lines, wrinkles, and loose skin. It can also lead to uneven color, broken capillaries, and even skin cancer. It’s important to protect your skin using sunscreen every day. Dr. Alex recommends a sunscreen with SPF 30 or more with broad-spectrum (UVA and UVB) protection.
Collagen stimulation
A facelift will do an outstanding job of tightening your skin. But the reason you have loose skin is because of collagen loss. Collagen is the protein in your skin that keeps it tight and firm. Over time your body stops making as much collagen and it gets broken down faster. This leads to fine lines, wrinkles, and loose skin. You can stimulate your body to make more collagen by having laser treatments such as Laser Skin Tightening, Ultra Microneedling, and Fractional CO2 laser resurfacing. All of these treatments will complement your facelift by giving your skin a boost of collagen so that it stays wrinkle-free.
Color correction
A facelift will also not change any irregular color of your skin. Uneven color and sun spots are some of the most common and most annoying things that happen as you age. To get rid of these you have to first make sure you’re using sunscreen every day. Then you can add a skin care regimen with brightening products as well as lasers such as the IPL photofacial or chemical peels to correct your skin color. You’ll want a series of six treatments done about once a month. Correcting your skin color will really make the results of your facelift look fantastic.
Volume restoration
Part of the reason why you see wrinkles and loose skin on your face over time is because of changes in your bones and volume loss in your face. The bones and fat pads in your face change over time. This makes things go downward, leading to loose skin, hollows, smile lines, and jowls. Using fillers such as Voluma, Vollure, and Volbella can restore the volume and give you a more youthful appearance. Getting fillers after a facelift will make you look just that much better.
Muscle relaxation
Another reason you get wrinkles is from muscle contraction in your face. Common wrinkles you can see are frown lines between your eyebrows. You see these lines when you use the muscles in your forehead to frown. Although a facelift will decrease these types of wrinkles, you really want to prevent them from coming back. You can do this by using Botox to relax the muscles. This will keep the muscles from contracting and keep those wrinkles from coming back. There are a lot of places in the face and neck where you can get Botox, another non-surgical treatment that will improve the results of your facelift.
A facelift will surely give you good results. But for outstanding results, you can also have many non-surgical treatments that will provide additional benefits.
Dr. Alex has performed over 10,000 cosmetic treatments with many satisfied patients. Contact us to schedule an appointment for a free consultation with Dr. Alex in our Encino, CA office.