What is a facelift, indications and contraindications. The main methods of performing the rejuvenation procedure, results, real reviews.
A facelift is a complex of techniques aimed at eliminating the pronounced signs of aging. With their help, it is possible to quite successfully fight against gravitational sagging of the skin, wrinkles, nasolabial folds and other unsightly signs of age. But are facelift procedures capable of becoming a modern rejuvenating bull's-eye, returning lost youth to everyone who wants it? To understand this, consider the most popular techniques with all their advantages and disadvantages.
What is a facelift?
In the photo, a facelift
The demand for aesthetic medicine in Russia is constantly growing. Today, our country is among the top ten countries in terms of the number of plastic surgeries, and the facelift takes a confident third place among them after blepharoplasty and breast augmentation.
If you think about it, this is not surprising, because age-related changes primarily affect the condition of the skin, provoking the occurrence of ptosis, drooping of the corners of the lips and eyes, the appearance of "bulldog cheeks", nasolacrimal grooves, wrinkles in the forehead and bridge of the nose.
All these problems are effectively dealt with by lifting, which, depending on the chosen technique:
- eliminate excess skin;
- will allow you to redistribute adipose tissue;
- tightens weakened muscles;
- spur cells to regenerate;
- relieve dry and dead particles of the epidermis.
Note! Since the arsenal of surgeons and cosmetologists has been replenished with low-traumatic endoscopic techniques, thread lifting and non-surgical hardware methods, it has become much easier to make a facelift.
True, this procedure has its drawbacks:
- Even the most gentle intervention in the body will not insure it against complications, due to which a slight facelift from wrinkles or slight sagging threatens to turn into inflammation, scars and damaged facial nerves or parotid glands.
- Some patients, who had previously imagined the result of the upcoming procedure, are disappointed with its real results, or, on the contrary, are so inspired that they become dependent on constant “corrections” of the face.
Indications for a facelift
As a rule, the time to resort to a circular facelift comes closer to 50-55 years, although this border is very vague.
It happens that due to poor heredity or an improper lifestyle, the skin loses its former elasticity in young women in just 35. Of course, this is extremely unpleasant, but the chances of correcting the situation with a non-surgical facelift for such young ladies are great.
At the same time, there are lucky women who have been fighting against time for a long time and quite successfully with the help of high-quality skin care and excellent genetics. One thing is bad, when age finally catches up with them, the apparatus and threads are powerless, and they have to use heavy artillery.
In any case, a final decision should be made only after a detailed consultation with a specialist.
Contraindications for a facelift
Any cosmetic or medical procedure has its own contraindications and side effects, so you should not regard it as a harmless way to care for your skin. Even if the client has a facelift without surgery, the doctor will certainly ask her in detail about her state of health and, if necessary, will postpone the scheduled event to a more suitable time.
This will be done, for example, in the case of:
- menses;
- pregnancy;
- Botox injections assigned to the client;
- the presence of minor inflammation or wounds on the skin;
- a cold or viral illness;
- exacerbation of a chronic illness.
A more serious obstacle will be neoplasms, diabetes, problems with blood clotting, heart, blood vessels, liver, kidneys and respiratory system, persistent skin diseases or implants, which include previously installed threads for a facelift. All of these factors can force you to seek other ways to rejuvenate.
The main types of facelift
Let's get acquainted in more detail with the methods of skin lifting that modern aesthetic medicine and cosmetology can offer us in order to clearly imagine the pros and cons of each of them.
Surgical methods of facelift
Radical surgical methods are valued for their high performance. The facelift effect achieved with their help, which the doctor achieves by manipulating the deep layers of the skin, fiber and muscles, lasts for many years. However, they are also the most traumatic and expensive.
Through incisions in the skin, which, after healing, are masked by scalp hair or auricle, the surgeon performs the necessary actions with the subcutaneous layer: excises excess tissue, moves fatty tissue deposits, tightens and fixes muscles in the desired position. As a result, a person's appearance undergoes dramatic and extremely pleasant changes, especially noticeable in the photographs before and after the facelift.
How the surgery is done:
- The first step for the patient is a consultation with a doctor, during which the expediency of surgical intervention is determined and the optimal variant of the operation is selected.
