HOUSTON – If you are not interested in going under the knife, but interested in a more youthful look, then a liquid facelift may be for you.
A liquid facelift uses Botox and fillers to give the look of a facelift.
It’s not permanent and it’s less expensive.
DeeAnn Thigpen, who experienced Bell’s Palsy years ago, said she still feels like the right side of her face is weaker, and the injections help give the appearance of lifting the muscles.
“As I’ve gotten older, the right side of my face has gotten weaker, and I can tell the difference,” Thigpen said.
She said she wants to look younger, but feels too young to make any surgical changes.
“I just recently turned 50, and sometimes you look in the mirror and you’re like, ‘Well, this just isn’t accurate, right?’ So, I don’t think I’ve had any issues with getting older, it’s just that I have noticed that as I’ve gotten older, there are things that are starting to bother me a little bit more,” Thigpen said.
Thigpen’s specific situation made her a great candidate for a liquid facelift, according to Dr. Sanaz Harirchian with My Houston Surgeons.
“If you want patients to look natural, you have to fill the areas that are volume depleted to make them look more youthful and lifted without overdoing it and overplumping them. So, as we age, what ends up happening is ligaments loosen, fat pads fall, skin loosens, and people get more bottom-heavy, and they get more volume-depleted. So, they have less volume in their cheeks (and) that’s why they look a little bit heavier down below and look skinnier up above,” Dr. Harirchian said. “Fillers are not going to lift the tissue, and that’s why when there’s a time to do surgery, it’s time to do surgery. But before that point, you can really add volume in the cheeks and the under eyes to give an illusion of a lift without actually lifting the tissue. And other things that can happen as, let’s say, when the tissue descends and you get a little bit of jowls or you have a small chin like I do, you can add some fillers in the chin or some fillers along the jawline to give a more sculpted jawline and to make it look more lifted without actually lifting it with surgery.”
Combining fillers and Botox costs between $1,500 to $5,000 or more. While this is not as expensive as an operation for a face or brow lift, it’s also not permanent.
“The truthful answer is that the filler typically lasts about one to two years, and then I think she’s going to have to supplement it with other little procedures that make the skin more healthy,” Dr. Harirchian said.
“I’m looking for a few other options to kind of prolong the necessary steps to avoid doing anything surgical,” Thigpen said.
Other options to maintain results from procedures include:
- Lasers can build collagen
- Microneedling
- Keeping a good skincare routine