20 Dec Why Getting “Just” an Eyelid Lift is Only Doing Half the Work
For some reason, facelifts are the be-all, end-all of facial plastic surgeries—or they seem to be. Ask anyone to name a cosmetic surgery for the face and they will probably say a facelift (even though most people don’t even know exactly what that entails!). That’s why at RefinedMD we offer both surgical and non-surgical solutions and are committed to helping patients understand their goals and the right treatments to get the results they want. Let’s talk about where we see the first signs of aging: it’s usually in the face and it’s almost always around the eyes.
A lot of people start to notice crow’s feet or fine lines around their eyes that don’t immediately go away when they stop smiling as early as their teens. The skin in this area is very thin, delicate, always moving, and we tend not to do a very good job applying sunscreen here since it’s so close to the eyes. Put together, this means your eyes are going to start having lines, wrinkles, bags, and sagging way before you notice signs of aging in other parts of the face. In other words, the first cosmetic surgery you should be thinking of is blepharoplasty, otherwise known as an eyelid lift. This can be before a facelift or in conjunction with one, but what a lot of people don’t realize is that the blepharoplasty/brow lift combination is ideal for a lot of younger patients.
Combine Surgeries for Shorter Downtime
Eyelid surgeries also have a quick recovery because there are very tiny incisions made. For upper eyelid surgery, small incisions are made along the natural crease of the eyelid for easy camouflage. With lower eyelid surgery, sometimes an incision is made inside the eyelid to remove a fat pocket, and if skin also needs to be removed an incision is made along the lash line. This can cause the lower lashes to fall out shortly after surgery, but they will grow back like normal (don’t worry—upper eyelashes don’t fall out with either surgery). You can get an upper eyelid lift, lower lift, or both. However, bear in mind that these surgeries each address relatively small areas, even though lifting in these areas can make a big impact. But if you also have droopiness of the brow or the sagging at the outer corners of the eyes is very severe, you might want to consider a brow lift.
A brow lift can be performed by itself, but optimal results are typically achieved when paired with an eyelid lift. The incisions for a brow lift will be dictated in part by where the droopiness occurs and to what degree. Just like with eyelid lifts, though, the incisions will be placed in such a manner that they are easy to hide. If it looks like you have a “heavy brow” and Botox injections in the forehead just aren’t cutting it anymore, you might be a good candidate for a brow lift.
What about Facelifts?
Facelifts are such a household term for a reason. They are very popular and can provide dramatic yet natural-looking results! However, facelifts only address sagging on the lower half of the face and the neck. They don’t help the upper half of the face—which of course involves the eyes and brows—at all. The need for a mini lift often precedes a full facelift, typically when someone is in their 40s or even 50s. Facelifts lift and tighten the face in the mid-range area and a neck lift is inherently included in a full facelift. If you notice sagging jowls and more pronounced nasolabial folds or marionette lines, you might be a good candidate for a facelift or mini lift.
Many clients wonder if they can or should get all three: a facelift, eyelid lift, and brow lift. For the right person, the answer is yes! Why not combine surgeries so you can compound downtime and get the absolute best results? However, every person is one of a kind which means every surgery is unique (or at least it should be). You can also complement surgical interventions with non-surgical procedures like Botox, fillers, chemical peels, and more to not only maximize results but extend them. And for those who think they might be more fitted to a mini facelift than a full facelift, that’s a great strategy to get beautiful results and delay the more invasive procedures for a few years.
To learn more about all the facial plastic surgeries available at RefinedMD, get in touch today. Contact the office during business hours by giving us a call or completing the online form now.