Is There a Real Face Lift in a Bottle?

Some women will spend upwards of $15,000 on average every year to erase wrinkles, crow’s feet, and age spots.

Every company promises to use "advanced ingredients" in their products that will erase the signs of aging. The gimmicks and cons seem endless and consumers do not know what product will work the best unless they spend the money and try it.

This is bringing in some $1.1 million every week to the beauty industry, according to a new report conducted by the Transform group.

Despite the astronomical numbers, researchers found that 45 percent admit they are unhappy with the results of their anti-aging routines.

Only seven percent said they were prepared to grow old gracefully and embrace the aging process without some form of treatment.

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Toners and exfoliators can complement cleansing to remove additional impurities as well as dead skin cells which can build up to cloud a complexion. This is simple and necessary, but most women want fast results.

“Even well-known companies sell anti-aging creams that do not work. So buyers must beware and be educated,” said Dr. Anthony Chanson, a dermatologist in Mobile, Ala.

“There are good reviews for the right skin products out there and they deliver younger looking skin as promised. But we must all remember that stress contributes to bad skin and so does too much sunlight. A cleansing and moisturizing routine is a must for everyone.”

To add to the bad news, skin researchers at the Yale School of Medicine discovered that wrinkles may predict the risks associated with bone fractures in women.

"We found that deepening and worsening skin wrinkles are related to lower bone density among the study participants," said Lubna Pal, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at Yale School of Medicine.

"The worse the wrinkles, the lesser the bone density, and this relationship was independent of age or of factors known to influence bone mass."

In contrast to the skin wrinkles, higher scores – indicating higher skin rigidity – related to better bone density.

Wendy Harmer, an author and broadcaster, said it would be a good exercise to put away the mirror and instead judge ourselves by the gestures of those we meet.

The Bad Facelift: the tell-tale signs

Patients interested in facial rejuvenation are often reticent to proceed for fear of looking worse.  Everyone has seen the unfortunate patient with the “Bad Facelift,” and patients are unanimous in wanting to avoid it.   An additional cause for concern is that if celebrities and even high-profile NFL owners can have Bad Facelifts,  how can a more normal patient avoid the same fate?  The simple answer is to select a surgeon whose ideals and aesthetics match yours.  Ask your surgeon to show you pictures of what they think looks like a very good result.  If it looks bad to you, find another doctorThere are several common deformities that are signs of a bad facelift:

Stretched /distorted skin When a facelift is done by simply pulling on the skin, that is exactly what it looks like. A patient’s  face will look like they have wires underneath their skin, much like a puppet! The best way to prevent this, is for the surgeon to perform a “SMAS” procedure, where the surgeon dissects under the facial muscles, and moves the face at this level.   The skin can move passively and not looked stretched.

Altered Hairline Frequently when excess skin is repositioned too high, the  hairline in the temple area will move up and back, giving the patient a receding hairline.  The same is true in a coronal browlift, where the incision in the scalp pulls the hairline back resulting in too large a forehead.   Both of these problems are easier to prevent than repair. All that needs to be done is that the incision for each procedure should be at the hairline so that no hair-bearing tissue is removed or repositioned.

Excessively High Brows Nothing scares patients more than the thought of looking surprised for the rest of their lives.  Fortunately, excessive brow elevation is easily prevented.  The most important thing is for the patient and the plastic surgeon to agree ahead of time what the goal of the procedure is.  Again, if you do not agree with your surgeon in this regard, you should find another surgeon.

Rotated or Distorted Ears This is my personal pet peeve.  If too much tension is placed on the skin around the ears, two problems can develop.  One is that the ear will rotate so it will look more sideways than the normal near vertical.  Even worse is when too much tension on the ear lobe causes stretching of the lobe and results in the “Pixie-Ear Deformity.”  Both of these problems can be prevented if the surgeon makes sure to anchor any tissue under tension to a deep structure such as muscle or bone. When this is done, the ears should look normal after a facelift.

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