Facial Plastic Surgery Spotlight: Less Invasive Options

posted in Face by Dan

A facelift procedure is a great way to eliminate and mitigate lines, wrinkles, and excess skin. A full facelift is especially handy if your lines and wrinkles are widespread. In many cases, we even recommend a neck lift and facelift be performed concurrently.

Will Less Invasive Facial Plastic Surgery Options Work for You?

But this approach isn’t right for everyone. In some cases, lines and wrinkles just aren’t that widespread. In other cases, patients want to be back to work (or other activities) sooner than a full facelift would allow. That’s why we’re putting some less invasive options in the spotlight today!

Dr. Polsen will, of course, recommend the best course of action based on your personal preferences and your transformational goals. Even less invasive options will likely require a certain amount of recovery—but in most cases, you’ll be back to your normal routine more quickly.

Blepharoplasty

We tend to think of aging as the manifestation of wrinkles and lines across the face. But sometimes “aging” can be much more localized. For example, many people can develop a significant amount of excess skin—and, therefore, lines and wrinkles—around the eyes.

Because the eyes are, essentially, the “windows to the soul” (as the cliché goes), they have an amplified effect on how one tends to be perceived. An individual with lines and wrinkles around the eyes is sometimes described as appearing tired and aged. When you look in the mirror and your eyes seem hidden, you lose the ability to emote.

That’s why Dr. Polsen offers his patients blepharoplasty. Often called an eyelid lift, this procedure can eliminate excess skin around the eyes and reposition fat deposits. The end result offers several benefits:

The eyes look more radiant and energized
Because of the emotional potency eyes possess, the entire face may look more youthful
Patients may experience an improvement in vision (excess skin can sometimes droop in front of the eyes, blocking a patient’s field of vision)
The skin around the eyes will be significant smoother

Blepharoplasty recovery usually proceeds relatively quickly, especially when compared to more elaborate procedures (such as a facelift). In most cases, patients are able to return to work within a couple of weeks (though much will depend on the individual patient).

Brow Lift

As we’ve seen with an eyelid lift, sometimes lines and wrinkles have a habit of collecting in a particular area. Sometimes that specific area is your forehead or your brow. Yes, technically, the forehead and the brow refer to slightly different areas of your face—but we’re going to accept that generally they’re talking about the same thing.

A brow lift can address a significant amount of lines and wrinkles around the forehead and, specifically, above the eyebrows. Due to the basic shape of the human head, excess skin can settle in that area right above your eyebrows. This can depress the brow and cause all kinds of lines and wrinkles.

In order to make your face look more youthful—and your facial expressions look more genuine—Dr. Polsen might recommend a brow lift to certain patients. This procedure can:

Diminish excess skin around the forehead and the brow
Reduce lines and wrinkles that can make you look aged, angry, or sad
Help to make you look younger and more energized
Usually be accomplished with fewer incisions than a full facelift

It might seem obvious, but it’s worth pointing out that a brow lift is less invasive than a full facelift—mostly because it’s treating a more localized area. Patients who have more widespread wrinkles, excess skin, and so on, may in fact be better served by a facelift. But patients who find their signs of aging contained to the brow or forehead may wish to consider this procedure.

Not a Zero Sum Game

In most cases, patients are not going to have to choose one procedure or the other. Rather, Dr. Polsen will develop a treatment plan that addresses your areas of concern. Sometimes those areas of concern will be relatively localized—and a suitable surgical approach will be taken.

But you may have concerns about wrinkles around your eyes and along your brow. In those cases, Dr. Polsen may recommend the election of more than one procedure—a brow lift and an eyelid lift.

Depending on your personal preferences and requirements, these procedures may be performed concurrently.

Sometimes a Facelift is the Way to Go

While less invasive options, such as blepharoplasty or a brow lift, might be a good option, sometimes a facelift is going to be the procedure that gets you the best possible results.

To find out what the best possible facial plastic surgery procedure for you might be, contact the offices of Dr. Charles Polsen, in Clear Lake, TX. We’ll schedule a consultation (completely confidential) during which Dr. Polsen will offer some guidance on selecting a procedure and answer all of your questions as well as possible.

To set up a consultation, call our offices or use the quick contact form to get in touch!