With the advancements of medicine and surgery there are now numerous facial procedures and treatments that can combat the progressive effects of facial aging. There are many factors that affect the appearance of the face including age, sun exposure, weight fluctuations, previous surgery or treatments, smoking, or simply hereditary. Fortunately, today's plastic surgeon has many tools to help treat some of these problems. In general, facial treatments are either non-surgical or surgical. Non-surgical treatments include a wide range of light acid peels, skin care products, non-ablative lasers , neurotoxins such as Botox®, and dermal fillers such as Restylane®, Juvederm®, and Radiesse®. Surgical procedures include facelifts, browlifts, eyelid surgery, fat grafting, implants, and liposuction. Non-surgical treatments mainly focus on the superficial surface of the skin, fine lines, or deep folds, while surgical procedures remove and tighten excess skin, resuspend muscles or droopy structures, and eliminate excess fatty deposits such as bags under the eyes.
The goal of all facial treatments and procedures is to obtain results that are NICE. NICE is an acronym that I use to help patients understand the goals of facial rejuvenation. A successful facial procedure must be Natural in appearance, preserve the patient's Identity, have Concealed and imperceptible scars, and be in Equilibrium with the remainder of the face. We are all too familiar with public figures or movie stars who have unnatural and scary looks after plastic surgery. Those procedures lack balance, have unsightly scars and facial expressions, or change the patient's identity. The goal of all facial procedures is to look more "refreshed" or to look "wonderful for your age" not to look "odd or overdone". The greatest praise I get from my patients is when they tell me that all their friends comment how good they look, but don't realize they had surgery.
