Quick Fixes: Fact or Fiction

Call it what you will, "Lunch-Time Lift", "Weekend Lift", "Quick Lift" or a name by any other color, non-invasive facelift miracles do not exist. Such procedures cut corners, and it's apparent in the facial results which are often unnatural (like a wind tunnel look), if the procedure works at all.

In some cases, such abbreviated procedures can be downright dangerous. In other cases like the Life Style Lift, although the procedure is invasive but cheap, the results are mediocre, and according to an online survey, 6 out of 10 people who had the procedure were dissatisfied. In other words, cheap surgery is usually not a good idea since you will have to live with the results for the rest of your life.

New twists and gimmicks seem to be invented all the time like the string or thread lift, a facelift that can supposedly be done in 30-minutes, quicker than having your teeth cleaned. In the procedure, sutures are inserted into the face and pulled tighter and tighter over the months to make the skin taut -- as though the face is like a puppet that can be manipulated with two strings.

At one meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, conducted by Dr. V. Leroy Young, a plastic surgeon in St. Louis, 198 out of 900 doctors said they had tried the technique, and 60 percent of them said they had experienced complications. In some cases, they said, the threads broke or popped out of the skin. 

A Weekend Lift Performed by a Weekend-Trained Doctor

According to a New York Times article on the topic of thread lifts, "plastic and facial surgeons complain that many doctors who perform thread lifts - a group that includes not only plastic surgeons but also ophthalmologists, obstetricians and family practice physicians - have had little training in facial anatomy or surgery beyond the two-day course...". In the article, titled Mixed Results on a New Beauty fix (Natasha Singer, Dec. 1. 2005), Dr. Robert Singer, a plastic surgeon in La Jolla, Calif., said, "A physician who doesn't have full surgical knowledge and training could mistakenly get into structures like facial nerves that could cause problems like drooping and infection." Since the article was written, many Board Certified Plastic Surgeons continue to remain wary of the procedure and will not perform it given its spotty record.

Then there are the many non-surgical alternatives touted for facial improvement, like acupuncture, that have no anatomical basis. -- Such alternatives may help you feel better, but certainly not any better than taking the money spent on the procedure and spending it instead on a beautiful Caribbean vacation.  

And as far as exercising your facial muscles to obtain a "natural facelift" (we've heard everything!), you might as well save your energy to exercise other muscles because facial muscles create wrinkles, they don't remove them.

Ask About Safe, Effective Non-Surgical Solutions

Despite a lot of nonsense in the marketplace when it comes to facial rejuvenation, there are some non-invasive alternatives such as fillers and fat transfers that have proven to be very safe and with real lasting benefits. If you are interested in a Refresher Lift, you should also learn about these techniques which may be used separately or in conjunction with a Refresher Lift. Since all the Board Certified Plastic Surgeons in our Network Of Trusted Surgeons are each highly trained in the many cosmetic alternatives available today, you can turn to them for advice to maximize YOUR cosmetic return on investment.  

Remember, communication between you and your surgeon is one of the most important ingredients in successful facial rejuvenation so share your expectations...your hesitations...and discuss the limitations of each procedure. If you are unable to say what you want, you are hoping that luck will be on your side rather than choice, and there are many cosmetic choices that only you can make. 

Our objective at Refresher Lift is to find the best possible Plastic Surgeons in your area who is trained to perform a Refresher Lift that is natural and long lasting, and who can also provide you with effective  alternatives should you not be quite ready for a Refresher Lift. That said, there are NO non-surgical options that will give you the facial cosmetic enhancements of a Refresher Lift. However, there are some of us who dread the idea of surgery and prefer more discreet results rather than surgery.

If you are a smoker (we do not do surgery on patients who have not stopped smoking at least 6 weeks prior to surgery) or if you have underlying medical problems that are contraindicated for surgery, non surgical approaches may be your best alternative. You may wish to look at a RestorationLift which is a non surgical approach to a face lift.