Summary: A facelift is always a great option for giving yourself a younger looking face, for matching your youthful spirit with a youthful complexion. But the face is so complex that there’s often a lot of very specialized work to do, and combining those procedures isn’t always as simple as it may sound. However, new research seems to indicate it may be possible to combine several facial procedures without increasing the occurrence of complications in patients. This is good news for those of you looking not only for a facelift, but a complete youthful look.
So Many Facial Options
There’s a lot you can do to your face. You could get a neck lift, a brow lift, an eyelid lift, rhinoplasty, a general face lift—you could get Botox, Juvederm, nonsurgical rhinoplasty, or Artefill. You could get a fat graft, have a lip injection, or laser hair removal. The list is just about endless. And for all those procedures, what most people want is pretty simple: they want to look younger.
It can be frustrating for patients that it might take so many procedures to get to that younger-looking face, especially when each procedure is so costly and involves a lengthy recovery. As such, many patients might not end up with the overall look they were hoping for, as they might understandably become reluctant to move on to the next procedure.
That picture may be changing, however. According to a study published in The American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery, there are several procedures that can be combined quite safely. According to the writers of the study, surgeons were able to combine a facelift, cheek implants, and laser resurfacing without a significant or noticeable rise in complications from the procedure.
This is important because plastic surgeons have often worried about additional damage to the skin and underlying tissues when combining facial surgeries, especially in older patients. As this study focused on patients from ages 58-71, the results do seem relevant to the age range which would indeed normally seek out facial plastic surgery in the first place.
Tight in the Right Spots
The authors of the study were also careful to point out that tightening is a tool that should be used judiciously. They comment that tightening should be used in combination with other techniques, and this may explain some of their success in combining procedures, especially if they used tightening—which can be quite stressful on tissue—only in strategic places.
However, if the results are generally favorable, then this may say something about tightening more broadly. If you’re thinking about getting a facelift, you should talk to your surgeon about the possibility of combining procedures. According to the website for East Coast Advanced Plastic Surgery, the majority of their New Jersey facelift patients leave quite favorable reviews, and this is generally true of most plastic surgeons.
A Lot to Consider
However, during your own consultation, you may want to talk to your plastic surgeon about combining procedures. As we recently discussed, the neck is often an area that people overlook, and like smoking cigarettes in movies, has a way of dating your overall look that even the best facelifts cannot mitigate. There’s certainly no harm in bringing this up with your plastic surgeon—that said, if your surgeon is uncomfortable with the idea, it’s a good idea to listen.
Consider as well limiting the amount of skin stretching that gets done. Too much stretching can lead to a face that looks unnatural—not youthful.
Don’t Forget About Wrinkle Treatments
And finally, don’t be quick to discount the vast array of nonsurgical procedures which can be easily combined with something like a facelift. From Botox to Juvederm to simple moisturizers, nonsurgical wrinkle treatments are a great way to augment your facelift. And while they may not be accomplished at the exact same time or in the exact same procedure, definitely investigate the ways in which the two can compliment each other.
Your face, after all, is your handshake with the world. It’s often what people first notice about you. It should represent you, and all too often, the face ages before our spirits. A procedure such as a facelift is designed to bring your attitude and face into alignment, so you look as young as you feel. How you get there isn’t quite as important as how you feel when it’s all over.