- The doctor will then take a history and refer the client for blood and urine tests. In addition, an ultrasound of the vessels, an ECG and an examination by a therapist may be required in order to exclude the presence of any contraindications.
- A surgical facelift requires general anesthesia, so on the day of surgery, the patient will be put to sleep, incisions or punctures will be made in the right places, and planned actions will be performed on the facial tissues. It takes from 1, 5 to 5 hours.
- After a circular tightening, the patient needs to stay in the hospital for 1-2 days. After the endoscopy, you can go home as soon as the anesthesia wears off and take care of the injured person yourself in accordance with the surgeon's recommendations.
- After 7-10 days, the stitches will be removed, although it will take a long time to process the incision sites, refrain from physical activity and bypass the bath, the pool and solarium.
- Complete healing will occur in 2-4 months, and if the surgeon used a gentle method of tightening the skin of the face, then even earlier.
Main types:
- Circular lift or ridectomy … It is performed through long incisions that require a difficult and long healing period, which is why it is considered the most traumatic. But because it combines the advantages of several separate techniques and allows you to solve a wide range of problems, the operation is considered one of the most effective facelifts for rejuvenating the face.
- Endoscopic … It is performed using a miniature endoscope equipped with a camera. The doctor inserts it under the skin through small punctures along with equally miniature surgical instruments and, focusing on the readings of the camera, makes exfoliation, movement and fixation of tissues as accurately as possible. The endoscope shows the best results in the forehead, temples and cheeks, but it is rarely used for lifting the neck and face in its lower third.
- SMAS lifting … The object of SMAS plastics is the deep layers of the skin that are inaccessible to circular or endoscopic techniques, due to which the effect achieved with its help lasts as long as possible. SMAS lifting is equally effective for upper and lower facelifts.
An operation performed between 40 and 55 years old in one fell swoop saves a woman from a dozen years of past, allowing her to remain attractive and fresh for another 10 years. But after 60, the result achieved, alas, is not persistent and can last half as long.
Note! The exact price of a circular facelift depends on the complexity of the technique used, the amount of work, the condition of the skin, the level of the surgeon and the clinic, but it rarely drops below 160,000-200,000 rubles.
Non-surgical methods of facelift
In the photo, a non-surgical facelift with mesothreads
Techniques that allow you to achieve a noticeable result without significant damage to the skin are called non-surgical. They serve as a kind of bridge between effective, but expensive and "terrible" surgical methods and affordable, but short-acting hardware cosmetology.
The effect on the skin that has begun to fade is carried out with the help of foreign objects or compositions: mesothreads for facelift, fillers for modeling volumes, biologically active mixtures. All this is injected into the tissue through thin needles that minimize trauma to the skin.
How a non-surgical facelift is done:
- As with surgery, it all starts with consulting a specialist and choosing a tightening method. An ECG and an ultrasound scan will not be required, but the client will have to tell the doctor in detail about her health.
- On Day X, the patient's face, thoroughly cleaned of cosmetics and household dust, will be treated with a disinfectant, local anesthesia will be given, and the doctor will get to work, injecting the selected agent under the skin through a series of punctures. The whole procedure will take about 1 hour.
- Further, the client will only have to carefully care for the skin and wait for small bruises and swelling to disappear. This period usually takes 2-3 weeks.
Views:
- Reinforcing threads … A facelift with mesothreads takes place through the thinnest tube-cannulas, which are inserted under the skin and help the specialist to carefully arrange gold, platinum, polypropylene and even liquid "hairs" in the form of a thin but reliable frame. Later, regeneration processes will start in these places, new collagen will be intensively produced and connective tissue will form. Most filaments gradually biodegrade in the body, but there are also non-absorbable options.
- Fillers … The gel-like substance, which is injected under the skin with a needle or cannula, restores the volumes lost along with the depletion of the fat layer, fills in wrinkles, allows for modeling and lifting of facial contours. A more "advanced" version of the procedure is volumetric modeling, in which fillers are injected into the deep layers of the skin, as well as contouring, where gels based on hyaluronic acid are applied.
