Youth is a tricky thing.
Most of us would like to hold on to our youth as long as possible: that exhilarating feeling of having the world at our feet and unblemished, unlined good looks. In our youthful ignorance (remember when you thought you knew everything, but looking back you realize you actually knew nothing?), we all thought we would stay like that for a long, long time, and the effects of age were too many years in the future to worry about.
Fast forward a few years past college, career, and, well... life, and suddenly 40 hits like a ton of bricks.
Surprisingly, reading a book, a recipe, or an owner’s manual isn't as simple as it used to be, and you're either holding your book further from your face, or you're squinting. Hard. And all that squinting is starting to show up at the outer corners of your eyes, with lines that aren't disappearing when your eyes are at rest. It’s the same with your joyous, youthful smile. There are smile lines that weren’t there before, that you hope are just a sign of fatigue and not… age.
It’s okay, you reason with yourself. You knew those small lines and wrinkles would slowly find their way to your face. You convince yourself that you are simply showing a newfound elegance and maturity. Until one morning you look in the mirror and pause. No. No. You stare in disbelief and probably do a whole lot of squinting just to be sure, and what you think must be very faint, isn't so faint after all. You realize what you hadn't noticed before, that you swear must have just happened overnight: you have jowls.
In the blossom of youth, you had hoped that time would stand still and you would stay blissfully young forever. You hoped you would be one of those people who seem to age so gracefully that they look many years younger than the truth. Unfortunately, while you’ve been busy living life, gravity and age have been busy doing their thing. The collagen and elastin in your skin have begun to break down, and the loss of collagen and facial fat in your cheek area means that the skin doesn't have as much to hug as it used to, and it has begun to sag. It takes years, but when your cheeks suddenly look like they're on your jawline instead of above it, you hear the bells ringing loud and clear. Middle age has arrived, and most likely, you’re not happy about it.
Thankfully, if you're not ready for those harbingers of age quite yet and would like to put your cheeks back where they once were, Dr. English has a plan. Through a combination of surgical procedures and non-surgical treatments, Dr. English will restore a more youthful, natural appearance, while eliminating that sagging jawline and excess skin, and softening the appearance of those first fine lines and wrinkles.
Does that mean a facelift? Maybe. It’s a common misconception that a facelift is a single procedure that only those well beyond 40 can undergo in order to erase wrinkles and droopy skin. That’s only partially true; a facelift is a combination of procedures that address droopy skin. Depending on the location of the lax skin, Dr. English may recommend a lower facelift (everything below the corners of your mouth, such as the nasolabial folds or laugh lines, jawline, and oftentimes the area under the chin and neck), a mid-facelift (everything between the corners of your eyes to the corners of your mouth such as nose, cheeks, and upper lip), an upper facelift (everything above your eyes), or all three at the same time, known as a total facelift.
During a minimally-invasive surgery of a facelift at our state-of-the-art surgical center in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dr. English will repair and tighten the fascial system of the face, the part that holds bone and muscle together (think of it as putting on some Spanx to create a smooth and tight silhouette before putting on a form-fitting dress). Then Dr. English will redrape the skin along your lower face and neck, putting everything back where it used to be and taking care not to pull too tightly, as the goal is a natural rejuvenation. He may even perform facial liposuction and fat transfer to move fat from one area (your jowls) to another (your cheekbone area).
However, a facelift won’t take care of the wrinkles. No amount of surgery can do that. To smooth fine lines and wrinkles and improve the texture of the skin and any hyperpigmentation of the skin due to sun damage, Dr. English may administer one or a combination of treatments to resurface the skin: laser skin resurfacing, a surgical chemical peel, and/or dermabrasion.
And just like that, your face is reborn.
But you don’t have to wait until you’re 65+ to consider a facelift and skin resurfacing… aging gracefully means starting early to stop the clock in its tracks.
Ready to return to your youthful good looks? Check out Dr. English's facelift pros and cons, and see whether you might be a good candidate for this procedure. Then find out which procedure or combination of procedures is right for you… you might be surprised! Call us at (501) 227-9556 to schedule your personalized consultation with Dr. English, and look like yourself again. We’re ready to shape your beautiful future!
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Want to see some fabulous facelift results on our actual patients? Check out our gallery!
Looking to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, smooth your skin, and erase hyperpigmentation? Try our laser skin resurfacing treatment on your face, neck, and/or décolletage, and see for yourself the incredible difference that can make, giving you a smoother, more youthful countenance.
Interested in something else? Take a look at our current specials.