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First
off, I want you to forget everything you ever heard of or knew
personally about a facelift……..even if you’ve had a
facelift in years past. The
days of big bandages, mega bruising and swelling and months
before you were comfortable to be back in the public eye are
gone, if……….. you choose the right procedure.
The QuickLift.
In
the last 10 years, there’s no area of cosmetic surgery that
has advanced more for the benefit of the patient than the
facelift. No more
pulled tight, wind blown unnatural results.
No painful, long recovery.
Today’s advancements in surgery and anesthesia have
taken the facelift to a new level of excellence.
In retrospect, I’m sorry I didn’t jump on this new
way of thinking a little sooner but I’ve always been the
conservative type. The
QuickLift is not exactly the way most of us were taught to do a
face lift and to some extent I think we are all resistant to
change. The old way
was a good start but it had too many concerns and it just
didn’t go quite far enough.
Now
days, I refer to my face lifting procedure as the QuickLift.
It’s a modern version of a face lift technique called
the S-lift that was first reported in the literature by Dr.
Saylan, I think, in the mid to late 90’s…….with some
modifications. So
why do I now call my facelifts QuickLifts?
Because to say it’s like the old facelift is like
saying a Chevy Vega and a Rolls Royce are the same thing because
they both have wheels. And,
more importantly, because I am trained in these advance
techniques, and licensed by and participate with the national
marketing and training program out of Pittsburg called QuickLift.
Why
do I do this? Simple.
I’m not a marketing guy.
I’m a plastic surgeon.
If it doesn’t hurt, bleed or cry………I don’t know
what to do with it. I
don’t know the first thing about market development, producing
or distributing a commercial, etc.
I wanted to get the word out about these great
advancements in face lifting but I didn’t know how.
My partnership with QuickLift has been wonderful. You may
have seen the QuickLift commercials on TV.
Aren’t they gorgeous?
Believe me…….. I didn’t have a thing to do with
these beauties. I
leave that to the folks at QuickLift.
I was shy about asking my patients to share their photos
on TV. In my early years of practice, a facelift was such an ordeal
that once it was over nobody wanted to talk about it. On the other hand, because of the comparative ease and great
results of the procedure now I’m finding the QuickLift patient
is more eager to share their experience.
One patient was at her monthly “girl’s luncheon”
when someone told her she looked great today and without putting
her fork down or batting and eye…..…..she said, “ I should
I had a facelift a week ago.”
Anyway, the photos on the TV and the official
QuickLift website are not my patients.
The photos that we rotate in and out of this site and
most that you will see in the office are.
I
am the only licensed QuickLift provider in the St. Louis metro
area. You can see
the official QuickLift website at www.quickliftmd.com. All
surgeons have their own way of doing things, so even though it
won’t be exactly how it happens for you and me, I would
encourage you to spend some time on the site because it is a
good basic over view of the technique and a good, truthful
representation of the results.
There’s so many before and after photos you’re bound
to find one with similar concerns to yours.
Some patients even tell their story on video.
AND
I WANT YOU TO NOTICE, the photos are pretty consistent. We
don’t have the before shot with the shoulders pulled up and
forward with the chin tucked down and the postop views bent
forward with a wonderfully stretched neck and a broad
smile……..if you know what I mean. Sharon is wonderfully artistic and she paints a mean oil
portrait but I admit she’s a little too right brained to be a
great clinical photographer. We’ve gone round and round about
this for about 28 years now.
I like to complain………..but not enough to take the
photos myself (grin.) Sometimes we’re a little off and it’s
hard to keep a postop patient from cracking a smile because
they’re so darn pleased and feeling pretty is a good
thing………. but we try to be as uniform as possible.
Something
like a facelift which will influence how others view you, and
more importantly, how you look at yourself……… everyday,
for the rest of your life is an important investment and
decision. Don’t you agree?
This is one area where I would really advise you to do
your homework carefully. There is a barrage of ‘look a likes’ out there.
Carefully, check the credentials of any surgeon you are
considering. You
can verify the credentials and years of experience of any
plastic surgeon by calling 800 635 0635.
Faces are not alike and a face lift cannot be a
cookie cutter procedure. There
is a great deal of artistic vision involved.
Call the Better Business Bureau. Take your time.
Get to know the doctor and the staff.
How long has the doctor been there?
How long has the staff been with them?
Visit more than once if you have to.
Make sure you’re really comfortable with the whole
set up: where you’ll have your surgery, the level of
experience of the doctor and the staff who will be
assisting….and more importantly the ability to handle an
emergency.
If
something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Be sure to ask what the quoted fees include.
Is it just the surgeon’s fee or is it inclusive of the
surgeon’s fee, the facility fee and anesthesiologist. Are
there “add on” fees for things like the use of ultrasound or
liposuction?
The
photo above is my nurse and office manger, Sharon.
We’ve worked together for about 28 years.
This first picture was taken in a photography studio by a
professional photographer in 1992 when Sharon was in her early
40’s. The first
photo below is a clinical photo taken at age 53 under the harsh florescent
lights in our office a few days before I did her facelift the
Thursday before Christmas in 2005. The 3rd is clinical photo
taken in the office 5 days after her QuickLift on the day she
came back to work. The
last one was taken in December 07, age 55, two years after her
facelift.
