MoreYouthful.com

If you’re no longer a juvenile, you’re a likely candidate to enter what some cosmetic surgeons call “the cycle of facial rejuvenation.” No one can literally return to youth, but with modern know-how you definitely can regain or retain the appearance of youth. Even young adults can take steps to keep looking their best, after all, why wait until the blush is completely off the rose before acting to prevent its loss?

As late as five years ago, the majority of plastic surgeons did not provide the entire range of options to keep your face looking young. An operation often was the only therapy offered. Thanks to recently developed cosmetic surgery concepts and new techniques in skin care, facial rejuvenation now is more than just a face lift. Just as important, more plastic surgeons are becoming proficient in the full cycle of cosmetic plastic surgery, so help for your aging face is likely to be close to home.

If you visit a cosmetic plastic surgeon you will find the doctor provides an initial skin analysis. You then will be invited to enter the cycle of rejuvenation at one of these points:

Skin conditioning is the entire spectrum of what should be routine care, starting at an early age. It begins by protecting the skin from harmful sun radiation, which not only causes skin cancer but also photo-aging effects such as leathery, mottled and wrinkled skin. Protection involves sun avoidance as much as possible, as well as the regular use of sunscreen. From there it goes to cleansers, moisturizers, stimulators, emollients and nutrients, some in strengths only available in the doctor�s office.

Non-surgical rejuvenation may include such things as light chemical peels, Retin-A treatments, and particle dermabrasion. Botox injections can treat wrinkles. Special lasers help eliminate mottled skin, facial veins or unwanted hair.

Skin resurfacing refers to the use of lasers to stimulate lower layers of the skin so new collagen cells will be produced. This reduces or eliminates skin blemishes and fine wrinkles of the cheek, lip and eyelid areas. Lasers also tighten the skin mildly and produce a more youthful look. The carbon dioxide laser was the gold standard for resurfacing, but requires up to two weeks of downtime and two-to-three months of healing (and can produce a long-term loss of skin coloration called hypopigmentation). In selected situations now, more and more surgeons are employing the “lighter touch” erbium:YAG laser to rejuvenate the facial skin without requiring such long downtime.

Surgical facial rejuvenation is much more refined than just a few years ago. The goal today is to provide a natural, youthful appearance, not a stylized, “surgical” look. In the past your doctor may have tried to accomplish this with the only technique available: pulling the skin tighter. Now, experienced cosmetic surgeons operate on underlying tissues in multiple planes to restore volume to your face in appropriate sites. For example, years and gravity often cause the fat pads of your cheek to descend. The surgeon will attempt to elevate the tissue and restore a more youthful shape, correcting the way your eyelids and cheeks join. You will find modern-age cosmetic surgeons also proficient in such techniques as:

• endoscopic surgery of the brow, where the need for major incisions are unnecessary;
• neck suspension sutures to provide a longer-lasting and more natural jawline after cosmetic neck surgery;
• filler material such as Allo-Derm to plump up lips, which get thinner with age;
• rhinoplasty to raise the drooping tip of your nose.

In the past, a surgeon would perform a cosmetic procedure and after recovery would never see that patient again. Today, in the practice of many cosmetic surgeons, the patient returns at regular periods on a maintenance skin care program which can prolong the effects of laser resurfacing or facial surgery, or delay the need to undergo these more radical procedures. Many more people, both men and women, are finding that periodic visits to their cosmetic surgeon are becoming part of their lives.

Share This