Instead of just 12 years, why can’t a facelift (combined with other facial procedures) make you look 20 years younger? My answer is that further improvement is often possible with additional procedures such as fat grafting, but many patients are not looking for such a dramatic change. They want to look the way they looked in more recent years, not two decades earlier! Others find that the cost for these additional procedures is too great or that they involve too much recovery.
One final question is whether or not everyone can look younger with a facelift? The answer is, “No,” since many patients do not have the loose skin or sagging fat/muscles that a facelift corrects. Younger patients often find that injectables such as Juvederm or Botox provide the filling or wrinkle reduction that they desire and with a shorter recovery. Often times I will see older patients who want to get away with fillers or Botox alone. Many times I tell them that their result won’t measure up to their expectations or that the cost for all the fillers that are needed is prohibitive.
Visit a board-certified plastic surgeon for more details.
George Sanders, MD
