Face and Neck Lift

Aging of the face is inevitable as one ages. Heredity, sun exposure and age leads to sagging skin, jowls and a tired appearance on one’s face. Restoring a youthful face and neck line can dramatically improve one’s youthful appearance.

In the past, full face and neck lift entails prolonged surgery and long downtime. However, with improvement in expertise and technology, one can now expect minimal scarring with shorter downtime.

For patients averse to surgery, the liquid facelift using Botox injection together with filler and laser therapy is a very good option. Here, Botox is used to smoothen out the dynamic wrinkles on the face, and the fillers are injected to fill the volume lost with age. Together with laser therapy which leads to new collagen synthesis and tightening of the skin, this non-invasive technique results in a fresher and more youthful face with minimal downtime.

For more severe face and neck aging, unfortunately, surgery is still the mainstay of treatment.

The Endotine Ribbon lift is a new technology that results in long lasting results with minimal downtime. Here a small 2 cm incision is first made in the hairline. Then this Endotine ribbon is inserted all the way down to the jowls, leading to a lifting effect on the jowls. The same ribbon can be used for aging neck treatment as well. The product is made of polylactic acid and so will completely melt in 1-2 years. But one can expect the lifting effects to last for at least 5-7 years.

For the more matured patients with full face aging including the neck, unfortunately, a full face and neck lift still has to be performed. Here, the short scar face lift technique is used with the scar completely hidden within the crease in front of the ear. For the neck lift, a small 2 cm incision is made in the submental region allowing us to plicate the platysma muscle correcting the problem of "turkey neck".

All these procedures may be combined with fat injection. Here, fat is harvested from the patient’s thighs or abdomen. It is processed and then injected slowly into the patients face and neck, filling up the deficient areas. It is a “two-in-one” procedure allowing one to have a slimmer abdomen or thigh and yet at the same time having a more supple, youthful and voluminous face.

Plastic Surgery has really come a long way. Now, with these advancements in technology, one can really turn back the aging clock, restoring the patient to his or her old youthful glory.