- Biorevitalization, mesotherapy, plasma lifting … The method works on a fairly young skin that is just beginning to lose ground and serves to tone it, moisturize, and saturate it with nutrients. Hyaluronic acid, vitamins and even the plasma of the patient's own blood enriched with platelets (plasma-lifting) are used as ingredients for healing cocktails.
Injections of active substances act most effectively on the relatively young skin of women 30-35 years old, refresh and awaken it, make it more toned, elastic and smooth. The achieved effect lasts from six months to 2 years. Fillers and reinforcing threads can be safely used by older women - from 40 to 55 years old. The effect of their use gradually fades away within 2-5 years.
Note! Facelift-rejuvenation with threads is a one-time procedure. Its cost is calculated individually. The use of fillers and anti-aging formulations will cost 5,000-20,000 rubles. per session.
Hardware facelift technology
In the photo, hardware facelift with microcurrents
Hardware techniques restore and rejuvenate the face by acting on it with radio waves, ultrasound, laser, microcurrents or cold, which force the skin to produce its own collagen and elastin, improve intercellular metabolism, accelerate the flow of blood and lymph in small vessels and capillaries. The skin is renewed, tightened and rejuvenated at the expense of its own resources, stimulated by the hardware facelift procedure.
How the procedure is performed:
- Clean skin is treated with a disinfectant and anesthetic. As a rule, discomfort when using hardware techniques is small, but people with a low pain threshold may need superficial anesthesia.
- The cosmetologist selects the required power of the device and, with the help of a special nozzle, treats problem areas of the face.
- The skin is soothed with a cooling gel or cream.
- Immediately after the completion of the procedure, the patient can return to the usual rhythm of life.
- After a while - from 1 day to a week - the session is repeated.
Note! Hardware rejuvenation shows the best results after 3-12 sessions.
Main types:
- Cryolifting - activates regenerative processes using the shock effect of low temperatures;
- Ultrasonic facelift - accelerated skin recovery occurs under the influence of an ultrasonic wave;
- RF-lifting - rejuvenation is provided by high-frequency radio waves, warming up the tissues;
- Microcurrents - treat the skin with galvanic currents;
- Laser facelift or fractional photothermolysis - evaporates old cells from the surface of the face simultaneously with the start of the regeneration of young ones.
The durability of the achieved effect largely depends on the age of the patient and the condition of the skin. Laser rejuvenation, as the most effective one, allows a woman to look "100%" for several years, which is comparable to the effect of a full-fledged facelift operation, while the result of other procedures rarely lasts longer than 1-1.5 years. But hardware technologies benefit in terms of simplicity and low invasiveness.
A little about the price of a facelift with the help of devices: a full course of ultrasonic lifting will require an investment of 50,000-1200,000 rubles, laser resurfacing will cost 2,000-3,000 rubles, RF-lifting and microcurrents cost about 1,500 rubles. per session, and cryo-rejuvenation - 700-1000 rubles.
Real reviews of salon facelift
The fact that there are sometimes diametrically opposite reviews about a facelift testifies to the importance of choosing the right technique, a qualified specialist and a trustworthy clinic or beauty salon. These are three essential ingredients for success.
Elena, 50 years old
I had a deep smas-lift of the face, neck and décolleté, plus blepharoplasty of the upper eyelids. She herself did not believe in such a visible result! The only unpleasant thing after a facelift is rehabilitation, you look like a pig, and the sensations are not pleasant, but everything is tolerable. More than happy!
Oksana, 39 years old
On the advice of a beautician and reviews found on the network, I chose Aptos threads for a facelift. The introduction was very easy, it took only 40 minutes. There was a slight swelling and faint, like after a dental one, but not much. The result is visible immediately! As if after a circular lift. The contours have become clear, wrinkles have smoothed out. Dropped 6-8 years at least!
Violetta, 35 years old
I did an ultrasonic lifting. Seeing the sad experience of her friends, I made sure to find a salon with a certified apparatus, I was specifically looking for the American Ulthera. The contour of the face was treated for 30 minutes. After that there was a slight swelling, no more. After about 2 weeks, I felt how the skin was getting … stronger, or what? As if there used to be semolina porridge, but now a new cloth. I will definitely do it again, one session was enough for about 1, 5-2 years.
How to do a facelift in the salon - watch the video:
