Combining Surgical and Minimally Invasive Cosmetic Procedures

It should not be any surprise that the majority of prefer minimally invasive cosmetic procedures to improve their features. This patient preference for non-surgical procedures is reflective of a nationwide trend.

In fact, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 90 percent of cosmetic procedures performed by its members in 2017 were minimally invasive. The reasons for this trend are quite obvious: minimally invasive procedures are less expensive, have a shorter recovery period, and carry less potential for side effects.

However, some patients may not get the results they want from a minimally invasive procedure or surgery. This is why we offer the ability to combine surgical procedures with minimally invasive treatments.

Surgical and Minimally Invasive Options for the Face

There are two main types of changes that occur to your face as a result of aging.

First, there is overall loss of volume to the face, resulting in sagging skin around the cheeks and jaw line. This often shows up as jowls along the chin line. Such a large overall loss of facial volume is often the result of collagen loss due to the aging process.

Collagen is a protein that your body forms, in order to fill out and firm up your skin tissue over your skeletal frame. As you age, your body will naturally lose collagen, although this loss can also be accelerated by smoking or excessive sun exposure. Without this collagen, your skin tissue is no longer firm.

The second change to your face as a result of aging is loss of skin elasticity. This is also the result of collagen loss. When your skin has enough collagen, it can be stretched and then re-conform to its original shape once it is released.

Past a certain point, however, those collagen fibers break down, and your skin will lose that elasticity.

So, in essence, you have a combined problem that affects your face as you get older. Your face will lose collagen, leading to a loss of fullness and volume. Once that happens, the collagen fiber structure has nothing to provide any support, so it breaks down, leading to sagging. How can our surgeons address this issue?

Correcting for Sagging Skin and Volume Loss in the Face

Sagging skin is best addressed by a facelift procedure. This can be done either to the entire face as a whole, or to various parts of the face, such as just the forehead, cheeks, or jaw line and chin.

For this procedure, your surgeon will start by making several incisions hidden either in your hairline or behind your ears. Next, the surgeon will gently lift up your skin tissue, tighten up any underlying muscle structure, and remove any excess skin tissue before suturing the remainder back into place.

The next step will be to add volume back to your face. This is done by using dermal fillers, which are made of a soft gel that mimics collagen. Your surgeon will make a series of injections just under your skin in the areas that you want to have more volume. This procedure usually only takes about 10 to 15 minutes and can be done as a simple office visit.