Facial Plastic Surgery

By Randy Alvarez

Having listened to plastic surgeons for the past ten years and examining their work, I have developed strong opinions about facial plastic surgery. I agree with the above mentioned. In addition to my friends opinions and on a more technical note I believe that it is important to choose a surgeon who is not necessarily pulling your face but repositioning tissue to where is used to be when you were younger. Bringing in a photo to you consultation will help. You did not have high brows or a tight face, in fact if you look back you see that you had a fuller face and some of us even had crow’s feet and lines around the mouth and the nasal labial folds. I think it’s important for a surgeon to see what you used to look like because if you take away all the natural lines , the fullness in the mid-face, pick the brows up too high, you will look different and people will know that something is not right. On the other hand if your surgeon repositions tissue to where it used to be you will look fresh. This is obviously a simplistic explanation but many docs out there do the same face lift on all their patients. They tell me “I pull the neck one vector and the mid-face in another…” etc. Over the years of interviewing of interviewing doctors it seems that when I spot natural looking face lift photos, the doctor seems to have a different approach. They tell me emphatically that everyone’s face is a little different and the face does not age in just one place or all at once. They explain that they have to tailor each procedure to the patient at hand otherwise they will get unnatural looking results.

If you are walking on the beach and you see a person from ten to twenty yards away, you can pretty much tell is they are over or under forty. Why is that? It is their facial contours, the way their brows fall, the shape of the jowls, the firmness of the skin on their neck. It is not the absence of nasal labial folds around the mouth that you will notice. People over forty generally have a distinct look. Their face often has fallen a little due to the effects of gravity and past lifestyle choices. The observer’s eye picks up on these subtle changes indicating a person’s possible age range. What makes up a youthful appearance? Not many people think about this. A youthful face has smooth skin with very little pigment differences. A firm neckline without wrinkles, jowls that have not fallen and brows that are low, not mid forehead.  I like what George Carlin, the late comedian, said about women’s brows. He said “women leave your brows alone; we don’t care about the brows”. Consider that looking younger is not just about losing those wrinkles; it’s about returning facial tissue to where they were when you were younger.

So what is the key to a natural looking facial rejuvenation? In my opinion, it is the use of a combination of procedures. Sun damaged skin, uneven pigmentation and skin firmness to some degree, can be addressed by non-surgical applications such as lasers, intense pulse light, radio frequency treatments as well as good skin care. I get Botox injections regularly as well as intense pulse light treatments for my skin a couple of times a year. I am a huge fan of these minimally invasive procedures for ongoing maintenance. I also want to mention the popular treatment modality of facial fillers. The effect of facial fillers, just like any other treatment modality, can be magic in the right hands. In case too much filler is applied you tend to get a strange, puffy look. Rejuvenating the aging face is about much more that wrinkles needing to be filled in, so be careful with a doctor who believes this to be the case. Facial fillers are a good treatment option for maintenance when needed. If you are a candidate for facial fillers, your goal is to find a doctor who works with fillers frequently and has a lot of natural looking before-and-after photos. The Bible says “You will know the good trees by their fruit”. In this case you will know them by their before-and-after photos. In your consultations with the doctors, ask how often they do the particular procedure you are considering and how many of that specific procedure they have done in the past. If you are considering surgery try to go see a surgeon who uses all the new, cutting edge technology to treat skin concerns without surgery. This is a source of an honest opinion.

In the surgical portion of facial rejuvenation the doctor will tighten the skin when necessary, reposition the underlying tissues, addressing the neck and jowls, brows and the upper and lower eye. The tip of the nose may also need a lift. I should mentions that individuals with weak chins or a nose they are not happy with should also consider chin implants and/or nasal surgery in addition to facial rejuvenation. The goal I think is to look great for your age and not a different age all together. If you are sixty then look a great sixty or early fifties; remember there is nothing wrong with aging naturally, but if you are unhappy with the way you are aging, it’s ok to do something about it.

Let me point out that that prevention is the most important thing you can do before you decide on facial rejuvenation. Before you need a face lift do what you can to maintain the health of your skin. Use sun block and topical treatments, get facials, don’t smoke, eat lean protein, good fats and lots of veggies and take professional brand supplements. Let go of as much stress in your life as possible because stress hormones speed up the aging process. Over-exercising also raises stress hormone levels and leads down the path of accelerated aging, so finding an effective workout routine will help reduce your rate of aging. If and when you choose to undergo treatment remember the motto “the earlier the better”.

In light of this information, the best advice I can give you is to do all you can to take care of your skin and body. Listen to or read positive books and hang around with positive people. Science tells us that after about age 28, and for the first time in your life, cells begin to break down faster than they are regenerating. This is why you don’t see little kids with wrinkles after they get a sun burn. Their bodies produce lots of collagen and growth hormones to repair damaged skin. Finding ways to slow down the aging process is key in maintaining a youthful appearance. Take time to be good to your body, try to sleep 7-8 hours a night in order to allow your body to relax, replenish and rebuild. I firmly believe that the second half of your life should be the best half of your life, with wisdom, perspective and vitality. With the help of these new technologies and procedures you can now look on the outside how you feel on the inside.

I will have more on this topic as well as other topics featured in our monthly newsletter, the Randy Alvarez Stay Healthy Report. We will be featuring an abundance of information from plastic surgeons, integrative medicine physicians and more.

 

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