Dermal fillers help to diminish facial lines and restore volume and fullness in the face.

As we age, our faces naturally lose subcutaneous fat. The facial muscles are then working closer to the skin surface, so smile lines and crow’s feet become more apparent.

The facial skin also stretches, adding to this loss of facial volume. Other factors that affect the facial skin include sun exposure, heredity and lifestyle.

What dermal fillers can do

• Plump thin lips
• Enhance shallow contours
• Soften facial creases and wrinkles
• Improve the appearance of depressed scars
• Reconstruct contour deformities in the face
• Decrease or remove the shadow of the lower lids

Dermal fillers can be helpful in those with early signs of aging, or as a value-added part of facial rejuvenation surgery.

Some patients may want to consider fat injections, which use fat harvested from the patient’s own body which can then be re-injected to enhance facial fullness, fill creases or build up shallow contours.

Fat injection requires a more extensive procedure than “off-the-shelf” soft tissue fillers.

A “donor area” must be determined (such as the abdomen or buttocks) and liposuction is used to extract the fat. The suctioned fat can then be transferred to the face, as a graft.

The grafted fat then has to redevelop a blood supply in order to survive. About 30%-50% of the fat injected will survive, and the surviving fat will last forever

A facelift, or rhytidectomy, is a surgical procedure that improves visible signs of aging in the face and neck, such as:

• Relaxation of the skin of the face causing sagging
• Deepening of the fold lines between the nose and corner of the mouth
• Fat that has fallen or has disappeared
• Jowls
• Loose skin and excess fat of the neck that can appear as a double chin or “turkey neck”

The loss of youthful contours in the face can be due to variety of factors, including thinning of the skin, loss of facial fat, gravity, sun damage, smoking, as well as heredity and stress. Other procedures that might be performed in conjunction with a facelift are brow lift and eyelid surgery to rejuvenate aging eyes. Fat transfer or fillers may be suggested to replace the lost fatty volume. Skin treatments such as IPL, peels or laser may be offered to improve the quality and texture of the skin.

A facelift without surgery can be achieved through the use of barbed sutures. These are inserted under local anaesthesia to create a lifting or firming effect. This can be done in conjunction with open facelift surgery, fillers, lasers or Thermage treatment.

Swelling or bruising is minimal compared to an open facelift, and the procedure can be performed in 30-40 minutes.

Puckering or dimpling of the skin is temporary and may last two to three weeks.

The results lasts one to two years, after which new sutures may need to be inserted to maintain or enhance results.

Botox facelift creates a mild to moderate lift by weakening the downward pulling muscles of the face and skin tightening through collagen stimulation.

Diluted Botox is injected intradermally to stimulate collagen production and partially weaken downward pulling muscles to create a natural looking facelift effect.

This can be done in conjunction with threadlift or fillers, and results last 3 to 6 months though the collagen stimulation effect can last one to two years.

The procedure can be performed in 20-30 minutes with zero to minimal downtime. Occassional bruising and headaches can occur, and side effects are rare.

Thermage procedures can help to smoothen, tighten, and contour the skin for a younger appearance in a single treatment. Thermage Comfort Pulsed Technology (CPT)TM has been clinically proven to significantly improve treatment comfort and has an enhanced heating system for further stimulation of collagen from the deeper layers of the skin. The results are more predictable and patients reported smoother, tighter skin with less sagging, redefined contours, softening of wrinkles and fine lines on the face and body. This procedure works on all skin types and colours. There is no special care needed after the procedure and most patients return to their regular activities the same day after treatment.