Understanding Non-Surgical Facial Rejuvenation
Plastic surgery offers many different options to help minimize or even reverse the various signs of facial aging, but by far the most popular are non-surgical facial rejuvenation treatments. In fact, according to statistics compiled by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the various minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures accounted for nearly 90% of all the cosmetic plastic surgery procedures performed in 2016. Many of the patients who come in for consultations with the board-certified plastic surgeons at Atlanta Plastic Surgery, P.C. are interested in non-surgical facial rejuvenation options, but may not know where to begin. Understanding the important differences between these procedures is a great first step in determining what sort of approach is right for you.
Cosmetic Injectable Treatments and Soft Tissue Fillers
Young and healthy skin is flexible and elastic, always springing back to its original position no matter how much it is stretched or moved. As the skin gets older, however, it gradually loses its elasticity, which allows the movement of the facial muscles to form permanent expression lines, like crow’s feet and frown lines. Botox® and related medications like Dysport® relax and smooth the facial muscles, softening the appearance of these dynamic facial wrinkles and even preventing them from returning for an average of three to six months. Younger faces also tend to have a fuller and rounder appearance because as we get older fat deposits start to break down. This can cause the skin to sag and droop, resulting in nasolabial folds, marionette lines, or the small vertical lines that appear in the lips and around the mouth. Injectable facial fillers like Juvéderm®, Restylane®, or Perlane® replace lost volume in specific areas by “filling in” the lines and wrinkles. They typically last from six months to as long as two years, depending upon the specific product, but after that point additional maintenance treatments may be necessary in order to maintain results. Older patients, who have lost a greater amount of volume, can often get even longer-lasting results using fat transfer techniques.
Chemical Peels and Laser Skin Resurfacing Treatments
The primary causes of facial aging are actually external, environmental factors, like dangerous ultraviolet light and harsh atmospheric irritants. The skin damage that these factors cause gradually accumulates over the course of a lifetime, eventually leaving the skin looking dry, cracked, wrinkled, and discolored. Skin resurfacing, which can be accomplished with either a chemical peel or with the advanced Sciton® laser skin resurfacing system, gently exfoliates the skin, removing dead and damaged skin from the surface to reveal fresher, younger-looking skin underneath. Not only can this reduce the appearance of pigment irregularities, acne scarring, and general wrinkling, it can even help remove highly localized blemishes like sun damage, keratosis, and surgical scars. Finally, both processes stimulate the skin’s natural healing and collagen producing properties, encouraging the production of healthy new skin cells and giving the skin a renewed and refreshed appearance.
Non-surgical facial rejuvenation procedures are extremely effective, but they represent only a small part of all the things that we can accomplish at Atlanta Plastic Surgery. If you have questions about facial rejuvenation, or would like to learn more about any of the various anti-aging or body contouring plastic surgery procedures that we can perform, please contact Atlanta Plastic Surgery, P.C. at one of our Atlanta, Alpharetta, or Cumming offices to schedule a consultation. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ for the latest plastic surgery news.
