Beauty Doc Blog

July 14.2008

What are the most common cosmetic surgery procedures for the face?

Treatment options available are many and include the popular facelift (or rhytidectomy), a procedure for removal of wrinkles from the face, neck and jaw. A face lift removes and/or tightens loose skin and takes away the sag of the cheeks near the jaw line. It lifts the corners of the mouth and it reduces the creases between cheeks and the lips.

Another common procedure is the brow lift also known as the forehead lift. This is a surgical procedure that lifts drooping eyebrows and smooths out forehead winkles. This procedure can be done with a face lift or as an entirely separate procedure.

Liposuction is also quite common for the face. Liposuction is a procedure that utilizes suction for removal of fatty deposits. It is used quite often in the area between the neck and the chin and can also be done either as a separate procedure or in conjunction with other procedures.

Facial resurfacing or exfoliation is a procedure to remove the top layer of the skin. This improves skin quality and removes small wrinkles. Resurfacing is done by several methods including chemical peels, lasers and microdermabrasion.

Facial implants are also another way to go and this can include silicon injections, collagen or body fat placement which expand the skin tissue and fill in tiny depressions that are left by scars and wrinkles.

Newer treatments for the face are coming out all of the time. Among them are lasers utilized for facial resurfacing and for eyelid surgery. Laser incisions are sterile and they automatically cauterize the blood vessels resulting in less bleeding and less swelling. Also endoscopy is being used these days in face lifts and brow lifts. Use of an endoscope allows the surgeon to make smaller incision and cause less trauma to the tissues, which then results in a faster recovery. Also ultrasound assisted lipoplasty is being used with saline injections to break up and liquefy fat allowing a lower level of suction to be used during liposuction, which then causes less bruising and bleeding and gives the surgeon more control.

Injectables are also being used including Botox, or botulinum toxoid injections. This is a bacterial toxin that is found in some uncooked foods. It is also a powerful muscle relaxant and in a purified form can relax muscle spasms. Injected into facial muscles it will relax creases in the forehead and crow’s feed near the eyes. Repeated every three to six months Botox can improve facial appearance.