 
This
type of correction, or much greater depending upon your starting
point, is not unusual with the newer face lifting procedures.
In fact, most people feel they look like they did in
photos taken about 10 years ago.
The beauty is that you can gain so much with so little
discomfort, downtime, aggravation and expense compared to years
past. Once
Sharon’s husband, Michael, saw that it wasn’t such a big
deal…………we did his QuickLift a few months later, too.
Before
After
All
of you will have a chance to meet Sharon at the time of your
consultation. Sharon
will go over the whole procedure with you, in what we call a
pre-consultation, before I even come in and give you the real
consultation. It’s
nice for you, as a prospective patient, to have the benefit of
seeing the placement of the typical scars, etc., on someone in
the flesh. Sharon
is a good sport about being checked out.
Patients
seem surprised when we tell them they will meet with the doctor
at their first visit. They
expect to meet with ‘a consultant’ first and only meet with
me prior to surgery. I’m
not saying this is wrong if you are comfortable with it.
It’s just not how I do it.
My thought is….how can you possibly decide you’d like
to hire me to do any
procedure for you until we’ve looked in the mirror
together and spent some time talking it over.
Who knows, your concern might be better addressed by
another surgery or sometimes even a non-surgical procedure.
You wouldn’t believe what we can do with our new
Portrait plasma skin regeneration.
You
will meet with me personally.
This is a thorough consultation. We think the “hearing
it twice” approach is helpful in making sure you really
comprehend all that we discuss.
Bring your spouse or a friend.
Their concerns are valid, too.
We want to make sure you get all your questions answered.
This takes some time so plan on being with us for 30-45
minutes. There is
no charge for this consultation.
We
plastic surgeons have become more savvy in the recent years.
The old type facelift where you were bruised and swollen
for months is a thing of the past…….. in my practice.
In the past, unless you were a celebrity who could hide
out for months with unlimited funds………..you just
couldn’t have a facelift.
Whether you’re a waitress, a school teacher or a CEO,
today’s typical facelift patient can enjoy beautiful, natural
looking results with very little downtime, bruising, swelling or
discomfort………. at an affordable price.
If you can afford a cruise, a boat, a motorcycle, a
diamond anniversary ring or to redecorate and furnish the living
room, you can afford a QuickLift.
The average patient will take pain medication a day or
two and is back to work in a week or so.
No kidding.
In
the past, the skin dissection was much, much more extensive
which accounted for the increased bruising, swelling and
increased risk of damaging the facial nerve.
The correction was in more of a backward direction. You
certainly had less sagging and wrinkles but the results were
usually a startled look with the majority of the correction in
the cheek area. The
neck….not so much. Sure
you had fewer wrinkles but the look was not particularly
natural. Unfortunately, the older results also didn’t have as much
staying power because we put more of the work load on the
tightened skin hoping it could hold everything in place and
maintain the shape for the long haul.
Today’s
modern procedure uses a technique pioneered by Dr. Saylan,
called the SMAS. This
approach lifts and internally supports the sagging
tissues/muscles of the lower face including the cheeks, jowls
and neck with an upward correction.
The internal support helps to reposition and support the
muscles and soft tissues back into the position where they
sagged from. This
gives a very natural look………..just like you had some years
back. Of course,
the excessive skin is still excised and removed but the weight
of the sagging internal tissues are supported with what we call
internal purse string sutures. We aren’t asking the stretchy
skin to “hold all the weight” anymore.
This also uses some of the body’s short comings to our
advantage against future gravity and future aging.
We’ll explain this further at the time of your
consultation. Did
you know your fatty jowl used to be your apple cheek? This fat pad has migrates downward because the skin in the
jaw line is loose. We
all stand in front of the mirror and give ourselves that little
mini finger lift and think, ‘if only.’
Well, that’s what the QuickLift does from the inside.
Most
QuickLift patients will typically look just like a younger
version of themselves (not their sister or their cousin.) Most
compare their results to photos taken about 10 years ago.
We tell everyone to pull out photos from about 10 years
ago and keep them on hand.
BUT, even more importantly, even though you don’t see
it, feel it, know it’s there, etc., the purse string suture is
like an internal bra for your face.
This internal support does not allow gravity to affect
you the same as it did before you had your facelift.
We can’t stop the hands of time from ticking but we can
turn them back AND slow them down somewhat.
In
conclusion, today’s modern facelift, commonly called the
QuickLift, is a convenient outpatient surgery with comparative
little downtime, bruising or discomfort.
Most people are back to work within a week.
Of course, all surgery has inherent risks, but keep in
mind; we're dealing primarily with skin so this isn’t a high
risk or high maintenance procedure. It’s not like we're
operating on your heart, your liver, lungs or any other vital
organ.
A
facelift of any sort can’t guarantee that it will make you
look years and years younger; however, most QuickLift patients
feel they look as they did in photos taken about 10 or more
years ago. The
correction is upward, not backward so there’s never any of
that unnatural, pulled look. You always look like yourself…..not your sister or your
cousin. Our objective is for you to look the best you can at
whatever age you are. We prefer the comment, "Hasn't he/she
aged nicely?" rather than "What a great face
lift!"
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