Lifting without surgery gives you more natural results. We look at hormonal treatments and all of the injectables, but our patients love the results of threadlifts!
Threadlift from Dr Mahony Looking a bit worn at 35, and seeking full face improvement without the risk of surgery
Case study
Nasolabial folds 1 from Dr Mahony Deepish nasolabial folds on a youngish face, didn’t want surgery or anything complicated so worth camoflaging with some Agent R
Case study
Neck liposculpture 1 from Dr Mahony Clear need for neck liposculpture. Loose skin dictated that a threadlift be performed as well. Great results achieved
Case study
Gravity is the enemy here, and we all know it. Above a certain age, few amongst us would have never looked in the mirror without wanting to finger lift cheeks and forehead to see how we would look with a surgical lift.
But first, it’s worth talking here about prevention. The prevention of sagging is all about maintaining collagen strength and integrity whilst controlling the weight of tissue under your skin.
In youth, controlling the weight of excess fat in the face will help reduce the risk of future sagging – diet and exercise. Those with localised areas of fat in the lower face and in the neck, out of proportion to the fat deposited throughout the body, should ask us about mesotherapy with phosphatidylcholine. Then again, older patients with excessive facial fat can find that losing weight can have a deflating effect on the face, which may appear to make folds and sagging worse. The approach here must be to lose the weight that must be lost from the body to optimise health, then deal with facial fat issues via injectables such as Sculptra or via fat transfer.
Maintaining collagen strength involves firstly maintaining adequate nutrition to the skin, particularly with Vitamins A and C, and secondly reducing collagen-damagers like cigarettes, alcohol, unfiltered sunlight and other sources of free radicles. Thirdly, collagen strength can be improved via treatments such as microdermabrasion, peels, IPL, Omnilux and lasers. Such treatments stimulate fibroblasts through light, heat, chemical or mechanical action. These treatments are likely to help prevent future sagging as well as help reverse current sagging.
In terms of treatment, probably the simplest way to significantly reverse sagging is via a treatment we label “Agent S”, which works to powerfully stimulate new collagen formation under the skin. As this new collagen contracts, a lifting and thickening effect is produced in the skin. The Agent S suspension is injected under the skin in the area requiring treatment. It has to be evenly and diffusely spread over this area and so the treatment requires more injections than is the case with say Agent B. A potent anesthetic cream is applied to the skin prior to treating, and after all the injections the treatment area is thoroughly massaged to ensure the suspension is uniformly distributed . We like patients to continue to massage the area several times a day for several days, to ensure this evenness of effect. See our treatment section for more information on Agent S.
For more lifting and more immediate effects, a direct structural approach is required. Of such treatments, thread lifts with Silhouette threads are established and the least invasive and most straightforward way to physically and permanently bring about a lifting of skin.
From middle age, sagging of body skin and tissues can be partly explained by age-related reductions in prevailing levels of hormones such as growth hormone, DHEAS and testosterone. Natural hormone replacement therapy can help reduce saggines of skin, in combination with a correct diet and exercise program. Ask us about this in consultation.
Recently, the sagging of facial skin tissue has been treated with a process called “Thermage”. This process involves heating the subcutaneous tissues with unipolar radiofrequency, with a view to causing collagen to shrink and thus skin to lift. However, the medical papers we have seen have demonstrated only modest and inconsistent improvements with Thermage, and with treatments in the $5000 range, it seems to us that patients can achieve better results by other methods.
That’s why we have introduced into the practice ReFirme treatments, using ELOS technology from Syneron. Like thermage, ReFirme is a radiofrequency device that induces new collagen below the skin surface, leading to firming and tightening as this new collagen matures and contracts. But treatments are a fraction of the price of Thermage.
ReFirme is our least-down-time way to get skin tightening.
Ultimately, skin can be lifted by surgery. At Peach we like to try to help our patients avoid surgery but if surgery is your best option we will tell you so and refer you to the right surgeon. If you are agreeable, Dr Mahony likes to take the opportunity to assist with such surgery whenever the chance arises.
