Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Articles

We’re taking better care of our facial skin these days, which is great, but it’s spawned kind of an unnatural look, where a youthful face is paired with a neck and chest that show the signs of sun damage and premature aging.

Devoting some of your energy to that highly-visible part of your body, which is otherwise referred to as the décolletage (everything sounds better in French, right?), will eliminate the striking contrast and focus the attention on your glowing appearance.

Like the face, the best course of treatment for the décolletage is comprised of few different in-office treatments, each meant to target specific concerns.

So long dark spots

Dark spots become much more numerous and pronounced on the chest after years of sun exposure. An intense pulsed light (IPL) breaks up the pigment so that it can be absorbed by the body. It’s also effective for treating broken blood vessels.

Generally, people undergo a series of three to six IPL treatments, which are spaced about a month apart.

Halo is another option. It’s the first fractioned laser that combines both ablative and nonablative technology. In other words, it targets the epidermis and dermis layers of the skin, enabling it to minimize the appearance of pore size and cut down on dark spots.

What lines?

Injectable dermal fillers, like Sculptra Aesthetic, can plump the skin, minimizing and, often, even eliminating those vexing fine lines. It was approved by the FDA in 2014 for treating wrinkles on the face, but it has a number of off-label applications, too, including correcting chest, elbow, and knee wrinkles.

Sculptra’s main ingredient is poly-L-lactic acid, a collagen stimulator that creates natural-looking results that can last up to a couple of years. It’s not uncommon to see results after a treatment, but they typically take a few months to fully develop.

The contours of a young woman

The treatment for loose neck skin depends on the severity of the sagging. For those on the mild end of the spectrum, there’s Ultherapy, an ultrasound therapy which triggers a healing response that creates more collagen. In turn, the skin tightens and lifts gradually.

For those with very loose skin, there are minimally-invasive variations of the facelift that specifically target the neck.

What I’ve described here, essentially, is an investment of a few months for a return of 10 or even 20 years. It sounds almost too good to be true, I know. But it is.

Almost 16 million minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures were performed in 2018, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. That’s nearly nine times the number of cosmetic surgeries that were done over the same time.

Minimally-invasive treatments are trending in a big way for a few easy-to-appreciate reasons:

• They’re fast
• There’s little discomfort
• They don’t require general anesthesia
• There’s little to no downtime
• They’re economical

The “nonsurgical facelift” is kind of an umbrella term that’s used to describe a combination of minimally-invasive and nonsurgical procedures. The specific combination is tailored to the patient’s needs, but the general goal is to rejuvenate the appearance—and to do it much more quickly than a traditional facelift, which typically entails surgery, general anesthesia, and recovery time.

The various treatments that comprise a nonsurgical facelift can address anything from fine lines and deep creases to loose skin and large pores to acne scarring and sunken cheeks. These are a few of the most common elements:

Dermal Fillers

Dermal fillers are kind of the core of the nonsurgical facelift because a few injections can accomplish so much. By plumping thin lips and sunken cheeks, temples, and under-eye areas, dark shadows vanish and take years of aging with them. , but the plumping and smoothing derived from other dermal fillers can last from six to 12 months.

Botox

Botox, can also create definition and smooth tissues for a wrinkle-free look. The benefits of Botox last about three months.

Fat Injections

You can also use your own fat to also address loss of fullness in your face as you age.  The fat tissue is removed from another area of the body through liposuction, and reinjected into the face to enhance volume. Those cells will be naturally incorporated, leaving youthful contours that will last for years.

NeckTite (Radiofrequency Lift)

Radiofrequency lifts are being featured more prominently in the nonsurgical facelift as a means to instantly—and permanently—redefine the lower portion of the face and neck. It’s a minimally-invasive procedure where small incisions are made under the chin and behind the ears. A fine probe is then threaded under the skin, which will essentially melt the underlying fat and tighten the skin around it.

Chemical peels, dermabrasion, and microdermabrasion and Lasers

A chemical peel helps create a glowing complexion by shrinking large pores and improving the overall quality of the skin. While dermabrasion and microdermabrasion resurface and exfoliate the skin. As dry, damaged, and dead tissue is shed, fresher skin comes to the surface. And as it does, fine lines, wrinkles, and hyperpigmentation fade.

Most of the treatments will need to be repeated every few months for the best results. But, the more diligent you are about it, the less you may need in the future. The hyaluronic acid in dermal fillers, for example, increases the body’s own collagen production, meaning that, over time, you should need less of it—making a cost-effective procedure even more attractive.