Orlando Cosmetic Surgery hopes you have enjoyed welcoming the first week of the New Year.
2016 brings you 365 shiny brand new days, wrapped up in the silver ribbons of the past and the golden paper of the future, no wonder we call it the PRESENT!
And perhaps this is the year for you to update, refresh, revitalize and rejuvenate your look–time for a brand new you.
As we move through January, we are going to be blogging about some classic favorites and some new trends in cosmetic surgery.
New Year and a New Look
Today, let’s talk about that classic and traditional cosmetic surgery, the Facelift. There are many names, trademarks and even abbreviations for facelift. We feel the need to set the record straight so that you and your cosmetic surgeon can share some of the same language.
Earlier in 2015 we heard about the vampire facelift; more recent branding has created the “weekend,” Awake,” “Lunchtime,” “Mini,” “Scarless” or “One-hour” face lift.”
Although these are all called facelifts. They all include parts of various procedures.
Valerie J. Ablaza, M.D., a board-certified plastic surgeon in Montclair New Jersey states, “Always bear in mind, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all face lift.” She adds, “Each procedure must be individualized to the patient.”
Here at Orlando Cosmetic Surgery, we want you to understand exactly what is involved with your customized facelift.
A Facelift by Any Other Name
For example, you might think that a commonly named “full face lift,” would remove sagging skin beneath and above the eyes.
Actually, did you know the classic “face lift” is constrained to the lower two-thirds of the face? It was developed primarily for “tightening sagging skin on the chin, jowls and neck.”
Typically, it does not classically include the forehead or the vertical lines between your brows.
“Additionally, the folds of skin running from the corners of the mouth toward the chin (the “Marionette lines”) and the lines running from the outer edges of your nose to the corners of the mouth (“nasolabial folds”) are not rejuvenated in the typical facelift.
However, these lines are often identified as patient’s concerns.
At Orlando Cosmetic Surgery, we always advise patients and discuss exactly what will be done when you decide a facelift is for you. Why are there so many options and differences?
1. Recovery time varies depending on the patient’s age, the amount of skin tightened and the depth of the lift.
2. Recovery means different things to different people. On the one hand, you might think it means when they will feel fine, will very little post surgical pain. On the other hand, you might think recovery means the swelling and/or bruising has gone away to the point you feel presentable at work.
3. You can “speed up the return to work two ways:
A. Delicately camouflage with hypo-allergenic cosmetics.
B. A new hairstyle can distract from, as well as “hide” the bruises.
Likewise a turtleneck shirt is a good option until you are completely healed.
By the way, if your “hair is short, let it grow so the surgeon will have a lot to work with while looking for a hiding place for your scar.”
4. You’ll recover faster if you do your workouts or take exercise and maintain your healthy eating style.
5. Simply stop smoking, if you smoke. “Recovery also goes better if smokers quit at least two months before the procedure.”
Does Orlando Cosmetic Surgery just say this to inconvenience or annoy you? No, of course not!
Experts state that “Smoking inhibits blood flow to the skin and can interfere with healing, causing the edges of the surgical wound to separate.”
So, let’s look at some of the terms you might have heard in conjunction with a type or style of facelift.
We only list these to acquaint you with facelifts and inspire you to consider what you really want to happen to your look.
Once again, we stress that your facelift will be individualized and it might even include other procedures, such as blepharoplasty.
Typically, this procedure can be combined with your facelift to take care of sagging upper and lower eye bags.
1. Meet the “Thread Lift”
One of the terms we have heard recently is the “thread lift.”
“Various types of threads are inserted just under the skin and tightened to pull up and lift sagging tissues in the face and neck. Entry points through the skin are not incisions, but “stab wounds.”
You might have heard this called a “Feather lift, a Contour lift or an Aptos Lift. Whatever name it goes by, the typical recovery time is 3-5 days.
Keep in mind that threads can not modify deep forehead lines or sagging skin in the upper and lower eye bag area. Sometimes, depending on the case, threads can actually correct some sagging in the jowls and neck area.
2. Meet the “Forehead Lift,” also popularly known as a “Brow Lift,” this procedure erases those deep troubling lines on the forehead as well as between the eyebrows.
This surgery can be performed with an endoscope and you can recover within 10 days, or less.
Again, you might want to add other procedures to the Forehead lift to complete your new look. The forehead lift does not include rejuvenation of the skin “along the lower eyelids, the neck, jowls or midface.”
However, in addition to improving your brow, this might improve your upper eyelids if they droop.
Next week we will bring you more details on various types of facelifts, including an explanation of the amazing gold standard of face lifts, the SMAS Lift. Until then, we thank you for reading our blog, and we invite you to browse this website for more information.
