Facelifts are making a comeback, but may be only half the solution.

Let’s face it. No one wants to look old. And while a majority of folks accept the aging process in its entirety, many choose to seek professional assistance in maintaining a youthful look. One well-known anti-aging avenue is the facelift.

There are various surgical facelift procedures, but essentially all result in the facial skin being pulled tighter to counter the effects of sagging, wrinkled skin. The number of facelifts saw a decline in recent years, likely due to the advent of injectable soft-tissue fillers viewed as facelift alternatives. These fillers give the appearance of both volumizing the face and reducing the severity of wrinkles.

However, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, rather than continuing to drop, the number of facelifts increased by 9 percent from 2009 to 2010. During that same time frame, the use of injectable fillers such as Juvederm^® and Restylane^® decreased for the first time since their introduction, and collagen usage continued to fall.

The inference is that more people are seeking permanent solutions to an aging look. Facelifts will generally last five or 10 years or more, while soft-tissue fillers require multiple injections over time. Additionally, injectable fillers can absorb into the body unevenly as well as form nodules or lumps that are difficult to remove.

Yet, although properly done facelifts make sense for sagging skin and wrinkles, they do relatively little for solving the age-related problem of soft-tissue loss.

Since two-thirds of all facelift patients are age 55 or older, soft-tissue loss from aging is a significant factor to consider for successful facial rejuvenation. For a face to look naturally youthful, it requires a certain fullness in and under the cheekbone region (see “When is a filler not an injectable?” post). Otherwise, a facelift by itself may result in a tight, mask-like appearance that amplifies an inadequate amount of soft tissue. Injectables have often been used in an attempt to meet this “volumizing” need.

However, since an increasing number of patients are seeking a more permanent answer to a younger face, it only makes sense to use a more permanent facsimile of soft tissue. Implantech offers high-quality silicone facial implants that enable the look and feel of natural tissue and bone, and have none of the problems related to injectables.