In an Amazon Prime world, we’re used to fast delivery—and the same trend is being seen in the world of cosmetic medicine. With advancements in non-surgical technology, more and more practices are promising results comparable to surgery, without the recovery time.
Social media is also replete with plastic surgery-averse celebs touting the benefits of the “lunchtime facelift,” and patients are curious to know if their youthful looks are really achieved solely through non-surgical treatments.
Non-surgical treatments must work to improve facial tissues through mechanisms such as encouraging cell renewal, filling hollow areas, or relaxing muscles that create expression lines. A facelift literally lifts and removes excess skin.
Having had decades of experience treating patients as well as vetting new cosmetic products and technologies, Dr. Paul M. Parker and his team are here to tell you what to expect from a lunchtime facelift.
But first, we need to get an important question out of the way….
Can you get facelift results with non-surgical treatments?
While you can get visible and impressive results with minimally invasive options, they will not provide you with the same results as surgery. That’s because a facelift literally lifts and removes excess sagging skin, while non-surgical treatments must work to improve existing tissues through mechanisms such as filling hollow areas, encouraging cell renewal, or relaxing muscles that create expression lines.
Ultimately, we prefer not to compare non-surgical treatments to a facelift because they work in different ways to achieve differing goals. What can be said is that almost all patients can find a non-surgical treatment that will provide benefits for them. Whether or not a true surgical facelift will also be recommended to you depends on your degree of facial aging as well as how you want to approach aging over the years.
Facelift vs. non-surgical skin tightening
Facelift surgery is able to dramatically lift the face and take years off of your appearance by repositioning tissues and removing excess skin. The patients who get the most dramatic results with facelift surgery most often have less skin laxity, deep-set wrinkles, and sagging jowls—issues that are a common result of the natural aging process and become evident by your 50s or 60s.
Many non-surgical treatments trigger you body’s healing processes to renew cells and improve the skin’s appearance.
Because facelift surgery involves a physical lifting of tissues that have descended due to the effects of gravity, removing extra skin in the process, non-surgical treatments simply can’t reproduce the same results. Many technologies and products instead work by improving or increasing your body’s natural collagen production to plump skin and improve overall appearance.
That being said, it’s pretty impressive what many minimally invasive procedures can do without surgery or a lengthy recovery.
There are a few different types of non-surgical and minimally invasive treatments that are commonly used as part of a “lunchtime facelift.”
- Radiofrequency can be sent through the skin to heat deeper tissues—or delivered under the skin for more precise heating. When tissues are heated, they experience a small level of immediate contraction with gradual improvement of collagen production over time, leading to a more toned appearance. Example: INFINIskin RF microneedling.
- Laser energy works similarly to radiofrequency in that it heats up your tissues to trigger healing. Either fractional or non-fractional wavelengths of energy are delivered through the skin to heat—but not destroy—tissues to force your skin’s restructuring process and stimulate collagen production. Example: HALO hybrid fractional laser.
- Micro-injury, which is typically induced with microneedling/skin needling/collagen-induction therapy, triggers your body’s natural healing response by creating microscopic channels in the skin. When your body senses this micro-injury, it responds by increasing the production of collagen and elastin in the area. This results in improved firmness and texture.
- Injectables. Sometimes referred to as a “liquid facelift,” injectables are often included in a non-surgical “facelift” plan. Fillers can provide the appearance of a lift by plumping cheeks and other areas that have become more hollow with age. Injectable neurotoxins such as BOTOX work in a different way: they relax the muscles that create expression lines. Examples: BOTOX, Dysport & Xeomin; Juvéderm, Restylane, & Belotero.
Most patients see the best results when different modalities are combined, such as scheduling a laser treatment a few weeks after you’ve had BOTOX or fillers for wrinkles, or even using a non-surgical skin treatment to enhance surgical results.
Whether you call it a “lunchtime facelift” or non-surgical facial rejuvenation, we’ll help you get a refreshed, more youthful look
Trendy treatment names are fun, but it’s far more important to understand what technologies really work—and get fantastic results. Over our many years in practice, we’ve found that the best way to help our patients look gorgeous is to customize their treatment (rather than rely on the latest one-size-fits-all plan).
When you come in for your free cosmetic consultation, Dr. Parker or one of our highly trained skin experts will begin by listening. We’ll want to know about your primary concerns, what you hope to achieve, and any worries or limitations you may have. Armed with this information, we’ll recommend a treatment plan that best meets your needs while delivering results.
Non-surgical treatments are a great option if any of the following applies to you:
- Signs of aging are beginning to set in
- You want to slow the aging process down
- You don’t expect unrealistic changes
- The improvements you hope to see don’t require surgery to achieve
- You lead a busy life and are unable to take time off for recovery
- You don’t feel like you can justify the cost of surgery right now
We are consistently impressed with the results we achieve for our patients with our non-surgical options—and, in fact, many of us take advantage of these treatments ourselves! And while we can’t make you look like you just had a full facelift after an hour-long treatment, we’re confident we can help you feel great and look fabulous when you leave our offices. Contact us today to learn more or schedule your complimentary consult.
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