Dateline: New York. Or Miami, or Los Angeles, or London. All over the world, people are turning to plastic surgery in order to keep themselves looking great and especially, to keep themselves looking youthful. Facelifts are definitely some of the most popular ways to keep this young look. Some people jump to the facelift as their first choice to get rid of their wrinkles, but surgery should never be the first step in looking younger.
Most plastic surgeons will have you try other techniques, such as laser resurfacing and skin creams to tame those wrinkles before surgery is considered. If the creams and lasers don't work, there are still other treatments available before the step of a facelift surgery. Injections like Botox, the popular brow wrinkle releaser, can be used to make you look younger in some cases. So can the dermal filler Restylane, which can work on mouth wrinkles.
If other treatments are not working for you, and you feel that aging is really taking its toll on your face, you may want to consider surgical intervention. At the beginning of plastic surgery's history, there was just one type of facelift available, the full facelift - which required a large cut in the hairline. Today, even the full facelift usually does not require such a drastic amount of cutting. Small incisions can usually be made in the hairline in order to pull skin and tissue to a tight appearance, cutting any excess tissue and skin away leaving the face looking younger and less wrinkled.
However, there are even more options now for patients who do not have wrinkles or spots of concern that cover their entire face. The mini facelift can be used on patients who have wrinkles only on the lower half of their face, or sagging jowls that need to be pulled upward to create a youthful look. This is a less complicated procedure, and therefore less risky. There will not be as much recovery time needed from the mini facelift, mostly because the surgeon may be able to perform the surgery without using any general anesthesia. This shortens recovery time, and will lessen danger.
Smaller cuts can be made to minimize scarring - the incisions will probably only be around the ear, and the underlying tissues and skin will be pulled through these little areas in order to be smoothed and kept taut. In this way, jowls will be banished and a youthful appearance will be restored. While the mini facelift is not for everyone, it is a good option for those people who need to have work done in the lower areas of their face, but don't want to have to have an entire facelift surgery. This surgery works well for many people, but be sure to discuss the risks and results with your doctor.
Aazdak Alisimo writes about plastic surgery issues for PlasticSurgeonPractices.com, where you can locate a plastic surgeon in your city.
