Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery Reference Articles – Surgical “Mini” Procedures
Alternatives to the Full Face Lift
By: Dr. Randall Weil
In today’s competitive and fast paced society, people are motivated to improve their appearance for a variety of reasons. Very often these people are also anxious to get back into that fast pace with the minimum amount of “down time”, which is often required for recovery from any type of surgical procedure.
Thus the explosion of the non-surgical “mini” type procedures, i.e. Botox, collagen, quick peels, photo facials etc. But there are also a variety of surgical “mini” procedures that can be offered to patients as well.
For instance, if a person has a “fatty neck” which often makes them look heavy or old, frequently a neck liposuction (microliposuction or microsculpture) “mini” procedure may be preformed with out the need for a full face lift.
Neck liposuction requires only 3 pinhole incisions in the neck area. Microliposuctioning of the fat is then preformed, followed by “scraping” of the under surface of the skin in order to assure proper skin adhesion without any drooping.
Recovery time for this procedure is usually 3 to 4 days.
An alternative neck lift “mini” procedure is recommended for people who have excess skin, which would not tighten enough with only microliposuction.
In this case, an additional incision behind the ear is made where the excess skin is removed and redraped. Recovery time is about 7 days. If the neck is good but the concern is in the face, then there are other “mini” procedures, which might be “just what the doctor ordered”. The closed cheek lift “mini” procedure (72 hour cheek lift) will raise the cheek pads and lessen the laugh lines, creating a more youthful look.
In addition, the insertion of a linear piece of Gortex material in tiny incisions through the upper and lower ends of the laugh line will create a permanent improvement if there are troublesome laugh lines.
If the jowls are more of a problem, then the open cheek lift may be appropriate. In this procedure, the incision is made only in front of the ear with tightening of the skin and underling tissues. No incisions are made behind the ear.
Recovery time is about 7 days.
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