Costhetics knows that breaking up is hard to do, especially with a cosmetic treatment you love.
When it comes to dermal filler injections, however, the one you love may be doing you wrong. Costhetics is a standard bearer for reliable news and information on aesthetic enhancement. In that spirit, we want to explore with you when it’s time to call a facial plastic surgeon for a consult on a facelift.
Sonja Morgan: Pretty as a Pillow?
Sonja Morgan, star of The Real Housewives of New York City, is a case study in dermal fillers gone wild. Initially, the results of her injection treatments drew praise for making her nose look softer, adding volume to her lips, and improving her chin line. Over time, however, thumbs-up became thumbs-down.
Morgan, critics said, had injected so much filler that her face looked like a pillow and her eyes had turned to slits. As one fan explained it to Blast, Morgan looked like “a $3 doll who has had (her) skin stretched so much, there’s no more elasticity.” The criticism wasn’t lost on the 56-year-old reality star who revealed in 2020 that she had undergone a facelift and a neck lift.
A face lift, “lifts the deep structures of the face while also releasing facial ligaments,” her plastic surgeon Dr Jacono told E! News. “(This) results in a naturally voluminised, heart-shaped face of youth, free of distortion or tension. “The price tag for the twin procedures was $96,425 (AUD).
Know Your Limitations: Dermal Fillers Can’t Do It All
It’s a fact: a facelift is the only aesthetic procedure that can lift sagging skin. Dermal fillers contour the face by adding volume and changing the contours of the face. Nevertheless, dermal fillers have consistently gotten high marks for patient satisfaction. When used strategically by a properly trained and experienced injector, the injections offer these sought-after benefits:
- Quick results
- No downtime
- Fewer side effects
- Reduced risk of infection
- Minimal downtime
- Affordable price tag
Inevitably, over time, unfortunately, most patients find these injections go from enhancing their facial shape to distorting it. The filler can shift, particularly in the eye area where the surface becomes bumpy and gets a bluish cast. Patients may also suffer from “filler fatigue.” The Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons reports, “Once the filler is gone (whether absorbed back into the body or chemically dissolved), that space will become empty leaving the tissues in a more stretched out position. Over time, the filler can also stretch and weigh down the skin. This can lead to the need for more filler to be used in subsequent treatments.
As for cost, the price of two to five years of filler treatments is about equal to the cost of a face lift. A facelift doesn’t have to be topped up and can provide up to 15 years of facial rejuvenation.
Is a Facelift in Your Future?
Many patients reject the idea of a facelift because they think of it as a procedure for old folks. Age is not the deciding factor. The condition of facial skin is. Most people under 40 have not experienced the advanced tissue drop that would benefit from a full facelift. For them, the reduce cost and risk of fillers make dermal injectables a better choice.
The most common age for patients who had a facelift in the last year was between the ages of 51 and 65. However, genetics, weight loss, or any of a number of influences, can lead to lost skin elasticity that calls for the can-do power of a facelift.
Facelift: The Can-Do Plastic Surgery Procedure
When dermal filler injections fail, facelift surgery triumphs. A deep plane face lift is considered the top of the charts for facial rejuvenation. It improves multiple signs of visible ageing. Some of the benefits include:
- Tightens sagging skin around midface, jawline and neck
- Resolves nasolabial folds that go from your nose to your mouth
- Erases ‘marionette’ lines
- Corrects jowls/double chin
- Repositions displaced facial fat for improved facial contouring.
Facelifts continue to get high marks from patients. One study reported “a high degree of satisfaction following face-lift surgery at short-term and long-term follow-up” including:
- One year after face-lift surgery, 97% of patients described the improvement of their facial appearance as very good or beyond expectation
- After an average follow-up of 12.6 years, 68.5% of participants rated their current degree of improvement as very good or beyond expectations
- 5% felt they would look youthful for the next 10 years
- Only 31% of participants expressed disappointment with some aspect of the procedure
Fillers vs. Facelift
For most people, facelift surgery is a one-time event. Maintenance is not required, although some patients may choose to further enhance the results with injectables. What do you think about injectables vs a facelift? Are you still on the fence whether your time has come for facial surgery?