To Lift or Not to Lift

Damage to the skin, genetics, and lifestyle all play significant roles in understanding optimal timing and treatment for patients. With that said, addressing facial and skin concerns before they are severe is the best course of action.

Why start facial rejuvenation procedures early

1. 1. Younger patients typically have better skin elasticity, which may promote a longer lasting result. Proper skin care is one of the most frequently neglected treatment options.  People will often pay thousands of dollars to treat skin damage, but shy away from quality skin care that would have prevented the damage for a fraction of the cost of surgery.
2. 2. Facial aging tends to start to be noticeable in the late 30’s for most. As these changes progress, deep facial lines caused by skin folds and loss of facial volume create permanent skin changes that are difficult to combat later in life. Taking action early, in your 40’s or 50’s, can help prevent permanent damage.
3. 3. Typically, people in their 40’s and 50’s are healthier with fewer medical issues than people over 60.  Younger people are, therefore, generally better candidates for surgery and can recover faster.
4. 4. The more noticeable the signs of aging, the more involved the treatment becomes.  This typically involves more invasive procedures, as injectables cannot address more severe issues.
5. 5. Small subtle changes lead to more natural results long term.  The goal is to look good for your age, not to look 20 when you’re 50.

How do I know it’s time for a facelift?

For patients with significant sagging of the skin and poor elasticity, surgical treatment is often necessary. A facelift surgically rejuvenates the face by tightening the skin and underlying muscles, and is designed to improve signs of aging in the lower face, including the lower cheeks, jaw, and upper neck. For treatment of the forehead, brows, and upper eyelids, a brow/forehead lift or upper eyelid surgery is best suited. The mid face and lower eyelids are best addressed with a midface lift and/or lower eyelid surgery. These procedures can be combined to give the patient an overall youthful look.

Typically, for the best and most natural looking results, other procedures such as skin resurfacing, volume replacement, and liposuction under the chin are commonly performed simultaneously to optimize the facial rejuvenation.

Dr. Raymond Lee is a double board certified facial plastic surgeon with expertise in facial rejuvenation under local anesthesia. He has been practicing in Orange County for the past 9 years and has performed nearly 4000 facial rejuvenation procedures under light anesthesia.

In his prior practice, his patient satisfaction scores ranked him #1 in the nation. Dr. Lee wants you to “Experience Beauty, the most natural way”. Dr. Lee’s does not believe in the old traditional facelift. Over the course of his career he has mastered the art and science of facial rejuvenation with natural results, minimal sedation, and easy recovery. His signature “FACEology LIFT” is the embodiment of all these elements and is what he is widely sought out for.